Endorsements

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    Theo Wanne

    Theo Wanne is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of mouthpiece design, refacing and manufacturing. Theo Wanne Mouthpieces is the culmination of decades of his expertise and knowledge gained from working with the greatest players in modern history. He makes mouthpieces ranging from big and bold to dark and sultry and all at a quality to which no other company can compare. It is quite a honor and joy to be recording on his new revolutionary line of Otto Link Mouthpieces and Meyer Mouthpieces.

    Click Here If You Want To Know More About The Theo Wanne NY Link Tenor Mouthpiece https://www.jjbabbitt.com/otto-link-new-york

    Click Here If You Want To Know More About The Theo Wanne STM Tenor Mouthpiece.
    https://www.jjbabbitt.com/otto-link-stm

    Track From The Album “Everytime We Say Goodbye“

    Click Here If You Want To Know More About The Theo Wanne Meyer Alto Mouthpiece.
    https://www.jjbabbitt.com/meyer

  • Glenn Zottola Signature Trumpet Mouthpiece

    I am very proud that RS Berkeley has released a copy of my trumpet mouthpiece, the “Glenn Zottola Trumpet Mouthpiece” as part of their their “Legend Series” now available at select retailers around the world. By the way I was with my dad as a young boy in those New England Woods that day as this story tells. You can hear the quality of the sound of this mouthpiece with this track from my Clifford Brown tribute album.

    Memories of You

    The story behind the mouthpiece

    In 1952, while walking through a quiet New England woods Frank Zottola came upon a smoothly flowing stream. Subconsciously, his musician’s ear noticed that it was producing a dark and diffused tonal quality. As he wandered along a little further where periodic rock obstructions on the stream’s bed interrupted the water’s flow creating turbulence, he became aware of the increase in brilliance and a compactness of sound. When the stream finally broke into a waterfall, crashing on the descending steps, the pitch, intensity and volume reached its maximum. At that moment, he had a realization that this natural phenomenon could be extended to a practical application in mouthpiece design. He believed that a stepped back-bore design might very well be what contemporary brass players have been searching for to solve their problem of ever increasing range and endurance demands.

    I used my dad’s mouthpiece my entire career. I loved the way his patented “step back bore” assisted the upper register.  In 1979 I went to him and asked for some slight modifications. I wanted the same ease in the upper register that the step back bore gave me but with no resistance and a very free blow for a very fat sound.  He worked on this and came up with a modification to the tunnel leading into the back bore. The result was spectacular and exactly what I wanted.  He stamped it January 1979.  This became my signature sound for the rest of my career and was not available in his standard line.  My dad  was a beautiful man and master mouthpiece maker and was loved by all.   I would like to thank Les Silver and RS Berkeley for helping me to pay tribute to my dad Frank Zottola with the release of this mouthpiece.

    You can buy it online at Amazon or at RS Berkeley dealers around the world or call 1-800-974-3909

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    RS Berkeley Instruments and Rico Reeds

    Thorough the years i have been involved with several companies and instruments. I Recently i teamed up with Les Silver who is a dear friend and president of RS Berkeley Instruments. He had a dream to not only develop beautiful vintage saxophones but preserve the sound of the great legends in jazz by reproducing the mouthpieces they played.

    I am very honored that he will be making available my personal trumpet mouthpiece i have used on all my recordings and television through the years which is a tribute to my dad who was a master brass mouthpiece maker. Also in coordination with Stan Getz’s daughter Bev Getz and Charlie Parker’s daughter Kim he has released the mouthpieces of those 2 legends with more to follow. On the tenor album i just completed i played the RS Berkeley Virtuoso Tenor Saxophone and the Stan Getz Legend series mouthpiece shown in this photo both a joy to play. Also i have played Rico reeds exclusively for 40 years and they have always come through for me in every situation and i  finally hooked up with them on a official endorsement basis.

    Both these companies beside having truly great products are some of the nicest people to do business with. For more information go to the links on the right of my website.
    Glenn