2. music
  3. 1130119200

Your Top 5 Sax Players?

Ok jazz heads I know there are tons of Tenor and Alto players out there that can impress you on any given day, but who would qualify to be on your ALLTIME great list of five? I know it is hard to limit it to just five, but that is just to make you think a little harder on who really gets to your heart and soul the most. Some guys had very short careers and others had very long ones with many great recordings of exceptional merit. Some were better live and others were better in the studio, but what we want to know is who could REALLY play? Here are my five.

1. Stan Getz
2. Sony Rollins
3. John Cotrane
4. Sonny Stitt
5. Ben Webster
eddinanm3
qdrone
1,041 posts
 
Yeah Kenny G, that begs the question if an artist finds a niche and crosses over to the mainstream selling audience ala Chuck Mangione,John Klemmer,George Benson is it still jazz. I dug John Klemmer and included him on my list because he put out some pretty trippy stuff in the late 70's but it wasn't traditional jazz. Hey I dig Paul Desmond and play his Mosiac box set every now and then and say what you will about the guy but he could rip with the best of them.Nuff said.
duanegoosen
355 posts
 
Desmond and Klemmer blow me away. Klemmer's "Eruptions" record (1970) is an amazing brain scorcher w/ tons of depraved guitar work, "Constant Throb" and "Intensity" are also excellent.
frogman
7,493 posts
 
Duanegoosen, point well taken; almost. As I see it, Edinanm3 asks for two different things, really. ALL TIME GREAT has to mean most influential. By the same token, those five may not necessarily be one's favorites. So, using your interpretation of this thread's original calling, my top five are:

"Lockjaw" Davis
Johnny Hodges
Hank Mobley
Joe Henderson
Wayne Shorter

Why, because they "really get to (my) heart and soul the most"

I have to respectfully and strongly disagree with you about both Desmond and Sanborn. Desmond's sophistication of swing and sound, and subtlety of phrasing are extremely respected by most players. The "whitebread" sensibility you talk about is an unfair characterization of his artistry. Just because he doesn't swing "hard" in the obvious sense, or because he had the courage (like others such as Mulligan, or Konitz) to play without sounding like his horn was going to split at the seams all the time, does not mean that he was not playing at an extremely high level.

As far as Sanborn goes, my comments had nothing to do chronology. Yes, there were others playing in a pop/jazz bag before he did; although there is plenty of work by him as a sideman before he recorded as a leader. Check out some of his work with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, or the Gil Evans Orchestra. If that doesn't qualify him as a great and highly individualistic saxophone player, I don't know what does. Anyway, the vast majority (and I mean VAST) of contemporary alto players playing our pet-peave-genre "smooth jazz", owe their sound to Sanborn, and they would be the first to admit it. That was my point.

Three more for the list:

Joe Farrell
Eddie Harris
Georege Coleman

BTW, a friendly aside: If you want to really bug a saxophone player, call it a saxAphone.

All the best.
qdrone
1,041 posts
 
Yeah but don't forget Touch,Barefoot Ballet and a very underated recording and my favorite Lifestyles. Sure it's not traditional jazz but it sure is spacey,dreamy,music to just float with after a hard day at the salt mines.
eddinanm3 OP
20 posts
 
Frogman, I like your second list better than your first one, I guess they make more sense to me. And I almost completely forgot about Joe Farrell, I had a couple of his lp's from the 70's, can't remember their names, but they weren't bad.
More to discover