About Peter Ponzol

For more than five decades, Peter Ponzol has combined the perspective of a professional saxophonist with the curiosity of an instrument designer. His career has taken him from the American jazz scene to stages throughout Europe—and from performing on saxophones to helping redesign the instruments and mouthpieces themselves.

From Philadelphia to the International Jazz Scene

Born in Philadelphia in 1938, Peter developed as a saxophonist in one of America's great jazz cities. By the 1970s, he was active in the New York jazz and studio scene, performing and recording with musicians including Monty Alexander, Elvin Jones, Pharoah Sanders, Larry Young, Randy Brecker and Jimmy Cobb.

In 1977, Peter received a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Performance Grant. In 1980, he received a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to come to Germany as a visiting artist. He moved to Germany in 1981 and remained there until returning to the United States in 1993. During those years, he performed extensively throughout Europe and was a frequent guest with the Frankfurt Radio Jazz Ensemble.

From Player to Designer

Peter's work as a designer grew directly from his experience as a player. Rather than approaching saxophone design strictly as an engineer, he approached it from behind the mouthpiece—studying how changes in chamber shape, baffle, bore, neck taper and instrument design affected response, projection, intonation and tone.

Beginning in the late 1970s, that work led to collaborations with major manufacturers including Buffet Crampon, Julius Keilwerth and Antigua Winds. His work with Keilwerth during the 1980s resulted in saxophones bearing the Peter Ponzol name, and decades later his collaboration with Antigua produced the Pro-One series.

The Ponzol Sound

Drawing on more than four decades of experience in mouthpiece and saxophone design, Peter developed his own line of Ponzol mouthpieces. Over the years, those designs have evolved through a variety of materials, including stainless steel, aluminum, hard rubber and today's precision-machined Delrin models.

Although the materials and designs vary, the philosophy has remained consistent: create mouthpieces that respond easily, project when needed and give the player the flexibility to shape an individual sound. Each current Ponzol design reflects decades of experience on both sides of the instrument—as a player and as a designer.

MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF MOUTHPIECE DESIGN

Today, Peter's designs continue to be played by saxophonists around the world. His unusual career—performer, recording artist, educator and designer—has given Ponzol Mouthpieces a history very different from that of a typical musical instrument company.

They weren't simply designed for saxophone players. They were designed by one.