I wanted to write a blog post on this subject because there has been a lot of discussion and confusion over the years about the Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece that Michael Brecker played on. I started a discussion on this subject on Facebook but thought it would be good to post what I discovered here as well so we don’t have to keep discussing this every 7 months over and over again.
The issue is this: Michael Brecker played a Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece, no one will argue with this fact, it is well known by fans of Michael Brecker. Sometime in the early 80’s he switched to a Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece and he played a Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece until his death in early 2007. The issue is, what model Guardala mouthpiece did Michael Brecker actually play and what did the inside of his mouthpiece actually look like? Specifically, the baffle………
Original Guardala Tenor Sax Mouthpiece (not Brecker’s mouthpiece)
I was a huge Michael Brecker fan in the 80’s- 90’s. I had every album and CD I could find with Michael Brecker playing on it. I’m sure there are many of you out there that can relate to this. Matter of fact, I think I am mainly a tenor sax player because of Michael Brecker. I played alto saxophone all through high school and college and even though I had heard tons of tenor players during those years I never thought once of switching to the tenor saxophone.
That all changed around 1986 when I first heard Brecker on a recording and then saw him live with Steps Ahead in Buffalo NY. I was obsessed and had to get a tenor saxophone! From the moment I got my first H. Couf tenor sax I was chasing after that elusive Brecker sound and tone. Soon after that, I switched to the tenor sax full-time and have been playing it as my main saxophone ever since.
I started off on the tenor saxophone playing on a Brilhart Level-aire tenor sax mouthpiece. Although it seemed like a fine mouthpiece, I was really frustrated with it as I tried to imitate that Brecker type of tenor saxophone tone. I could just not get there with that mouthpiece for whatever reason. Years later, I switched to a Sugal JB1 tenor saxophone mouthpiece that I bought off of Jerry Bergonzi. This mouthpiece got me a lot closer to that Brecker type of tenor sax sound in my opinion. That is the mouthpiece I used in this recording of Mike Stern’s Chromazone from the early 90’s. Although this mouthpiece got me a lot closer to that Brecker sound and tone, it was still too bright and harsh for my tastes.
Years later, I bought an original Guardala Studio model tenor saxophone mouthpiece in search of that elusive Michael Brecker type tenor sound. I thought now that I had an original hand finished Guardala tenor mouthpiece, that my search would be over. Although the Studio model was in that Brecker ballpark as far as sound, I found it extremely bright and too buzzy for me. It was even brighter and edgier than my Sugal JB1 that I had. I found the palm key notes and altissimo thin sounding to my ear and I ended up selling the Guardala Studio model tenor saxophone mouthpiece a few months later.
Original Guardala Studio Model Tenor Sax Mouthpiece Baffle
A little while later, I heard that WWBW was releasing a Guardala MB tenor sax mouthpiece. I was ecstatic! Finally, I could try the exact tenor sax mouthpiece model that my idol Michael Brecker played on. I immediately bought one and started playing it. Soon after, I started hearing and reading gossip and rumors that Brecker didn’t actually use the MB model I had just bought. “WHAT!! Is this true?” “What the heck!” “Why release a MB model that wasn’t what Brecker played on?” I was confused, angry and disappointed again.
WWBW Guardala MB Model Tenor Sax Mouthpiece Baffle
I tried to find out the truth from a variety of sources on the internet including SOTW and other various chat rooms and forums but it seemed like I could never get a straight answer and every person I talked to had a different opinion and experience to share……..
Then WWBW released the MBII mouthpiece! I heard that this was finally the actual mouthpiece that Michael Brecker actually used. Thank you WWBW!!! Now I could try the mouthpiece that my idol used. I bought one and started playing it. Wouldn’t you know, soon after, I started hearing more rumors and gossip on the internet. “Yeah, the MBII is closer to the Brecker sound but Michael didn’t really play a MBII. His mouthpiece has a smooth baffle with no ledge” “WHAT!!! Come on! Are you kidding me! Why release a MB model that isn’t like Michael’s mouthpiece and then release a MBII that is still not like his mouthpiece? Is this a conspiracy?” Still, I could not get a definitive answer, everyone I talked to had a different take and opinion.
A few years later, PMS mouthpieces release it’s own line of Michael Brecker mouthpieces and I reviewed the PMS MBII tenor saxophone mouthpiece right here at neffmusic.com. By this point, I had given up trying to find the truth. This PMS MBII baffle was totally different and not anything like the baffles of the other MB mouthpiece baffles I had already tried.
PMS MBII Model Tenor Sax Mouthpiece Baffle
A number of years later, I posted a review of the Shizhao Pilgrimage tenor mouthpiece and I asked Mr. Shizhao if this was a copy or an original design. He responded that it was a copy of an original Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece he had bought off of Ebay and forwarded this description to me from the Ebay ad. This brought up this whole subject of which mouthpiece Michael Brecker actually played on and what did the baffle actually look like once again.
Guardala Description from Ebay Ad
Haha!! This ominous posting from an unknown source confirms all the rumors and conspiracies that I had heard! (sarcasm…..) Here is a picture of the Shizhao Pilgrimage model which is advertised as a copy of the original Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece model that Michael Brecker actually played based off of the description in the ad above. Notice the smooth baffle and lack of a shelf baffle in the photo………..
Liu Shizhoa’s Pilgrimage model exact copy of Guardala Traditional model?
This is of course proven as a fact by an anonymous Ebay seller who heard this truth from the anonymous person that he bought the Guardala mouthpiece from…… What more evidence do we need! Mystery solved!! (sarcasm…….)
BUT, what of all the people that claim otherwise? Jennifer Price who worked with Dave Guardala wrote this on Facebook:
“Michael mostly used a standard MB1, however for a short period of time he used the MBII which is basically the same with a slightly longer baffle. Both pieces were just regular Guardala pieces. I of course know this because I worked on the pieces he played. Periodically we would go to Mike’s home and he would switch out. He really loved the sound of the wood one we made, it was really hard to make and I’m still picking dust from the wood off me lol but after the three of us discussed it – in the end the wood is not practical, but his smile that day was infectious and to hear him play something that took days to make was definitely a highlight in my life.” -Jennifer Price
“Yes, as I explained we went to Mike’s house a lot and he had a draw of pieces, but……the ones that he played that we made were always the same thing. He would trade out with us each time and kept about 8”-Jennifer Price
So that settles it, we now have a first hand witness that Michael Brecker played a MBI or MBII which looked similar to this photo with a shelf baffle in it.
A Vigilante MBI made as Jennifer Price remembers making Brecker’s Guardala
Notice the shelf baffle………..
But then we have all these other reported accounts from across the internet:
“When I saw Michael playing in the early 90s, he was actually playing (for that gig anyway) a Branford model.. I had one for a while, and the baffle was smaller/shorter? Meaning a warmer sound..still had a nice refined focus”-John
“The original listing Steve posted looks like a misquoted story from Jeff Powell I saw years ago. He said MB decided to use what was called a Traditional model back then. So DG renamed that design the MB and they came up with a new Traditional design that had a lower arched baffle. So if you have a really old Traditional, it could be the same as a MB design.”-Mojo
“What I know was that the so-called MB1 that Brecker played was different from the MB1s sold in the market. The step baffle drop was smooth and not a straight drop. The Traditional model was what Mike played until later when it was renamed the MB1. The MBII was an accident. Somebody in the factory brought home Studio blanks and hand-finished MB1 baffles in them. So the MB2 was actually a bastard-son of the Studio and the MB1.”-unknown
“I have a friend who was at his master class and saw the inside to his mouthpiece and said it was a roll over baffle no step up at all…”-unknown
“We originally had two mouthpieces- Studio and Traditional. When Michael decided he would play the Traditional we renamed it Brecker. We then made a new mouthpiece with a slightly shorter baffle and called THAT the Traditional”-Jeffrey Powell (also worked with Guardala)
“The MBII is actually a Studio, but with a MB chamber/bore. This was how it was created…by accident when one of Dave’s workers brought home Studio blanks and worked the MB chambers into them… I believe Jeff Powell, (Guardala’s partner), said he designed the original MB II for a tour Brecker did with Paul Simon, (as an aside, Jeff also said Michael didn’t use it). From what I remember, Jeff said that he did the CAD/CAM work and Dave finished the pieces, (hand filing them).” -Wersax (SOTW)
After reading all these comments, you’re probably even more confused. So am I……. So what is the answer here? What did the inside of Brecker’s mouthpiece actually look like? I’m still confused! Louis Gerrits recently posted this picture on Facebook which was cool to see and perhaps helped me come to a resolution to this question that has plagued me for years. It is an old photo of a cabinet in Michael Brecker’s home. What do you see on the bottom shelf?
A Cabinet in Michael Brecker’s Home
If you look down at the bottom of the cabinet in the photo above, you can see what looks like 12-15 Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpieces! Is it possible that Michael Brecker had a variety of Guardala models and baffle configurations to choose from? Could it be possible that he at times chose to play on different mouthpieces to suit different gigs? If this is perhaps true, maybe we have an answer to the conflicting reports that I have been reading and hearing about over the years.
Maybe the lesson to be learned here isn’t that we need a copy of the exact mouthpiece Michael Brecker played to be great and sound like him but maybe the lesson here is that Brecker perhaps played on different Guardala mouthpieces and baffles throughout his career and if he did, did any of us notice? Or did he pretty much just sound like the same amazing Michael Brecker regardless of the mouthpiece that he was using? Who knows the answer to that one???
At this point you’re probably wanting more definitive answers and proof. Both of which I do not have at this point in time. All I have heard and read is posted above for you to draw your own conclusions. I am still very curious and wish Michael was still around to ask first hand that is for sure.
The purpose of this post wasn’t to reveal the definitive answer to this question as much as it is to raise the question and perhaps get some more insight from readers of this blog. If you have any more inside information on this subject I would love to hear it. Feel free to post in the comments below. Thanks, Steve
2022 Important Update to this post:
I wanted to add this important addition to this blog post. Dr. David Demsey at William Paterson University is the Curator of the Living Jazz Archives. He has a whole section of the livingarchives.org site dedicated to Michael Brecker. On these pages he has posted detailed photos of Michael Brecker’s tenor saxophone as well as the last Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece that was still on his Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone after he died. This is the mouthpiece that he recorded the Pilgrimage album with.
Michael Brecker’s Guardala Mouthpiece that was on his Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone after he died. He recorded the Pilgrimage album with this mouthpiece according to Dr. David Demsey-Curator, Living Jazz Archives William Paterson University
You can see the wear from the silver Selmer 404 ligature that Michael always used with his Guardala mouthpieces. This wear definitely makes it look like Michael used this particular Guardala tenor saxophone mouthpiece quite a bit……….
Michael Brecker’s Guardala Mouthpiece that was on his Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone after he died. He recorded the Pilgrimage album with this mouthpiece according to Dr. David Demsey-Curator, Living Jazz Archives William Paterson University
And now, for the big reveal that we have all been waiting for. The photo below is of the baffle area of the Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece Michael Brecker was last playing before his death on January 13th, 2007. You can see clearly that the baffle on this mouthpiece is not a “shelf baffle but is indeed a “rollover” baffle as I enquired about in this blog post in 2016. As has been stated above, Michael Brecker owned a variety of Guardala tenor sax mouthpieces but the photos of this mouthpiece are clear evidence that he did indeed play a “rollover” baffle Guardala mouthpiece at times. What albums and recording he used which Guardala mouthpiece and baffle on is all conjecture. I would tend to guess that he perhaps used a shelf baffled Guardala on the louder and more aggressive Brecker Brothers recordings of the 90’s but only Michael would know the answer to that question.
Michael Brecker’s Guardala Mouthpiece that was on his Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone after he died. He recorded the Pilgrimage album with this mouthpiece according to Dr. David Demsey-Curator, Living Jazz Archives William Paterson University
Thanks to Dr. David Demsey at William Paterson University for answering this question of mine. This is not a definitive answer in that we can’t prove that Michael Brecker used this Guardala tenor mouthpiece on every recording he ever played on, but at least we know for a fact that he did at times play on a Guardala tenor sax mouthpiece with a “rollover” baffle in it and he used this exact mouthpiece for his last Pilgrimage recording session.
Rest in Peace Michael Brecker! We just passed the 15 year anniversary of his unfortunate passing. He is still missed just as much by all of us in the music world and saxophone community. We think of you every day as we still listen to your music, transcribe your crazy solos and now, a new generation of sax players are growing up, discovering your music and trying just as hard to do what you seemed to do so effortlessly. You have left us all an everlasting legacy to remember you by. Thank you!!!
If you have any thoughts, insights or additional comments to add, please feel free to comment below.
Michael Brecker’s Guardala Mouthpiece that was on his tenor saxophone after he died. He recorded the Pilgrimage album with this mouthpieceb according to Dr. David Demsey-Curator, Living Jazz Archives William Paterson University