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For the big 4, (soprano alto tenor bari) name your favorite player(s) for each based off their SOUND alone, I like pepper adams in general best but Harry carney and Leo parker beat him out in sound for me for sure. Then, choose your favorite out of all of them! Make sure to explain why for each. Hoping to learn some cool players and hear professional opinions too.
For me:
Soprano: Bennie Maupin, Steve Lacy. Bennie maupin is a personal favorite of mine after I discovered his work on bass clarinet on bitches brew (when I was new to jazz I listened to all miles albums and then started listening to the artists on those albums leader work) and then his playing on Herbie hancock’s thrust, truly an excellent sound. Steve Lacy’s album “the straight horn of Steve lacy” is one of my favorite albums ever because of that super high and super low sax quartet sound. I feel like Steve lacy sounds so good because almost all soprano players are more fluent and originally on tenor but Steve lacy is definitely most known for his soprano playing.
Alto: Shafi Hadi, Sonny Stitt, Jackie McLean
Shafi hadi was an incredible player who was recorded very little, but his sound on those Mingus albums is super cool because you don’t hear much fufu breath alto player sound and I think he did it best. Stitt and McLean on the other hand appeal to the opposite spectrum for me, 2 very bright hard-boppers. McLean was known for playing sharp too and I definitely like that as a power move.
Tenor: John Coltrane and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis
Trane is considered by many to be the greatest saxophonist who ever lived, myself included despite his music being sometimes to electrifying to listen to all the time, but something I do not see discussed about him enough is his sound. For as firey and passionate as he would play his tone remained very even across all registers, and that tone happened to be very unique and fun to listen to. Lockjaw is a tenor player I wish more people knew. His album The Heavy Hitter is one of my favorites and his sound is just so quintessentially bluesy and fuzzy. Love it.
Bari: Harry Carney, Leo Parker
This one is so challenging for me because these two are so close in their sound. Harry carney was in my opinion the first dude to make the bari’s voice heard, instead of just the low subtle harmonic anchor for a big band sax section. Leo parker is super earthy and bellowing and I would have loved to hear him develop as a musician with blue note records, sadly he only had two albums with bnr before he passed.
Top favorite: So hard!!! Gotta be harry carney though. I currently only play bari and bass clarinet and I always come to that sophisticated lady recording pre long tones practice session for some tonal inspiration. Lockjaw came real close.
Leave your opinions below! Cheers mates
For me:
Soprano: Bennie Maupin, Steve Lacy. Bennie maupin is a personal favorite of mine after I discovered his work on bass clarinet on bitches brew (when I was new to jazz I listened to all miles albums and then started listening to the artists on those albums leader work) and then his playing on Herbie hancock’s thrust, truly an excellent sound. Steve Lacy’s album “the straight horn of Steve lacy” is one of my favorite albums ever because of that super high and super low sax quartet sound. I feel like Steve lacy sounds so good because almost all soprano players are more fluent and originally on tenor but Steve lacy is definitely most known for his soprano playing.
Alto: Shafi Hadi, Sonny Stitt, Jackie McLean
Shafi hadi was an incredible player who was recorded very little, but his sound on those Mingus albums is super cool because you don’t hear much fufu breath alto player sound and I think he did it best. Stitt and McLean on the other hand appeal to the opposite spectrum for me, 2 very bright hard-boppers. McLean was known for playing sharp too and I definitely like that as a power move.
Tenor: John Coltrane and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis
Trane is considered by many to be the greatest saxophonist who ever lived, myself included despite his music being sometimes to electrifying to listen to all the time, but something I do not see discussed about him enough is his sound. For as firey and passionate as he would play his tone remained very even across all registers, and that tone happened to be very unique and fun to listen to. Lockjaw is a tenor player I wish more people knew. His album The Heavy Hitter is one of my favorites and his sound is just so quintessentially bluesy and fuzzy. Love it.
Bari: Harry Carney, Leo Parker
This one is so challenging for me because these two are so close in their sound. Harry carney was in my opinion the first dude to make the bari’s voice heard, instead of just the low subtle harmonic anchor for a big band sax section. Leo parker is super earthy and bellowing and I would have loved to hear him develop as a musician with blue note records, sadly he only had two albums with bnr before he passed.
Top favorite: So hard!!! Gotta be harry carney though. I currently only play bari and bass clarinet and I always come to that sophisticated lady recording pre long tones practice session for some tonal inspiration. Lockjaw came real close.
Leave your opinions below! Cheers mates
