About Me
Born and raised in Berks County Pennsylvania, Dean Walker began playing saxophone at age 9 and continued his entire secondary education years studying music, listening to jazz, and performing with and leading small groups. Dean attended Indiana Univ.of Pa, where he studied Music Education in the mid 80's.
By day Dean is President of a regional Supermarket chain in eastern Pa., but by night.. Dean is a "weekend warrior" saxophonist and jazz lover. Dean has studied Saxophone performance, Jazz, Theory, and Improvisation with Tim Price, Dr. John Kuehn, Joe Miller, "Saxie" Shollenberger and John Morris, and has performed or recorded with local groups in eastern, Pa including "The Bentonites", “Fancy Brassâ€, "On the Run", Ron Nolan, “Chillfactorâ€and many others.
After a long layoff from the local music scene, while raising children, and a hectic schedule as a corporate executive, Dean realized he still had to satisfy his passion to play and perform, and started seeking out new or exciting projects. Dean has quickly become a highly sought after saxophonist for everything from Solo projects to horn bands. Currently Dean performs, and arranges for BigBeatTornado an original groove/funk band out of the Reading, Pa area.
On stage Dean brings an energy level, passion and enthusiasm for the music that few others can convey, and drives that passion right into the listeners ears with every note he plays. Dean's playing is heavily influenced by the likes of Saxophonists David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Bob Berg and Michael Brecker.
You can also find Dean hanging around online at SAX ON THE WEB quite a bit with a lot of his saxophone "internet" friends from around the globe.
Okay... so now, what every sax player wants to know about every other sax player
equipment/setup: (as of today, but not necessarily on these recordings)
Alto; Yanagisawa 991B -Dukoff M8 or Saxscape Dowtown .080, Francious Louis Lig, Plasticover Reeds
Tenor: Yanagisawa 991B - Dukoff M7* or Jody Jazz DV, Francious Lig, Plasticover Reeds
Soprano: Yanagisawa Straight - OttoLink 7* - Plasticovers
Other junk
WindController- Yamaha WX-5
FX ; Digitech Vocal 300
Mic; Samson Airline 77 Wireless
