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

Showing 2 responses by islandear

islandear
208 posts
 
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.
islandear
208 posts
 
While Desmond has been described here as a proponent of 'smooth' (more aptly known as 'cool') jazz, he was really much more than that. He employed adventurous time signatures and Brubeck acknowledges this in an intro during the 1963 Carnegie Hall performance. He had superb control and was a wonderful balladeer. His recordings with Gerry Mulligan and Jim Hall better demonstrate his talent than those he made with Brubeck, IMHO. Was he influential? Was he one of the best? I always find these questions troubling, just as I find it nearly impossible to limit my 'favorites list' to only five performers or performances. I really enjoy Desmond, as I do Konitz, and Benny Carter even though they each have a much different voice than Trane, or Ornette or Von Freeman...
More to discover