Biography

Hey there! My name is Jake Dester, and I’m a professional musician based in NYC with over 20 years of experience.

I work as a performer, teacher, studio musician, composer, and producer.

My Education

I studied music at the world-renowned University of North Texas (North Texas State) where I learned from faculty, guest lecturers, and artists in residence. I have a degree in Jazz Saxophone Performance with an emphasis in Jazz Arranging & Composition and a minor in Music Theory.

In school, I studied with some of the world’s greatest teachers and players. In my time at North Texas I was privileged to learn from jazz saxophone Professors Jim Riggs (Frank Sinatra, Dallas Symphony) and Brad Leali (Harry Connick, Jr.).

I was also fortunate to learn from amazing guest artists including Dave Brubeck, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Cobb, and Bobby McFerrin.

I gained insights from countless other guest lecturers at UNT including many living saxophone legends such as Chris Potter, Dave Pietro,  Jeff Coffin, Dave Binney, Will Vinson, and Wess Anderson. 

Additionally, I studied one-on-one with a variety of players beyond the core faculty including Mike Steinel (author of Building A Jazz Vocabulary), Chris Dickhaus (Saxophone Professor at Winona State University), Dustin Mollick (baritone sax in the Jazz Ambassadors), and Brian Girley (in-demand NYC performer and influencer).

What I Will Teach You

Each student is unique, and it is my goal as your saxophone tutor to shape my teaching style and give assignments based on how you learn, your skill level, your taste and desired results, and your available practice time.

Lessons are focused on what is most useful for you, and may consist of any combination of the following:

• Help with music for school, professional gigs, and/or recreational bands and ensembles
• Prep for auditions
• Scales, arpeggios, and other patterns
• Technical and lyrical etudes
• Reading music
• Learning all the fingerings
• Tone and sound production
• Tonguing and articulation
• Improvisation
• Standard jazz tunes
• History of saxophone playing
• Musical notation
• Music theory
• Writing your own music and exercises
• Sight reading
• Classical studies and etudes
• Jazz transcription
• Playing by ear
• Hearing and being able to identify chords and chord changes by ear
• Reading lead sheets
• Using computer software and apps to improve learning speed

Courses