Your Top 5 Sax Players?

Here's 5 who are perhaps underappreciated, compared with the justly celebrated likes of Coltrane and Rollins:

Coleman Hawkins
Hank Mobley
Art Pepper
Stanley Turrentine
Hamiet Bluiett

Pleased to see all mentioned above, save Bluiett. For a sense of him, try the excellent Bluiett, Jackson, and El'Zabar, "The Calling."

jmd

There was no shortage of players around to develop strains of the smooth jazz pathogen, Paul Desmond might be viewed as a source. Tom Scott, John Klemmer, Klaus Doldinger and Jan Garbarek (all great players) probably would have pumped out the same generic swill with or without David Sanborn, (they all put out records that pre date Sanborn's first record). Hoardes of others could have crossed any microscopic artisic chasm that existed prior to the smooth stuff in the early and mid 70's. No one person can legitimately be blamed or credited for the birth of McJazz.

Well, we've pretty well scoured the roster for the 'Five Top Saxists', but no list can be complete without the inclusion of Curtis Ousley, aka King Curtis, Plas Johnson, Red Holloway, Curtis Amy, Paquito D'Rivera or Willis Jackson. (My top five? Parker, Young, Trane, Rollins and Stitt. I agree that Sidney Bechet deserves attention here, as does Coleman Hawkins.) BTW, the discussion of 'smooth' jazz is, with all due respect to Yogi, deja vu all over again. Even before Creed Taylor filled the record bins with his CTI version of smooth jazz, many traditionalists had already blasted various artists - not the least of which was Miles Davis - for abandoning what they felt was hard, traditional jazz: an act of heresy. Jazz simply can't be defined in such narrow terms.

Paul Desmond a source in the smooth jazz genre as we define it today? I don't think so. I'm afraid that the point I was trying to make has been, as expected, not understood. My choice of those five players have to do with the main contributors to the stylistic development of jazz SAXOPHONE playing. No claim as to who was responsible for the birth of smooth jazz as a genre was made, but rather the stylistic development of saxophone players in that genre. Wether we like the genre or not is not the point. Sanborn's style on the saxophone is without a doubt the most emulated of any saxophone player over the last twenty to thirty years; with the possible exeption of Michael Brecker, but his style in clearly rooted in Coltrane. Sanborn's style, when all is said and done, is far more more individualistic. Please don't misunderstand, I am not defending the genre, nor am I giving it as much credibility as, swing, bop, or hard bop.

BTW, as is usually the case, by using labels, we tend to lump worthy contributors to a genre with the hoardes putting out drivel. I stand by my choices. Look at the issue in a broad, forward looking way, and it will become obvious.

Sweet Lou Donaldson
Cannonball Adderley
Ike Quebec
John Klemmer
Hank Mobley