Alto Sax Players

[charlieparker]

On Tenor there are so many greats that I like to listen to, both contemporary and historical.

But after Bird, I haven't heard any other Alto players that interest me.

Was Bird that advanced that no one can really match what he did? Is it more about the tone of the instrument? Just find it interesting how Tenor seems to be the horn of choice for most these days.

[David B]

My list of alto players on the scene today that are well worth listening to would include
- Charles McPherson
- Luigi Grasso
- Sarah Hanahan
- Patrick Bartley
- Immanuel Wilkins
- Vincent Herring
- Dick Oatts
- Jaleel Shaw
- David Binney
- Kenny Garrett
- Miguel Zenon

[Christian Miller]

Wow - after Bird? That's a fair old stretch of time.

Lee Konitz and Paul Desmond are obvious altoists who ploughed a very different furrow to Bird.

Cannonball OTOH owes a lot but had his own thing. He's one of my favourites.

[James W]

I love Eric Dolphy.

[wintermoon]

This subject belongs in the players sub forum but....
Art Pepper
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Criss
Jackie McLean
Johnny Hodges
And that guy Etc....

[djg]

i love:
-ernie henry
-sonny red
-jackie mclean

coltrane could play a mean alto, too:

[GuyBoden]

Martin Speake

(Infamous in recent years, because he criticised the notion of systemic inequality in UK Jazz as misconceived.)
Martin Speake resigns over race politics and sues Trinity Laban - Jazz Journal

Speake told not to speak.

[mayrandp]

Baptiste Herbin
David Sanborn
Erena Terakubo
Gary Bartz
Phil Woods
Will Vinson

[charlieparker]

I love Eric Dolphy.

+1 to Dolphy. He is amazing. I have to be in the right mood for it, though.

[charlieparker]

Wow - after Bird? That's a fair old stretch of time.

Lee Konitz and Paul Desmond are obvious altoists who ploughed a very different furrow to Bird.

Cannonball OTOH owes a lot but had his own thing. He's one of my favourites.

Yeah. Cannonball is a good shout. Never really enjoyed Desmond that much.

Maybe it's a personal thing or a register thing, but I am amazed by Tenor players like George Coleman and Henderson to more contemporary players like Redman and Potter. Most Alto players haven't moved me in the same way.

[kris]

Ornette Coleman
Sonny Stitt,
Johnny Hodges

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Two of my favorites -

Richie Cole (here with Bruce Forman)

Arnie Lawrence

[setemupjoe]

No one has mentioned Lou Donaldson yet but he’s one of my favorites. He started out sounding so much like Bird but went his own way with the soul funk thing.

[kris]

Bobby Watson

[sgcim]

This subject belongs in the players sub forum but....
Art Pepper
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Criss
Jackie McLean
Johnny Hodges
And that guy Etc....

Here's one that I used to play with when she lived in NY. She lived in Toronto where she knew Lorne Lofsky, and used to tell me stories about Ed Bickert. Then she got married and they moved to Austria, where I recently learned she passed in 2021. i still can't believe it.
Here she plays and sings a song that some of you might be familiar with.

[wintermoon]

Here's one that I used to play with when she lived in NY. She lived in Toronto where she knew Lorne Lofsky, and used to tell me stories about Ed Bickert. Then she got married and they moved to Austria, where I recently learned she passed in 2021. i still can't believe it.
Here she plays and sings a song that some of you might be familiar with.

Where you been cuz??
Nice rendition, she no doubt absorbed Art's recording.

[sgcim]

Where you been cuz??
Nice rendition, she no doubt absorbed Art's recording.

She studied with Lee Konitz.
I never heard that Pepper with strings version. He and Holman get pretty brutal with that.
Maybe AP was a bad influence on BH. They probably wound up sharing a jail cell after that album.

[wintermoon]

She studied with Lee Konitz.
I never heard that Pepper with strings version. He and Holman get pretty brutal with that.
Maybe AP was a bad influence on BH. They probably wound up sharing a jail cell after that album.

I bought that record when it came out in '80, I think it's fantastic, different strokes I guess.
I love Art's late period playing where he stretches out, maybe my favorite record after his classic Meets The Rhythm Section.
If you listen to the whole lp Howie Roberts gets a couple short but great solos.

[sgcim]

I bought that record when it came out in '80, I think it's fantastic, different strokes I guess.
I love Art's late period playing where he stretches out, maybe my favorite record after his classic Meets The Rhythm Section.
If you listen to the whole lp Howie Roberts gets a couple short but great solos.

I liked it, but I was surprised by BH's orchestration. I thought AP played his ass off.

[docsteve]

On Tenor there are so many greats that I like to listen to, both contemporary and historical.

But after Bird, I haven't heard any other Alto players that interest me.

Was Bird that advanced that no one can really match what he did? Is it more about the tone of the instrument? Just find it interesting how Tenor seems to be the horn of choice for most these days.

I think he’s already been mentioned by someone, but after Bird, Ornette Coleman is without doubt the most important alto saxophone player, and certainly one of the most influential musicians of the 1960s. He’s also very listenable. Don’t believe that myth about Free Jazz just being a lot of noise.


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[princeplanet]

Cannonball is probably the best ever (sorry Bird), Dolphy is the most surprising / original, but Jackie Maclean is the coolest.

Stitt is a machine, if you programmed a robot to play copybook Bebop, it still couldn't sound as good as Stitt, but I don't listen to robots (much). Art Pepper has everything going for him, but i just can't get deeply into him for some reason. The other top 20 sound either too "nice", too "stylised", too derivative or too "modern" for me, although
I do dig David Binney, for a current player.

But I listen to Jackie Maclean more than the rest put together - acid dry tone, slightly sharp "in your face" pitch and attitude for days. Bird Lives, but Jackie Mac kills!

[DawgBone]

My list of alto players on the scene today that are well worth listening to would include
- Charles McPherson
- Luigi Grasso
- Sarah Hanahan
- Patrick Bartley
- Immanuel Wilkins
- Vincent Herring
- Dick Oatts
- Jaleel Shaw
- David Binney
- Kenny Garrett
- Miguel Zenon

Patrick Bartley is among a handful of the best under-40 jazz guys today.

Vincent Herring is also a big favorite of mine. Such a smooth and soulful player.

[Bob_Ross]

Big fan of Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman

Even bigger fan of Tim Berne

Couple of guys I've played with over the years who are still kinda under-the-radar but easily belong in the same conversation: Jeff Hudgins and Randy McKean

And, not jazz at all, but fwiw I recently heard this performance of Claude Debussy's "Rhapsodie" by Valentin Kovalev, and his tone on alto sax is exquisite!

[Bob_Ross]

Arnie Lawrence

Shameless Name-Dropping: When I was 12-13 years old, barely knew four chords on guitar, but still started my very first rock band, two of Arnie's kids were in that band: Jana Lawrence played bass -- until we all recognized that she was a better guitarist than I was, and that's how I started playing the bass -- and Erik Lawrence played alto sax. (Jana is now a rabbi down in New Orleans, but Erik is still working as a professional musician 50+ years later.)

At our very first rehearsal Arnie came into the garage, listened to what we were doing, and in about 10 seconds came up with a melody and a countermelody to make our monolithic heavy rock riff-fest come to life as a charming happy-vibe call & response singalong. It was uncanny.

This would've been circa 1973.