pjw, thanks for the recommendation and clips; I enjoyed them. I heard JC live at the Village Vanguard early on and enjoyed his playing. He is even more impressive now.
No question that JC could hold his own with some of the old timers. In fact, I believe he is a traditionalist at heart more than anything. When he plays he evokes the style of “old timers” like Arnett Cobb, Don Byas and Hawkins with that highly stylized and very robust tenor sound. What is unique about him is that he combines that style and sound with “techniques” on the saxophone that hadn’t been explored nor mastered to that degree by the old timers. He has great control of the extreme high register and it’s almost odd to hear playing in that range combined with the “old timer” tone approach. He double and triple tongues; practically unheard of back then. He growls and slap tongues. He plays with a tremendous amount of exuberance which, as you point out, is considered by some to be merely “showing off”. I’m not quite sure what showing off means, but that level of exuberance practically at all times is why I am mixed about his playing; eventhough he is a very exciting player and certainly knows how to appeal to an audience. A lot to be said for that. I like JC; a lot. I just wish he would do a lot less of that stuff. Moreover, I don’t believe he has the fluidity and command of complex harmony that some of the “newbies” have. A lot of what he plays is relatively simple harmonically and he is not the kind of player that can rip through “Giant Steps” the way that a player like Eric Alexander can. Different players bring different things to the table. I enjoy most a less exuberant and more harmonically disciplined way of playing. Still, I like that a player like JC is keeping alive a style that is not always screaming “Coltrane!”.
Another “newbie” with a sound that evokes some of the old timers, but with a modern harmonic concept:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4gTzj1EicAU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8wnETzFQ2ok
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YebOyztBhwA
No question that JC could hold his own with some of the old timers. In fact, I believe he is a traditionalist at heart more than anything. When he plays he evokes the style of “old timers” like Arnett Cobb, Don Byas and Hawkins with that highly stylized and very robust tenor sound. What is unique about him is that he combines that style and sound with “techniques” on the saxophone that hadn’t been explored nor mastered to that degree by the old timers. He has great control of the extreme high register and it’s almost odd to hear playing in that range combined with the “old timer” tone approach. He double and triple tongues; practically unheard of back then. He growls and slap tongues. He plays with a tremendous amount of exuberance which, as you point out, is considered by some to be merely “showing off”. I’m not quite sure what showing off means, but that level of exuberance practically at all times is why I am mixed about his playing; eventhough he is a very exciting player and certainly knows how to appeal to an audience. A lot to be said for that. I like JC; a lot. I just wish he would do a lot less of that stuff. Moreover, I don’t believe he has the fluidity and command of complex harmony that some of the “newbies” have. A lot of what he plays is relatively simple harmonically and he is not the kind of player that can rip through “Giant Steps” the way that a player like Eric Alexander can. Different players bring different things to the table. I enjoy most a less exuberant and more harmonically disciplined way of playing. Still, I like that a player like JC is keeping alive a style that is not always screaming “Coltrane!”.
Another “newbie” with a sound that evokes some of the old timers, but with a modern harmonic concept:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4gTzj1EicAU
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8wnETzFQ2ok
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YebOyztBhwA