“I needed to connect with a team of professionals that was able to grow and adapt their product line to match the different twists and turns my career could take at any minute. I could have 30 minutes to warm up for a set and I could have 30 seconds. Once I played Silverstein’s Ampiboly synthetic reeds, I was able to comfortably walk on stage – no matter the situation – knowing that I had complete trust and confidence in my reeds and the team of professionals that created them.”
Born and raised in New Jersey, Zack Sandler spent most of his early years listening to bar band rock n roll at different clubs along the Jersey Shore. Most of the saxophone players in this area had one thing in common – a dirty, big-growl and thick tone taking after the likes of Clarence “Big Man” Clemons from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Clubs like The Stone Pony and The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park were a breeding ground for up-and-coming artists tangled in with legends like Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and many more. These classic moments were the undisputed inspiration behind Sandler’s saxophone career.
Zack Sandler began playing saxophone in the 4th grade, a product of properly funded music education in public school districts. He immediately began listening to sax-driven rock n roll and practicing his horn outside of the classroom. He continued to play saxophone throughout high school and during his time at Monmouth University, from which he graduated with a degree in Music Industry and with Honors. Sandler paired up with local punks Bobby
Mahoney and the Seventh Son and started sitting in with the band regularly. They’d go on to play clubs all around the Jersey Shore, and eventually had the opportunity to open for Bon Jovi at a sold-out Prudential Center in 2018. In addition to sharing the stage with Bobby Mahoney, Sandler also plays in a Bruce Springsteen tribute band properly named “The E Street Shuffle”, with other 100 gigs on their calendar per year.
“I always like putting on a show that I would want to see if I was sitting in the crowd that night” says Sandler. “I remember from an early age watching Foreigner’s saxophone player Tom Gimbel dance around the stage with a huge smile on his face. It all seemed natural and happy. I was excited to watch him have a good time on stage making music. That’s something that I carry with me each night when I play – the excitement and the passion to pick up my saxophone and put on an energetic performance with genuine happiness.”
