TOP 10 ALTO SAXOPHONE Players of all Time (Classic Jazz)

who are the greatest alto saxophone players of all time in today's video I'm gonna take you through my top ten most influential alto saxophone players that every sax player and fan should know about Jay Metcalf here from better sax comm if you like saxophone videos like this one be sure to drop me one of these right now and make sure you're subscribed to the channel this list in no particular order is 10 of the greatest and most influential saxophonist of all time if you play the saxophone you should be familiar with these musicians and their sound style and recordings of course some of you might feel like I've left someone out who really should be in this video so please let me know in the comments and then I can include them in a part two greatest alto saxophonist video down the road one of the most important yet overlooked components to getting better on the saxophone is listening and studying the history of the Masters who laid the groundwork for everything that came after so I hope this video can serve as a starting point for anyone who's beginning their exploration let's get the obvious out of the way first because without him this list couldn't really be possible of course I'm talking about Charlie Parker Byrd is known as the father of B Bob the innovator the instigator the creator he is without a doubt one of the great musical geniuses of the 20th century so far ahead of his time if he were alive today his playing would still sound contemporary it's ironic that many musicians that came after him were accused of being Charlie Parker clones when in reality birds playing is still unmatched as far as I know this is the only existing live video of bird Lane [Music] [Music] see that he just his octave key stuck and you had to fix it he's playing on his personalized King super 20 here which is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum of black American culture they're playing the tadd Dameron tune hothouse which is a contra fact which means it's a it's a new melody imposed over an existing set of chord changes in this case what is this thing called love by Cole Porter notice there how he plays he uses the e-flat pom key to play a D which if you're if you're studying Charlie Parker transcriptions that's something to take note of because he does that a lot and that'll make some of those passages easier for you something like that I mean the articulation the technique [Music] I mean it's just everything is so effortless it's like it's just pours right out of him he's so relaxed sound everything doesn't get any better than that I wish we had more videos of bird lane for me that's a short yet perfect solo next up we've got Sonny Stitt from 1956 to 1966 I count 68 albums 68 albums recorded by Sonny Stitt mostly as a leader and there are dozens of other ones outside of that 10 year period it's just a phenomenal amount of recordings and they're all killer if I start listening to Sonny Stitt if I listen to one track that's it I'm off on a binge of Sonny Stitt for weeks sometimes so while Sonny Stitt had been criticized for me making bird I don't think that is warranted first of all he clearly developed his own sound and style albeit inspired by bird but as the great Bob mover once said to me if you don't have a little bit of bird and you're playing you're doing it wrong check out this recording of lover man from I think 1965 [Music] that's that classic Sonny Stitt diminished like he uses all the time look how much mouthpiece he takes it [Music] and check out his finger technique really efficient movement was playing on a mark 6 with a auto link super tow master mountains [Music] hmm one of my all-time favorites next up is Julian Cannonball Adderley cannibal goes in a bit of a different direction there's still that influence from Charlie Parker and the bebop language but cannon ball has this very distinctive sound it's got a lot of edge in it the swing feel is very heavy let's check out this tune he's back it's so bluesy everything your plays are so bluesy here the eighth no swing really heavy [Music] check out his embouchure bottom lip he's kind of rolled in huh [Music] and he doesn't take in that much mouthpiece not as much as state anyway I [Music] can listen to cannon ball all day long he plays on a king super 20 as well and that's a New York Meyer mouthpiece next up is Johnny Hodges known for his singing expressive tone wide vibrato and large bends Hodges played in Duke Ellington's Orchestra for almost his entire career from 1928 until 1970 except for a few years in there where he went off and pursued a solo career he spent his whole time with Ellington now hailing ten would write compositions and arrangements featuring Hodges as a soloist like this version of I've got it bad we're about to listen to [Music] that's like a typical Johnny Hodges Bend he does that by kind of he's starting on e-flat they're starting below the pitch raises the pitch up with the jaw on the embouchure and then slowly very slowly opens the epon key and that's how he gets that [Music] it's all about sound and expression [Music] so tasteful that's a Fisher top hat and cane saxophone [Music] it's a sound [Music] he's playing on a burg Larsen a mouthpiece there as well watch this [Music] Russell broke up telling Jimmy Hamilton to tune up amazing next up is Benny Carter Benny Carter was a contemporary of Joanie Hodges and while there are some similarities in their playing style I can broadly generalize by saying Carter was more of a technical improviser while Hodges was more of an emotional one Benny Carter was also a prolific composer and arranger for big bands and all sorts of larger groups and he also played the trumpet let's listen to him take a solo over Indiana which is the chord progression that Donnelly the Contra facts by Charlie Parker is based on [Music] noticed the articulation and the vibrato [Music] amazing technique next up we've got Jackie McLean who was one of the most important alto saxophone players in all of jazz his career spanned five decades of prolific recording and performing as a leader but also as a sideman on many of the most iconic jazz records in the art form Jay Mac is an early pioneer of what we call hard bop bebop evolved into two distinct directions in the mid 50s on one hand you've got cool jazz which had more of a western classical music influence and on the other side you had hard bop which was definitely a black American music unfortunately I can't find an older video recording of Jackie playing this one is from 1988 and it's with his son [Music] burn [Music] Oh yeah he goes out he plays some tensions and then he brings it back at the end of the blues chorus into something that's in the key releasing the tension building up tension [Music] and Anna resolves very nicely manciple masterfully done Lee Konitz is another highly influential prolific saxophonist whose career spanned seven decades he is one of the few to have developed a truly unique and individual improvisational style let's listen to him play a solo over half nelson another contra fact based on the court changes to Lady Bird [Music] Konitz was known for his cool jazz recordings he was on the iconic album birth of the cool which featured Miles Davis now while many jazz improvisers have their vocabulary that gets used and reused all the time when their soloing when you listen to Lee Konitz it's like you never hear the same thing twice he really is creating new melodic material all the time [Music] [Music] killing Paul Desmond was heavily influenced by Lee Konitz and he's definitely the most well known alto saxophone player in the cool jazz sub-genre Paul desmos the guy who wrote take 5 the best-selling jazz song ever that was with the Dave Brubeck Quartet let's listen to him play over this Billy Strayhorn tune take the a-train [Music] his sound is on the darker end of the spectrum and his articulation is very light and breathy so I mean it's kind of like the the opposite of Jackie McLean and not cannibal let's say but he's like there's such a thoughtful improviser he plays an idea and then he you could see him thinking about it and waiting and listening to the space and what was just played and then developing the idea [Music] [Music] yeah and he's playing there that's a summer super balanced action and a Gregory mouthpiece Phil woods carried on the bebop tradition of Charlie Parker and you can hear a lot of that influence in his sound and freezing let's listen to him play a solo on a night in Tunisia which is a tune by Dizzy Gillespie [Music] you hear that swing feel very creative improviser he's playing on a summer mark six and New York Meyer he actually married charlie parker's we know and outside of the jazz world he's probably best known for his solo on the Billy Joel tune just the way you are we're in the fade-out he blows a bunch of like heavy bebop licks and I love that tune because first of all it's like a Samba groove with like bebop in it and let's go listen to it when he plays that part where he sneaks in that flat five I love it Ornette Coleman is the champion of individuality and doing your own thing regardless of what anybody says or thinks whether or not his avant-garde style of music speaks to you his commitment to innovation should serve as inspiration to anyone who's ever had an original idea his music has been controversial from the very beginning but by removing form and strict harmony from his compositions he managed to create a style of music that is more truly improvised than traditional jazz is so there's that he was known for playing a white plastic drafting alto saxophone but in this clip he's playing a Selmer mark 6 with white lacquer and a lo aching [Music] [Music] whatever they zoom in at the sixties in extremes might be a little bit too close up [Music] everything is extreme close-ups [Music] it's far out I know I recommend listening to Ornette Coleman with an open mind and without any expectations you might find it liberating in any case he has had an enormous influence on saxophone players and music in general don't forget to let me know in the comment section below anybody I may have forgotten thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed it click the like button get subscribed see you in the next video

Channel: Better Sax

Views: 290,074

Keywords: alto sax, alto saxophone, top 10 alto sax players, best alto saxophone players, best alto saxophonists, top 10 sax players of all time, bettersax, better sax, jay metcalf, saxophone lessons, jazz saxophone players, johnny hodges, phil woods, ornette coleman, charlie parker, sonny stitt, cannonball adderley, lee konitz, paul desmond, jackie mclean, benny carter

Id: iMrKsI0dn6s

Length: 19min 17sec (1157 seconds)

Published: Tue May 26 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Sax_Teacher_Nathan]

Actually, considering he's seems like he's just into pop/smooth jazz players when you watch him play this is a really good list of straight ahead greats! I'm pleasantly surprised, so credit where credit is due....Would of been interesting to see him include at least one classical great like Marcel Mule or Sigurd Rascher though, without whom there would be no classical saxophone at all. Perhaps on another like he mentions. P.S. that video of Parker is awesome!