[Al Tissimo]

I'm playing Lead Alto in my section for the First time, after a long period on 1st Tenor. Can Anyone Suggest some good recordings of Lead Altos that really took the cake, I'm looking for specific albums and songs, especially 1960's-70's bands like Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Basie, Don Ellis, Woody Herman.

Thanks!

 

[saxxsymbol]

look for lennie neihause recordings. he played in the stan kenton band among others.

 

[saxxsymbol]

anything by the herman band. woody did a live recording in clearwater florida . they played 25 to 6 to 4 !!

 

[DanPerezSax]

Man, there are so many great recordings... but for some reason the one that stands out to me at this moment is Quincy Jones's "Quintessence," from the album of the same name. Check that alto out, man! Oh yeah, it's Phil Woods, by the way...

 

[stoneridge]

Do you have a print of Phil's Quintessence solo?

 

[daviderato]

Grove Merchant (Thad Jones). It's a soprano lead, but the way they phrase the soli section is nothing short of amazing.


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[daviderato]

Three and One (Jones).

Hay Burner (Basie)

Ya Gotta Try (Basie)

Tuning Up (Toshiko)

I would add Buddy Rich to your list. Toshiko can be hard to find. Don Ellis is great but the few tunes that are accessible to most modern bands don't showcase much section playing (with a few exceptions, like 4 bars in Open Wide).


I have playlists all of those bands on various social music apps/sites (Spotify/Rdio/YouTube). They're charts that my big band plays. Feel free to check them out.


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[LittleMushi]

Anything by SUPERSAX!

 

[gary]

Basie's "The Atomic Mister Basie".

Pat Williams' "Threshold".

Go to youtube and search "The Airmen of Note".

Oliver Nelson's "Jazzhattan Suite". Phil Woods lead alto.

 

[whaler]

It doesn't get much better than Jerome Richardson or Dick Oates.