Jaleel Shaw

That’s Jaleel Shaw. He’s a saxophonist, composer and bandleader with three albums under his name. He’s also a member of Roy Haynes and Nate Smith’s bands and professor at the New School and Manhattan School of Music where we met up to chat about saxophone.

You know I like to talk about gear so I asked him about his horn and the mouthpiece he’s playing

In case you don’t know, a NY Meyer is a vintage handmade mouthpiece from the 1960s. It’s considered to be the quintessential classic jazz alto mouthpiece. They are rare and sell for a lot of money on eBay.

Jaleel agreed to record a quick play test comparison between three mouthpieces.

1. The vintage NY Meyer he’s been playing for many years that broke on the floor of the Blue Note
2. The one he had just received that day from eBay and is playing for the very first time here
3. A standard stock modern Meyer USA you can buy new in the store.

Have a listen and let us know in the comments what you think and which one you prefer.

This was filmed back in early February of 2020. I spoke to Jaleel in May of 2020 and he is now playing on that NY Meyer he purchased. I thought he sounded best on that one and I guess he does too.

To hear more from Jaleel Shaw, be sure to follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and iTunes.

If you like interview videos with great saxophone players, check out this playlist to watch all of my other interviews like this one with Bruce Williams of the Juilliard School.

Also be sure to follow BetterSax on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to stay up to date with us for news, giveaways, and other saxophone tips and tricks.