I never developed the ear for the saxophonist’s individuality as you describe it, but I do have that ear for the electric guitar masters
Yes, it depends on what you spend a lot of time listening to. I could not do that with rock guitarists as you can. Jazz guitarists? I could pretty easily. Jim Hall, Wes, Kenny Burrell, Kessel, Pass etc. No doubt that our ear-brain pathway can be trained to recognize musician’s uniqueness.
Charles