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Top Jazz Saxophonists of All Time
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Tags: jazz saxophone greatest
This is the top hit list of all the greats of Jazz saxophone. This is not a SMOOTH JAZZ list. For that, see adult contemporary POP =)
| 1. | Charlie Parker - Charlie "Yardbird" Parker or Bird was the man who really became the well from which all other saxophonists drink. He gave us many of the Bebop standards. |
| 2. | Sonny Rollins - One of the modern masters of the sax. He contributed a great deal of the vocabulary with which most sax players speak these days. |
| 3. | John Coltrane - John Coltrane moved Jazz way past its previously established boundaries. His soloing left many Jazz players scratching their heads and his technical prowess sent many of them into the shed for decades to come. He was a sax player but would probably have turned jazz on its ear no matter what instrument he chose. |
| 4. | Wayne Shorter - Wayne Shorter, both as a solo artist and sideman to Miles Davis, created a huge library of tunes that will live in on Jazz for ages. |
| 5. | Joe Henderson - Joe Henderson was a great soloist and should be a must hear for any serious student of Jazz. |
| 6. | Michael Brecker - Probably the most recorded sax player in history, having played on hundreds of albums. Brecker is the sax player that many of the younger saxophonists grew up listening to. He recently died of a rare form of cancer and will be dearly missed. |
| 7. | Stan Getz - Best known for his work with Brazilian songwriter Jobim and singer Joao Gilberto, Getz opened up a whole new world of rhythms and harmonies not really known in the US at the time. |
| 8. | Grover Washington Jr. - Like it or not, Grover Washington Jr. could probably be traced as the source of the smooth Jazz style, although as a player he was far more diverse than just that. |
| 9. | Branford Marsalis - Branford, along with his brother Wynton, helped to spread the Gospel of Jazz among a younger generation. For a certain age group, Branford, while playing with Pop artist Sting, introduced them to Jazz. As many of us learned more about him, we eventually learned what Jazz was and learned that he went much deeper as a solo artist. |
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