SAxophone
Alto Sax
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Cannonball Adderley was a popular alto saxophonist during the bop era of the 50's and 60's. He played with Miles Davis on the popular album 'Kind of Blue' and had his own popular group the Cannonball Adderley Quintet which included his brother Nat Adderly.
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Paul Desmond is one of my personal favorite jazz saxophonists. Though he may not be the most famous, I just love the tone and sophisticated quality of his playing. His biggest accomplishments in music were mostly alongside pianist Dave Brubeck in their famous quartet. Desmond wrote the Quartet's most famous song 'Take Five.'
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Johnny Hodges was an important alto saxophonists of the big band era. He was best known for his many years with the Duke Ellington band, where he also played soprano saxophone. Many great artist of the time like Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker said Hodges may have been one of the best players of their time. He has a beautiful way of singing through the instrument, and beautiful, melodic lines in his improvised solos.
Charlie Parker, also known by his nickname 'Bird,' was an important jazz saxophonist in the development of bebop. He was known for his fast solo lines and virtuoso playing. He was innovative in jazz chord structures and theory, leading to new ideas and styles not previously used in jazz. Though these ideas were not fully accepted at the time, it's now known as some of the most complex well constructed jazz written.
Tenor Sax
John Coltrane was an important jazz tenor player during the bebop and hard bop jazz eras, and continued to be on the forefront of free jazz later in his career. Coltrane played with Miles Davis in quintet in the 1950's where he was initially recognized for his skill on the instrument. He also created many of his own successful solo recordings.
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Sonny Rollins is not only an important tenor player in jazz history, but a successful composer too writing many jazz standards still played today. Rollins played alongside Miles Davis and Charlie Parker in the 1950's, which is where he wrote some of his famous tunes including 'Oleo' and 'Doxy.' Throughout his career he continued to play and compose, inspiring other jazz musicians. He has a busy career spanning almost seven decades, and he still alive today.
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Joe Henderson was a tenor player of the 60's and 70's. Though he played mostly with a bebop style, Henderson had some flavors of Latin and R&B that led to some of his uniqueness.
Bari Sax
Harry Carney was an extremely influential baritone sax player. He was best known for his playing with Duke Ellington. Carney was the longest member of Duke's band, and was even the back up group leader when Ellington was absent. They worked together for over 45 years, and Ellington wrote many pieces for Carney and his specific bari sound and style. Ellington's beautiful ballad 'Sophisticated Lady,' was able to show of Carney's ability to control the beast and help people see the beauty of the instrument.
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Joe Temperley was a Scottish bari sax and bass clarinet player. He moved to the U.S. in the 60's and began playing with ,many of the popular groups of the time. In 1974, he replaced Harry Carney with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the late part of his life, Joe produced some successful solo and small group recordings really showing of his skill n the bari and bass clarinet, especially though ballads. He was a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and worked at Julliard's jazz program. He recently died in May of 2016.
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Gerry Mulligan is though t to be one of the leading jazz Baritone saxophone players in jazz history. He began playing with bebop groups of the late 40's along side Gene Krupa, Charlie Parker and Gill Evans. His biggest fame came from his work with the Miles Davis Nonet, in which Mulligan played and arranged music for the group. The famous album 'Birth of the Cool' contained three arrangements by Gerry, and quickly became on of the most important and influential albums in jazz history. Gerry continued to play with many great jazz artists throughout the 1980's.