Bass Recordings

[Jazzophone]

Can anyone point me towards some reputable recordings featuring bass saxophone? Hard to find apparently, and I haven't ever heard one of the monsters. Feedback would rock. thanks.

[Bootman]

Drop me a line and I can send you some.

[Ritchie]

The latest James Carter CD feature bass sax tracks ("Chasin' The Gypsy" and "Layin' the Cut"). Or try some Art Ensemble Of Chicago recordings.

[Ritchie]

Saxophone Quinet/Quartet music featuring bass sax: Kölner Saxophon Mafia http://www.wollie-kaiser.de/timeghosthomepage/saxophonmafia/ with downloadable MP3s.

[Ritchie]

... sorry, the site is in German. But you'll find the MP3s anyway :wink:

[Dave Dolson]

Jazzophone: Many of Bix Beiderbecke's recordings from the '20's featured bass saxophone. Also, Red Nichols had Joe Rushton in his band - a marvelous bass sax player. But, this stuff is the original jazz, so some may not like it. I do. DAVE

[Bob M]

Just saw this one. Glenn Shambroom of the Boston area jump blues band "The Love Dogs", plays Bass sax (a vintage Buescher) on several of their recordings. On his first solo CD, "Make Room for Snappy" and "Include Me Out", Shambroom plays Bass on the standard "You Don't Know What Love Is".

[Paul Coats]

http://www.kalwaremicro.com/rcsq/

Buy their great CD, Smiles & Chuckles, which is a tribute CD to the great Six Brown Brothers.

You can listen to some samples farther down the page.

In particular, listen to my favorite, Bullfrog Blues, and Passion Dance.

Check out ANYTHING by the Nuclear Whales,

The Nuclear Whales
Thar She Blows
and more.

Listen to Meg Graf with Calamity Jazz, www.calamityjazz.com and the CD is Cookin' With Calamity.

[HC]

Seems like you guys forgot the great Adrian Rollini.

[Paul Coats]

Seems like you guys forgot the great Adrian Rollini.

Not at all, but CD's of Rollini are rare.

I have some Spencer Clark made from old LP's now on CD, and I have a 26 track CD of old Six Brown Brothers recordings from 78's and Edison cylinders.

Look for "Those Moanin' Saxophones." This is a compilation of Six Brown Brothers tunes that accompanies Dr. Bruce Vermazen's bio of the SBB, That Moanin' Saxophone:

http://print.google.com/print?id=ooIIuLJ20hYC&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3Dbruce%2Bvermazen&pg=3&sig=udgxcCJR4VQZ 29DrTn8HfcRm0AQ

Six Brown Brothers
Those Moaning Saxophones

Archeophone Records 6002

http://www.archeophone.com/product_info.php?products_id=47

On this page listen to Peter Gink and Smiles & Chuckles.

BTW, my book and CD are autographed by Dr. Vermazen! Thanks, Bruce!

[HC]

Evidently Amazon.com has Rollini CDs.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000WKN/ref%3Dnosim/saxontheweb/

[Paul Coats]

REALLY! Cool! I was unaware of these.

[Dave Dolson]

Me, too. I reviewed the tune list for that CD and saw several Bix Beiderbecke cuts that I already have. I wasn't aware that Rollini played on those Bix sides, although I knew whoever played bass sax on those recordings was HOT!. DAVE

[Harri Rautiainen]

Seems like you guys forgot the great Adrian Rollini.

Not at all, but CD's of Rollini are rare.Paul,
some decades ago I found a CD entitled:
The California Ramblers with Adrian Rollini in a For Sale bin in Manhattan record store. When I first listened to it at home I realized that this was a gem. Besides California Ramblers Rollini plays on it also with Colden Gate Orchestra. It shares some titles with:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000J2PY/ref%3Dnosim/saxontheweb/

Then there are, of course: Tiger rag, Sweet Georgia Brown and Beale Street Blues.
For Scandinavians: Copenhagen and Stockholm Stomp

Bass saxophone is a bass saxophone of course, but the music on this CD is altogether very enjoyable and representative of white jazz players of mid-1920's.

[Harri Rautiainen]

Evidently Amazon.com has Rollini CDs.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000000WKN/ref%3Dnosim/saxontheweb/
On the CD which HC mentions are titles:
"Kickin' the Cat" and "Beatin' the Dog".
On the CD I have there is "Dustin' The Donkey".

Does anyone know any background of these music titles. Just curious :)

P.S. I made your Amazon URL shorter to better fit on the page.

[Paul Coats]

Copenhagen was a Charlie Davis piece, 1925.

Ronald Heitmajer made a great recording of this with his Beau Hunks Saxophone Trio (alto, alto, tenor), with piano accompanyment. Done in the old sax trio harmony style of the 1920's dance orchestras.

[Dave Dolson]

Re: COPENHAGEN . . . music by Charlie Davis, words by Walter Melrose, copyright 1924; published key Bb (info right off the sheet music). DAVE

[Bass Kid]

Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band of Seattle has 2 bass saxes on occasion and on three CD's, there are three. Their website is:

www.uptownlowdownjazz.com

There is actually a fair bit of Rollini stuff out there. One of my pals that plays bass sent me some stuff from Joe Venuti's Blue Fours and Fives and Miff Mole, etc. I don't know where he got it.

[Dave Dolson]

Bass Kid: You are correct about Uptown Lowdown, a terrific trad jazz band in your area. I count Paul Woltz, Bert Barr, and John Goodrich (and the rest of them, including Bert's wife, Rose Marie) as personal friends. I've played with all those guys many times - and they are superb, including the bass saxophone act. DAVE

[Bass Kid]

Actually, I am rather new to the whole bass sax community, but that is a great band, and I too have played with them, on tuba. Speaking of which, you may know some of the same people I do down in LA like George Probert or Ray Cadd. Paul is keeping his eye out for a reasonably priced bass sax for me. If you or anyone else on this board knows of one, please let me know. I know that Larry Wright is selling his bass right now, but his current price is out of my ballpark. Thanks in advance for your help.

Paul

[lowguy]

Look for (easy to find) Scott Robinson's recordings, esp (with bass sax) Wind of Changes (LP), Thinking Big (Arbors Records), Jazz Ambassador (Arbors) ; he plays too bass sax in Maria Schneider's orchestra, with Greg Cohen (on : Way Low).
Scott is an extraordinary musician, excellent on all woodwinds (from Eb clarinet to contrabass sax, but on euphonium or cornet too...), and plays in very various contexts - his recordings as a leader are very... amazing.

Rollini of course.

Vinny Golia too, Anthony Braxton sometimes, Joseph Jarman.

In a classical way : Jay Easton, with many samples and photos (jayeaston.com)

[Kritavi]

I am listening to Vinny Golia's "A Gift for the Unusual"-Music for Contrabass sax and it is tremendous. I find this the most musical and interesting recordings of the low horns that I have heard. His tone is just beautiful and he collaborates with a variety of players on some creative but not out pieces. Well worth seeking outl With Braxton it sometimes had more of a novelty sensation whereas there is none of that with this recording.

[DD3]

Old thread but I enjoyed reading Paul and Harri's comments about Rollini. Personally I really like the CDs by the Nuclear Whales but if you want to hear vintage Bass Sax or any vintage blues,jazz Dixieland check out this web site.

www.redhotjazz.com

Under search put in Rollini and start listening to the full old recordings of Adrian, Bix , Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, etc. This is just a great web site and the amount of work must have been substantial.

When you hear Adrian Rollini playing these old (20's) tunes then you know what the bass sax is all about.

Hope everyone has great holidays and a happy new year.

[paulwl]

Look for CDs by Bert Lown (The Old Masters label) or Lud Gluskin (Jazz Oracle label). These guys led 20s-30s dance bands that gave a prominent place to the bass sax. Rollini featured frequently with Lown, Spencer Clark with both bands (sometimes playing rhythm bass while Rollini played with the horns!).

[Angel]

For those of you in France, or with a lot of money and time on your hands for the loooooooong search ahead of you, I recommend:

Marie-Bernadette Charrier. Londeix's successor at Bordeaux, she is a bari expert, but has several recordings on bass saxo. She is lights out.

Daniel Kientzy. Talk about someone who can literally do anything at any time. He is a very dangerous saxophonist who concertizes extensively on every possible saxophone. His bass playing is formidable. I attended his concert at Bowling Green (OH) a couple years back, and was absolutely riveted for two hours. His performance of "Cyberpunk" for unaccompanied bass saxo was to die for.

Angel

[clipper]

Big in this case refers to the Contrabass he plays on several numbers. Six feet eight inches of horn. He also plays contrabass Sarrusophone on "Mandy make up your Mind" - a real vibrating beast. You can compare his technique with Bechet's on the same horn if you go to Clarence Williams on redhotjazz.com. He also does a really nice version of Sleepy Time Gal on the bass sax - very Rollini-like. I think he should do an album of just Bass Sax - it's such a beautiful sounding instrument. Anyway the album is well worth checking out. Not nearly enough Bass Sax music out there!

[SOTSDO]

Look for Leon Redbone albums; a lot of his stuff features a bass sax solo turn.

[saxtek]

Scott Robinson is unique. "Thinking Big" is great, with lots of bass and contrabass sax, as mentioned above. He also plays bass sax on his other CD "Winds of Change." He plays very modern jazz solos on bass sax with Maria Schneider's orchestra. And he plays traditional jazz on recordings with Randy Sandke. Check him out.

Meanwhile, I just do the best I can because I love bass sax. Here's Charlie Christian's Air Mail Special with a prerecorded background on my Eppelsheim bass.

http://members.aol.com/saxtek/AirMailSpecial.WMA

Full disclosure: Hot licks stolen from Cootie Williams, Geaorgie Auld, and Sal Nistico

[VictorJ7]

I just met Ryan Styles on myspace and i created a bass sax page and put his Song for My Father on it...check it out...
http://www.myspace.com/basssaxophonesonly