12 contemporary jazz etudes by Bob Mintzer

I got this etude book from the Schneider Music Library at Texas State. I was pretty intimated by the etudes at first, partly because Bob Mintzer plays tenor sax and not trombone, although I do appreciate the editing that was done to the parts to bring it in range. Sometimes I actually want to take parts of the melody back up into their original octave for various reasons: (1) The melody is more continuous and therefore makes more sense if you let some of the climbs continue up in the original octave; (2) The slide positions can sometimes be more manageable up higher where the notes are closer together on the slide… maybe other reasons as well. There’s no mercy on the 16th note runs, and I’m just facing the music and learning it. It really does get better as I keep playing – something breaks through and I get over some kind of hump, and then I feel like I really have a fighting chance at those runs.

My favorite tracks right now are Everybody Gets the Blues, Play Pretty, and Rhythm Changes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTuXtzbHhFc&list=PLcSB8pqTqv4JEEMQtV7vWMST7QZsWJEjz

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