Mark Maxwell, Saxophonist

I’m in the studio this week producing a CD for my good friend, Simrit Kaur. She’s a singer, composer and harmonium player here in Nevada City and performs a style of music that is along the lines of Snatum Kaur and Deva Premal, very spiritual, very beautiful and inspirational.

I’ll also be performing sax and flute on this project.  I’ll post some of the music from these sessions soon.  You’ll love it - she sings like an angel.

In the meantime, Simrit’s band - including your’s truly will be performing Saturday evening - Mar. 29 - here in Nevada City.  You can learn more about that event here.

Namaste!

Imagine - It’s 2 A.M., you’re driving through downtown San Francisco on Freeway 80…

…you’ve driven too many miles, drank too much coffee, you need to stop and sleep but you don’t - you end up with this almost mystical feeling about The City you’re passing by, like there is some magic to it, some mystery that is just beyond your seeing, something palpable but inexplicable about the place, a majesty perhaps - San Francisco, the Goddess of Cities, the Beautiful Jewel on the Bay.

Anyway, that’s how I feel, especially at the end of one of those late night LA to SF drives where you feel like you’re tripping because you’re so wired on coffee, Snickers, and XM Beyond Jazz - very surreal!

And that’s the feeling of this week’s song, Freeway 80, kind of a mystical majesty, a sense of transcendent beauty and calm seen from afar.

Somehow I ended up doing three versions of Freeway 80. The first version is the original version, very full and lush with a fairly simple sax line. The second version, Roberta’s favorite, is slower and more sultry with more space in it, very beautiful. Version three, my favorite, is a little more stark and intense, and features some cool echo and delay effects on the sax.

(You’ll hear a slight bit of harmonica in version three; that’s my buddy Paul Michael Meredith.)

Take a little trip on Freeway 80. And enjoy the ride. Buy the song(s) here.

Freeway 80 (Three Versions):

1.

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Have Sax, Will Travel

Indeed, I travel a lot, and always with the sax. I habitually lean a little left because the sax is always on my shoulder.

I’ve been playing the saxophone since 1964, 43 years now! Wow! Somebody give me an honorary doctorate.

I do make house calls. That’s a lot of fun…

This one’s a lot of fun. Initially, it was my attempt to do a song in the Down To The Bone style, groovin’ on a riff in a celebratory style, funk/jazz/soul all wrapped up.  It ended up being kind of a smooth jazz saxophone celebration of life.

I invited my friend, Joe Fajen, to join me on the trombone on this tune. The trombone gives the sound a slightly Jazz Crusaders feel. Tenor and Bone - what a great sound!

Dr. Saxophone At Your Service. Let me know how I can help.

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