Member Since: 3/20/2007
Band Website: nelsonrangell.com/
Band Members: Please go to Amazon.com to purchase any of Nelson Rangell's CD's!Jim Douglas and Prime Time Entertainment do not manage Nelson Rangell.
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Influences: What kind of reeds do you play?
What kind of mouthpiece(s) do you play?
How about your horns?
How did you get started in music?
Any advise to someone wanting to learn an instrument?
Who are some of your musical inspirations?
What kind of musician do you admire most?
How do you practice?
What are some of your favorite CDs?What kind of reeds do you play?On alto sax I am now playing on Brancher #3 Jazz Reeds. I have found them to have a great uniformity of response over the entire range of the instrument and a more full sound on a number of mouthpieces. They are flexible and I find them to be great for R&B as well as jazz playing. They have been a wonderful discovery. For me the Branchers play beautifully across the board on any different mouthpiece I might use depending on the situation...On soprano I have been using Vandoren Classics #2 1/2. They have always played very well for me. I recently have tried a Haun synthetic reed #3 1/2. While I can't say I think it plays like a good cane reed I can say it always plays consistently, easily and well. They make a nice sound. It sure is good to have in the case... just in case.On tenor I have been using Brancher #3 1/2 Jazz reeds. I find these to be excellent. I am also using Vandoren Classics #2 1/2. These have always played well for me. I find reed selection and prep very important especially on tenor. Tenor is the saxophone which is the least "natural" for me and it is the instrument I have to really practice the most. A cooperative reed is therefore an absolute necessity. Perhaps some of the difficulty for me on tenor comes simply from its size and the necessarily larger mouthpiece tip opening. I'm fairly small and the tenor is comparatively big. Also, as an aside, it is a very different head space and awareness on tenor than on alto and soprano. Vibrato, obviously the range, and how that impacts lines and approach lyrically and harmonically are quite different. It's actually kind of a complicated and deep subject. I think it is a more recent modern phenomenon that guys are increasingly playing across all of the horns. I have never found alto to tenor to be an easy transition. It is a big shift of gears.What kind of mouthpiece(s) do you play?O.K....On alto I primarily play an ARB #6 (they are open). This is an especially bright and "laser like" mouthpiece with a high baffle and a very distinctive, focused accent and direction. It sure is a fun one though, and in its way it forces a lot of issues and distinct approach. It's a very meticulous and articulate mouthpiece. It's like an old Brillhart Level Air. The ARB is made by the same folks who make the more popular Beechler mouthpiece at Remle Music in North Ridge California. I own some Dukoff #9s. They are also bright but more moderate than my ARB. These have been worked on by my friends Eric Grieffenhagen and more recently Norbert Stachel formerly of Tower of Power and Roger Water's Band. Norbert is an unbelievable player living in NY. He is a mouthpiece sage and his work has helped me a great deal. He can be reached at this E-Mail. Finally, I own an old Vintage hard rubber Berg Larsen 90/1 SMS. I call it "The Big Friendly" for it' large and open sound. I use it sometimes on more jazz oriented gigs. It's great. I love mouthpieces and just having different ones in every flavor is a lot of fun. At the end of the day you still pretty much are stuck with yourself, however. A mouthpiece is a huge influencing factor in helping the player to hear and "feel" his sound, and sometimes they can inspire your direction and capability.On soprano I now have two wonderful Beechlers, hard rubber and steel, both 7s (about.70). Norbert has worked on them both a little. Excellent. For years I have played a Runyon plastic # 8.Finally on tenor, the ongoing journey continues. I am mostly an alto player, but have been working hard on tenor for years now. I have recently (and painfully) transitioned slowly to the Gaurdala Studio model which again has been worked on by Norbert Stachel to about .112. I actually have a few of them. I have found the SR Technology Fusion pieces to be quite good for me as well.How about your horns?I play a Selmer Mark 6 on alto as well as an old Yamaha 62. They have different strengths and I enjoy them both. On soprano I play a Yamaha YSS 62 which I love and on tenor I play a Selmer Mark 6. On flute I play a Yamaha 681 and a Yamaha 682 piccolo. The Yamahas I play are all pretty old. I love my flute and feel that this particular one I have, now for more than 20 years, plays better for me than instruments that are much more expensive. On both instruments I play a Drelinger max air headjoint. These have been fantastic and I recommend them highly.How did you get started in music?I began playing the flute when I was about 15 (I think just a few months short of it.) My brother Bob was already a great sax and flute player gigging around Denver and Boulder. I was incredibly impressed by it all. I initially wanted to play the drums. Anyway, I had a strong desire, and an intuition that I would be a good flute player. My father bought me an instrument although he was skeptical that I would have the discipline to stick with such a long term enterprise like learning to play an instrument. I was natural at it, as if I had played the instrument before. The horn, its sound and its fingerings immediately made perfect sense to me and within a few weeks I was playing it. I couldn't have done this on another instrument so it's a little spooky to me. I'm being very honest when I say it was as if I had played the instrument before.Any advise to someone wanting to learn an instrument?Make sure you are very inspired not only by music but by the particular instrument you wish to play. While that seems simple I know some very good musicians who ended up as children learning an instrument that was not really the one they most wanted to play.Who are some of your musical inspirations?My earliest inspirations were my brothers Andy and Bobby. Bobby especially because of the type of music he was playing and because the life of a young musician in Boulder he was leading, seemed about as cool as anything on the planet, and pretty much was. Amongst my biggest inspirations are Michael Brecker and David Sanborn, Hubert Laws and James Galway, Charlie Parker, Trane and Cannonball, Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and James Taylor. To name a few.What kind of musician do you admire most?Many players and artists have a gift. I have begun to think it is not that rare, even for super talent. It is what one does with that gift that ultimately matters most. The greatest artists seem to be the ones who have the best sense of purpose and of who they are, even as they journey and change. I try to listen for what the intrinsic humanity of someone's efforts is and I try to learn by them.How do you practice?It's important to make your practice gains tangible. If one sets up a schedule and fulfills it each week then he or she can be satisfied that some practical gains toward the long-term goals are being seen to and will eventually be fulfilled. Progress is a funny thing. It's like watching the hands on a clock. If you just do your thing dutifully and consistently rather than staring at it each second, you will be struck by how much time has gone by. Remember that the art of practice is to turn what is consciously being worked on into that which will become unconscious, spontaneous and then second nature. One other note, and I am very guilty of this, is that we tend to practice most those things we are already good at - because it's the most fun. Working less fun areas that are less well developed into our practice is important. I'll try to heed my own advice.What are some of your favorite CDs?The Gentle Side Of John Coltrane
Cityscapes By Claus Ogerman and Michael Brecker
Travelogue By Joni Mitchell
Around Roma by Stefano di Battista
Takin' Off By David Sanborn
October Road by James Taylor
Scarborough Fair by Chris Hunter
Secret Story by Pat Metheny
Courage by Milton Nascimento
Simply Said by Kenny Garrett
Epiphany by Vince Mendoza
Wide Angles by Michael Brecker
Bird with Strings by Charlie Parker
34th and Lex by Randy Brecker
The Brecker Brothers
Time Out by Dave Brubeck
Bill Evans with Symphony
Street Dreams by Lyle Mays
49th Parallel by KD Lang
American Dreams by Charlie Haden
New Bottle Old Wine by Gil Evans
Talking Book by Stevie Wonder
Word of Mouth by Jaco Pastorius
Obsession by David Sanchez
Epiphany, the Best of Chaka Khan
Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderly
Greenhouse by The Yellowjackets
Sleeping Gypsy by Michael Franks
A New Standard by Herbie Hancock
Masques by Philippe Saisse
Sounds Like: Here is an excerpt copied from Nelson's Official Website:
Welcome to my website. For new visitors and fans I hope the site will be enjoyable and informative. For my returning friends thanks for coming back. The internet connection with all of you has often not been my strength. No excuse. I recognize that this is an essential tool and I've got to try to do a good job utilizing it. I will, and I'm truly glad you're here. I'm a little bit of an analogue guy in a digital world. The site will now keep you current with what is going on with performances, news, and forums that I hope will prove to be interesting and informative. I'll try to answer your questions and I'll also be writing in with thoughts to share from time to time.I've been in the studio working very hard and have just finished a new CD which will be on store shelves and available through this website beginning April 4. If you can't find it at your favorite store get it here. The CD is titled "Soul to Souls." To me, it means from me to you. It's a mix of a lot of musical stylings and influences and I'm truly excited about it. There are some nice covers including Free As The Wind by Joe Sample of the Crusaders (featuring my friend Chuck Loeb playing great), A cool arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's Night in Tunisia and contemporary jazz classic Vonetta featuring it's composer Earl Klugh, as well as 5 originals. I play alto, tenor and soprano, flute and piccolo on the ten tunes on the disc. In this way it's similar to "My American Songbook" which was released about this time last year. The new disc has a little more of a pop accent so together with Songbook I feel it's a really good collection of diverse tunes and musical directions I love to play in. There is so much music all around, and in us. It's a great gift to get to record a few things for you to hear.I've done a lot of playing and traveling since recording My American Songbook last year. I've continued to meet a lot of audiences and individuals along the way. I am more sure than ever that for all that is different from place to place, and for all the different things people are going through, within people there are many essential constants in need of being nourished, affirmed and fortified. Music is one of the best tonics for our soul and a reminder of the thread of our common humanity. Doing a pop recording in this day and age has a lot of challenges. The marketplace and the mechanisms within it can be complicated and often cynical. I feel that the direct experience of playing for people really gets to the heart of the matter. I feel that sort of positive and direct energy is captured well on Soul to Souls.I'm looking forward to the year ahead and to what I hope will be a busy Spring and Summer musical season. This is an exciting time. I hope very much I get a chance to play live for you. As I've written this is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Nothing could be better. Soul to soul. Thanks for coming to my website.Peace,Nelson
Record Label: Koch Please go to Amazon.com to purchase his CD's!
Type of Label: Major