Saxophonist Bennett Wood is a freelance musician, composer and clinician. 

He was recently appointed as Director of Jazz Studies at Webster University. He previously held academic appointments at the University of Memphis, Mineral Area College, Texas State University, Texas Lutheran University, and Texas A&M University-Kingsville and served as the Interim Director of Education and Community Engagement and Education Coordinator at Jazz St. Louis.

Bennett is an experienced bandleader and an in-demand sideman. In addition to leading his own groups at nationally recognized venues, including Crosstown Arts, the Elephant Room, and Jazz St. Louis, Bennett has performed alongside internationally acclaimed musicians including Nat Adderley Jr., Ralph Bowen, Chris Cheek, John Clayton, Alan Ferber, Andre Hayward, Sean Jones, Doug Lawrence, Butch Miles, Allison Miller, Greg Osby, Bruce Saunders, Maria Schneider, Terrell Stafford, and Kenny Werner.

Bennett earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. He holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Bennett’s debut album, Space In Time, is available now on all streaming platforms. Physical CDs will be available soon on Wood’s website.

The link to his full biography, along with more Resources for this episode, is on our website.

In this episode, we talked about:

🎷 Common saxophone embouchure mistake when trying to play softer 🎷 Laryngeal flexibility and Jerry Bergonzi’s No Embouchure Embouchure  🎷 Thoughtful process of teaching that inspires students 🎷 Being aware of the audience’s perspective when performing 🎷 The biggest disservice musicians can do when pursuing teaching 🎷 And much more!

If you want to do something well, you have to be willing to be bad at it first - Christopher McBride

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