List of jazz saxophonists
Encyclopedia
Jazz saxophonists are musicians who play various types of saxophone
s (alto saxophone
, tenor saxophone
, baritone saxophone
etc.) in jazz
and its associated sub-genres. The techniques and instrumentation of this type of performance have evolved over the 20th century, influenced by both movements of musicians that became the sub-genres and by particularly influential sax players who helped reshape the music.
In the 1930s, during the swing and big band era, saxophonists like alto saxophonist
Johnny Hodges
(1906–1970), who led the saxophone section in the Duke Ellington
Big Band
, were featured soloists in a highly structured system of playing where such solos were limited moments of musical freedom.
By the early 1940s, jazz saxophonists such as Charlie Parker
(alto) and Sonny Stitt
(alto, tenor) lead a rebellion against the strictures of Big Band, shifting jazz from away from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music" that would come to be called bebop
, with solos that included more chromaticism
and dissonance
.
In the 1950s, sax players like tenor saxophonist John Coltrane
(1926–67)and Sonny Rollins
(1930-) broke new ground in jazz, infusing their music with rhythm and blues
, modal, latin
and gospel
influences as part of the hard bop
sub-genre.
In the 1950s and 1960s, free jazz
pioneers such as Ornette Coleman
(1930- )and Albert Ayler
developed unusual new sounds and playing styles.
In the early 1960's, Woody Herman
's Lead "Four Brother", Stan Getz
combined Cool Jazz with Brazilian musicians and created a totally new style called Bossa Nova. Stan Getz
was known for his rich tone, ability to swing and impeccable technique.
In the 1970s-era fusion jazz blended rock and jazz, with saxophonists like Wayne Shorter
and Michael Brecker
at the front of that movement.
In the 1980s, sax players such as Kenny G
(Kenny Gorelick, 1956- ) (soprano, alto, tenor), Bob Mintzer
(tenor and bass clarinet) and David Sanborn
(1945- ), (alto, soprano) played a radio-friendly style of fusion called smooth jazz
.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Joshua Redman
(1969- )(alto, soprano, tenor)along with Chris Potter
(tenor) returned to a more traditional approach which reached back to the saxophone greats of the 1950s and 1960s.
Notable jazz saxophonists include:
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s (alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, tenor saxophone
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, baritone saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
etc.) in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and its associated sub-genres. The techniques and instrumentation of this type of performance have evolved over the 20th century, influenced by both movements of musicians that became the sub-genres and by particularly influential sax players who helped reshape the music.
In the 1930s, during the swing and big band era, saxophonists like alto saxophonist
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
(1906–1970), who led the saxophone section in the Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, were featured soloists in a highly structured system of playing where such solos were limited moments of musical freedom.
By the early 1940s, jazz saxophonists such as Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
(alto) and Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
(alto, tenor) lead a rebellion against the strictures of Big Band, shifting jazz from away from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music" that would come to be called bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, with solos that included more chromaticism
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
and dissonance
Dissonance
Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity:*Consonance and dissonance in music are properties of an interval or chord*Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict...
.
In the 1950s, sax players like tenor saxophonist John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
(1926–67)and Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
(1930-) broke new ground in jazz, infusing their music with rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, modal, latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
influences as part of the hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
sub-genre.
In the 1950s and 1960s, free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
pioneers such as Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
(1930- )and Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
developed unusual new sounds and playing styles.
In the early 1960's, Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
's Lead "Four Brother", Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
combined Cool Jazz with Brazilian musicians and created a totally new style called Bossa Nova. Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
was known for his rich tone, ability to swing and impeccable technique.
In the 1970s-era fusion jazz blended rock and jazz, with saxophonists like Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
and Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
at the front of that movement.
In the 1980s, sax players such as Kenny G
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick , better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American, adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986...
(Kenny Gorelick, 1956- ) (soprano, alto, tenor), Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
(tenor and bass clarinet) and David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
(1945- ), (alto, soprano) played a radio-friendly style of fusion called smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...
(1969- )(alto, soprano, tenor)along with Chris Potter
Chris Potter
Christopher or Chris Potter may refer to:*Chris Potter *Christopher Potter *Chris Potter *Chris Potter *Christopher Potter, English academic and clergyman*Chris Potter , Dean of St Asaph...
(tenor) returned to a more traditional approach which reached back to the saxophone greats of the 1950s and 1960s.
Notable jazz saxophonists include:
A
- Mindi AbairMindi AbairMindi Abair is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 pop music background. Mindi has toured and/or recorded with the Backstreet Boys, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Josh Groban, Adam Sandler, Keb' Mo', Lalah Hathaway, Lee Ritenour, Teena Marie, John Tesh, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler,...
(1969-), (alto) - Greg AbateGreg AbateGreg Abate is a Jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, and arranger. He grew up in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In the fifth grade he began to play clarinet....
(1947-) - George AdamsGeorge Adams (musician)George Rufus Adams was an American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. He is best known for his work with Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Roy Haynes and in the quartet he co-led with pianist Don Pullen, featuring bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Dannie Richmond...
(1940–1992), (tenor) - Pepper AdamsPepper AdamsPark Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on twenty albums, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.-Biography:...
(1930–1986), (baritone) - Julian "Cannonball" Adderley (1928–1975), (alto)
- Ahmad AlaadeenAhmad Alaadeenright|thumbnail|Ahmad AlaadeenAhmad Alaadeen was a jazz saxophonist and educator whose career spanned over six decades...
(1934–2010 ), (soprano, tenor) - Eric Alexander (1968- ), (tenor)
- Harry AllenHarry Allen (musician)Harry Allen is an American jazz tenor saxophonist born in Washington, D.C.. Early on he was recognized in high school as an exceptional talent being able to uncannily play tunes such as Body and Soul in the style of legendary tenor players Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Flip Phillips, or Sam Donahue...
(1966- ), (tenor) - Pete AllenPete AllenPete Allen is an English dixieland jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, bandleader and vocalist known for his work with Kenny Ball, Terry Lightfoot, Beryl Bryden, Tommy Burton, Ian-Hunter Randall, Chris Hodgkins, Mick Cooke and John Armatage.He presented his own jazz programme for BBC...
(1954- ), (alto, soprano) - Gene AmmonsGene AmmonsEugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
(1925–1974), (tenor) - Fred AndersonFred Anderson (musician)Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. With a distinctive forward-bent playing posture, Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but also incorporated innovations from free jazz, rendering him, as critics Ron Wynn and...
(1929- ), (tenor) - Peter ApfelbaumPeter ApfelbaumPeter Apfelbaum is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, tenor saxophonist, drummer and composer born in Berkeley, California. He first emerged on the jazz scene in the late 1970s, performing with Carla Bley from 1978–1982 and touring with Warren Smith and Karl Berger. Around this time Apfelbaum...
(1960- ), (tenor & other instruments) - Julian ArguellesJulian ArgüellesJulian Argüelles is a saxophonist. He is currently a member of the HR Big Band in Frankfurt am Main, Germany....
(1966- ), (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone) - Harold AshbyHarold AshbyHarold Ashby was a jazz tenor saxophonist. He is perhaps known for his work with Duke Ellington's band and stylistic similarities with Ben Webster.He worked as a freelance musician after leaving the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1975, and took part in various reunions of...
(1925- ), (tenor) - Gilad AtzmonGilad AtzmonGilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist and writer.Atzmon's album Exile was BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. Playing over 100 dates a year, he has been called "surely the hardest-gigging man in British jazz." His albums, of which he has recorded...
(1963- ), (alto, soprano, tenor, baritone) - George Auld (1919–1990), (tenor)
- Albert AylerAlbert AylerAlbert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
(1936–1970), (alto, tenor, soprano)
B
- Buster BaileyBuster BaileyWilliam C. "Buster" Bailey was a jazz musician specializing in the clarinet, but also well versed on saxophone...
(1902–1967) - Iain BallamyIain BallamyIain Ballamy is a British composer, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone player.- Career :Ballamy was schooled at 1975-80 George Abbot School, Guildford. He then studied Musical Instrument Technology from 1980-1982 Merton College...
(1964- ), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Pat La Barbera (1944- ), (tenor, soprano, alto, clarinet, flute)
- Gato BarbieriGato BarbieriLeandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
(1934- ), (tenor) - Eddie BarefieldEddie BarefieldEddie Barefield was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and arranger most noteworthy for his work with Bennie Moten, Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Coleman Hawkins, Sammy Price, Bernie Young, and Ben Webster...
(1909–1991) - Gabe BaltazarGabe BaltazarGabe Baltazar is a Filipino-American jazz alto saxophonist.Considered as one of the last great alumni from the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Baltazar moved to the U.S. mainland from Hawaii in the mid-1950s, to record music with Paul Togawa in 1957, and spent a brief unrecorded period in 1960 with the...
(alto) - Dale BarlowDale BarlowDale Barlow is an Australian jazz composer, multi-instrumentalist: especially tenor, alto saxophone, soprano saxophonist, baritone saxophone and flute....
(1959- ), (tenor, soprano) - Carolyn BreuerCarolyn Breuer-External links:...
(1969- ), (alto, soprano) - Alan BarnesAlan Barnes (musician)Alan Barnes is an English Jazz musician.- Career :Alan Barnes attended Leeds College of Music between 1977–80 where he studied saxophone, woodwinds and arranging before moving to London. In 1980 he played with the Midnight Follies Orchestra and the following year was with the Pasadena Roof...
(1959- ), (alto, baritone) - John BarnesJohn Barnes (musician)John Barnes is an English-born jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who played New Orleans-styled jazz in his early career. Barnes has worked with many notable artists such as Alex Welsh, Gerry Mulligan, Alan Elsdon, Spike Robinson, Bobby Wellins and Keith Nichols.- References :...
(1932- ), (tenor) - Polo BarnesPolo BarnesPaul D. "Polo" Barnes was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He was the brother of Emile Barnes and was a mainstay of the New Orleans jazz scene of the 1920s and 1930s....
(1901–1981), (alto) - Charlie BarnetCharlie BarnetCharles Daly Barnet was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle".-Early life:...
(1913–1991), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Gary BartzGary BartzGary Bartz is an American alto and soprano saxophonist and clarinetist.Bartz graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and The Juilliard School...
(1940- ), (alto, soprano) - Mario BauzaMario BauzaMario Bauzá was an important Cuban musician. He was one of the first to introduce Latin music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles into the New York jazz scene...
(1911–1993), (alto) - Walter BeasleyWalter BeasleyWalter Beasley is an American saxophonist, a professor of music at the Berklee College of Music, and founder of Affable Publishing and Affable Records.-Biography:Beasley grew up in El Centro, California...
(1961- ), (alto, soprano) - Heinie BeauHeinie BeauHeinie Beau was an American jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist and clarinetist, most notable for his swing clarinet work and recordings done with Tommy Dorsey, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra and Red Nichols...
(1911–1987) - Sidney BechetSidney BechetSidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
(1897–1959), (soprano, tenor, bass) - Bob BeldenBob BeldenJames Robert Belden is an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader and producer. He is noted for his Grammy Award winning jazz orchestral recording titled The Black Dahlia. He is also a past head of A & R for Blue Note Records.Belden was born in Evanston, Illinois, and raised in...
(1958- ), (tenor, soprano) - Tex BenekeTex BenekeGordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
(1914- ), (tenor) - Daniel BennettDaniel Bennett (saxophonist)Daniel Bennett is an American saxophonist who lives in Manhattan. Daniel Bennett is best known for his "folk jazz" music. Bennett contends that his music is "a mix of jazz, folk, and twentieth century minimalism." Jon Garelick of the Boston Phoenix wrote, The music has given them a broad...
(1979- ), (alto) - Ivy BensonIvy BensonIvy Benson was an English musician and bandleader, who led an all-female swing band. Benson and her band rose to fame in the 1940s, headlining variety theatres and topping the bill at the London Palladium, and became the BBC's resident house band.-Early years:Benson was born on 11 November 1913 in...
(1913–1993) - Bob BergBob BergBob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
(1951–2002), (tenor, soprano) - Jerry BergonziJerry BergonziJerry Bergonzi is a jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and educator. Bergonzi received a B.A. Degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and is the founder of Not Fat Records....
(1947- ), (tenor, soprano) - Tim BerneTim BerneTim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...
(1954- ), (alto, baritone) - Chu Berry (1910–1941), (tenor)
- Barney BigardBarney BigardAlbany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
(1906–1980), (tenor) - David BinneyDavid BinneyDavid Binney is an American alto saxophonist and composer living in New York City.-Biography:David was born in Miami, Florida and raised in Southern California. His parents were jazz fans, and introduced Binney to jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson and Wayne Shorter...
(1961- ), (alto) - Chris BiscoeChris BiscoeChris Biscoe is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute...
(1947- ), (alto, soprano, tenor, baritone) - Alfonzo BlackwellAlfonzo BlackwellAlfonzo Blackwell is an American modern contemporary jazz saxophonist/composer/producer. Alfonzo Blackwell is also a well accomplished pianist, bassist, guitarist and drummer. He is the pioneer of the ‘Rhythm & Cool’ NY swing sound.-Biography:...
(alto, soprano, tenor) - Jane Ira BloomJane Ira BloomJane Ira Bloom is an American jazz soprano saxophonist and composer.-Biography:Bloom was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She began as a pianist and drummer, later switching to the alto saxophone, and eventually settling on the soprano saxophone as her primary instrument...
(1955- ), (soprano) - Hamiet BluiettHamiet BluiettHamiet Bluiett is an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument is the baritone saxophone, and he is considered one of the finest living players of this instrument...
(1940- ), (baritone) - Arthur BlytheArthur BlytheArthur Blythe is an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. His stylistic voice has a distinct vibrato and he plays within the post-bop subgenre of jazz.- Biography :...
(1940- ), (alto, soprano) - Graham BondGraham BondGraham John Clifton Bond was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s....
(1937–1974), (alto) - Earl BosticEarl BosticEarl Bostic was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist, and a pioneer of the post-war American Rhythm and Blues style. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp", and "Where or When", which showed off his...
(1913–1965), (alto) - Charles Brackeen (1940- ), (tenor, soprano)
- Don BradenDon BradenDon Braden is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Braden was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He began playing tenor sax at age 13 and started playing professionally at 15. As a high schooler he played in the McDonald's All-American High School Jazz Band...
(1964- ), (tenor) - Anthony BraxtonAnthony BraxtonAnthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
(1944- ), (all saxophones & other instruments) - Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
(1949–2007), (tenor, EWI) - Willem BreukerWillem BreukerWillem Breuker was a Dutch jazz bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and bass clarinetist....
(1944- ), (saxophones) - Nick BrignolaNick Brignola-Biography:He was born on July 17, 1936 in Troy, New York. Nick was born into a musical family in which his father played the tuba and his uncle played the banjo. As a mostly self-taught musician, he developed his facility on all of his instruments using unconventional techniques, which gave his...
(1936–2002 ), (baritone, soprano, tenor, alto) - Gordon BriskerGordon BriskerGordon Brisker was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Brisker began on piano as a child, and studied reed instruments at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He played with Ralph Marterie before enrolling in the Berklee College of Music...
(1937–2004), (tenor) - Tina BrooksTina BrooksHarold Floyd "Tina" Brooks was an American hard bop tenor saxophonist and composer.-Early years:Harold Floyd Brooks was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and was the brother of David "Bubba" Brooks. The nickname "Tina", pronounced Teena, was a slight variation of "Teeny", a childhood moniker....
(1932–1974), (tenor) - Peter BrötzmannPeter BrötzmannPeter Brötzmann is a German artist and free jazz saxophonist and clarinetist.Brötzmann is among the most important European free jazz musicians. His rough, lyrical timbre is easily recognized on his many recordings.-Early life:...
(1941- ), (alto, tenor, bass) - Ari BrownAri BrownAri Brown is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and pianist.Brown grew up in Chicago and attended Wilson College, where he met musicians such as Jack DeJohnette, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, and Joseph Jarman. He played piano in R&B and soul outfits int the 1960s, then switched to saxophone...
(1944- ), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Boyce BrownBoyce BrownBoyce Brown was an American jazz dixieland alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Brown worked with Wingy Manone, Paul Mares and Danny Alvin...
(1910–1959), (alto) - Pete BrownPete BrownPeter Ronald Brown is an English performance poet and lyricist.Best known for his collaborations with Jack Bruce, Brown also worked with The Battered Ornaments, formed his own group Pete Brown & Piblokto!, and worked with Graham Bond and Phil Ryan. Brown also writes film scores and formed a film...
(1906–1963), (alto, tenor) - Marion BrownMarion BrownMarion Brown was a jazz alto saxophonist and ethnomusicologist. He is most well known as a member of the 1960s avant-garde jazz scene in New York City, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai...
(1935- ), (alto) - Rusty BryantRusty BryantRoyal G. "Rusty" Bryant was an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist....
(1929- ), (alto, tenor) - Jane BunnettJane BunnettJane Bunnett is a Canadian soprano saxophonist, flutist and bandleader known for her Afro-Cuban jazz melodies.In 2004, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada...
(1955- ), (soprano) - Chris BurnettChris BurnettChris Burnett is an American saxophone player, composer, veteran of US military jazz bands and band leader. Born in Olathe, Kansas, Burnett's family moved relatively frequently during his early childhood due to his father being a member of the active US military service...
(1955- ), (soprano, alto) - John ButcherJohn Butcher (musician)John Butcher is an English tenor and soprano saxophone player who has lived in London since the late 1970s. He began playing at the University of Surrey where he was studying physics...
(1954- ), (tenor, soprano, baritone) - Sam ButeraSam ButeraSam Butera was a tenor saxophone player best noted for his collaborations with Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Butera is frequently regarded as a crossover artist who performed with equal ease in both R & B and the post-big band pop style of jazz that permeated the early Vegas nightclub...
(1927–2009 ), (tenor & other) - Don ByasDon ByasCarlos Wesley "Don" Byas was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, long-resident in Europe.- Oklahoma and Los Angeles :...
(1912–1972), (tenor)
C
- Harry CarneyHarry CarneyHarry Howell Carney was an American swing baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist mainly known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. Carney started off as an alto player with Ellington, but soon switched to the baritone. His strong, steady saxophone often served as...
(1910–1974), (baritone) - Scoops CarryScoops CarryGeorge Dorman "Scoops" Carry was an American jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist.Carry's mother was a music teacher, and his brother Ed Carry was a Chicago-based bandleader and guitarist in the 1920s and 1930s. He started on horn at age eight, later studying at the Chicago College of Music and...
(1915–1970), (alto) - Benny CarterBenny CarterBennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
(1907–2003), (alto) - James CarterJames Carter (musician)James Carter is an American jazz musician.Carter was born in Detroit, Michigan and learned to play there before moving to New York City. He has been prominent as a performer and recording artist on the jazz scene since the mid-1990s, playing saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet...
(1969- ), (all saxes - from soprano to bass) - Luciano CarusoLuciano CarusoLuciano Caruso is an Italian Jazz composer and Soprano saxophone performer.In 1973, he moved to Vittorio Veneto to attend the music institute "Toti Dal Monte" in Pieve di Soligo and afterwards the school "Dizzy Gillespie" in Bassano del Grappa.He attended several workshops with Renato Geremia,Gary...
(1944- ), (soprano) - Fabrizio CassolFabrizio CassolFabrizio Cassol is a Belgian saxophonist and the first user of the aulochrome .He was born in Ougrée, Belgium. Between 1982 and 1985, he studied at the Liège conservatory and obtained a first prize for saxophone while majoring in chamber music. He graduated in improvisation and composition...
(1964- ), (alto, aulochroom) - Pete ChristliebPete ChristliebPete Christlieb is a jazz bebop, West Coast jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Christlieb was born in Los Angeles, California and is the son of bassoonist Don Christlieb...
(1945- ), (tenor) - Jeff ClaytonJeff ClaytonJeff Clayton is an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist.Clayton studied oboe at California State University and undertook a tour with Stevie Wonder. Following this he recorded with Gladys Knight, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, Patti Labelle, and Madonna...
(1954-), (alto) - Arnett CobbArnett CobbArnett Cobb was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Cobb was born Arnette Cleophus Cobbs in Houston, Texas. His musical career began with the local bands of Chester Boone, from 1934 to 1936, and Milt Larkin, from 1936 to 1942...
(1918–1989), (tenor) - Tony CoeTony CoeAnthony George Coe is a composer and jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and tenor saxophone.Coe began his performing career playing with Humphrey Lyttelton's band from 1957 to 1962...
(1934- ), (tenor, soprano) - Jeff CoffinJeff CoffinJeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
(1965- ), (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, & other woodwinds) - Al CohnAl CohnAl Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
(1925–1988), (tenor) - Richie ColeRichie Cole (musician)Richie Cole is a jazz alto saxophonist composer and arranger born in Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. and is a graduate of Ewing High School, Ewing New Jersey....
(1948- ), (alto, tenor, baritone) - George ColemanGeorge ColemanGeorge Edward Coleman is an American hard bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, known chiefly for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s.-Biography:...
(1935- ), (tenor) - Ornette ColemanOrnette ColemanOrnette Coleman is an American saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s....
(1930- ), (alto, tenor) - Steve ColemanSteve ColemanSteve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
(1956- ), (alto, soprano) - Buddy ColletteBuddy ColletteWilliam Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
(1921- ), (alto, tenor, flute, clarinet) - John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
(1926–1967), (tenor, soprano, alto) - Ravi ColtraneRavi ColtraneRavi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....
(1965- ), (tenor, soprano) - Randolph ColvilleRandolph ColvilleRandolph Colville was a Scottish jazz swing clarinettist, saxophonist, bandleader and arranger born in Glasgow, Scotland, perhaps best-known for his work with the Keith Nichols Midnite Follies Orchestra....
(1942- ) - Junior CookJunior CookHerman "Junior" Cook was a hard bop tenor saxophone player.-Biography:Cook was born in Pensacola, Florida. After playing with Dizzy Gillespie in 1958, Cook gained some fame for his longtime membership in the Horace Silver Quintet ; when he and Blue Mitchell left that band, Cook played in...
(1934–1992), (tenor) - Bob CooperBob Cooper (musician)Bob Cooper was a West Coast jazz musician known primarily for playing tenor saxophone, but also for being one of the first to play solos on oboe. He worked in Stan Kenton's band starting in 1945 and married the band's singer June Christy...
(1925–1993), (tenor) - Lindsay CooperLindsay CooperLindsay Cooper is an English bassoon and oboe player, composer and political activist. Best known for her work with the band Henry Cow, she was also a member of Comus, National Health, News from Babel and David Thomas and the Pedestrians...
(1951- ), (soprano, alto) - Gerard CornieljeGerard CornieljeGerard Cornielje is a saxophonist, singer and poet. Cornielje is also known for his studies and publications regarding transformational-generative grammar....
(1962- ), (alto, tenor) - Lol CoxhillLol CoxhillLowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...
(1932- ), (soprano) - Hank CrawfordHank CrawfordBennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter...
(1934- ), (alto, baritone) - Ray CrawfordRay CrawfordRay Crawford was an American racecar driver.Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Crawford became a U.S. Army fighter pilot and flew P-38 Lightnings in combat over North Africa in 1943. Rotated home after six aerial victories, eventually he became an early jet pilot...
(1924- ) (tenor) - Sonny CrissSonny CrissWilliam "Sonny" Criss was an American jazz musician.An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker.-Biography:...
(1927–1977), (alto, soprano) - King CurtisKing CurtisCurtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
(1934–1971), (tenor, soprano)
D
- Eddie DanielsEddie DanielsEddie Daniels is an American musician. Though he is best known as a jazz clarinet player, he has also played alto and tenor saxophones, as well as classical music on the clarinet....
(1941- ), (tenor) - John DankworthJohn DankworthSir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
(1927–2010), (alto) - Joe DarensbourgJoe DarensbourgJoe Darensbourg was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and saxophonist notable for his work with Buddy Petit, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Creath, Fate Marable, Andy Kirk, Johnny Wittwer, Kid Ory, Wingy Manone, Joe Liggins and Louis Armstrong.-Discography:* The New Orleans Statesman*...
(1906–1985) - Julian DashJulian DashJulian Dash was an American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist born in Charleston, South Carolina, probably better known for his work with Erskine Hawkins and Buck Clayton.-Discography:...
(1916–1974), (tenor) - Kenny DavernKenny DavernKenny Davern , born John Kenneth Davern, was one of the premier jazz clarinetists of his generation.-Biography:He was born in Huntington, Long Island to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry...
(1935–2006) - Eddie Lockjaw Davis (1921–1986), (tenor)
- Lem DavisLem DavisLem Davis was an American swing music jazz alto saxophonist born in Tampa, Florida, probably better known for working with the Coleman Hawkins septet in 1943...
(1914–1970), (alto) - Nathan DavisNathan Davis (saxophonist)Nathan Davis is an American hard bop jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet and flute...
(1937- ), (tenor, soprano) - Elton DeanElton DeanElton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
(1945- ), (alto, saxello) - Eli DegibriEli DegibriEli Degibri is an Israeli jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger.-Early life:Degibri first began playing the mandolin at age 7 in an after school music program at the Jaffa Conservatory of Music...
(1978- ), (tenor, soprano) - Arthur "Artie" DeMelloArthur "Artie" DeMelloArt DeMello Art DeMello (also Artie DeMello) Art DeMello (also Artie DeMello) (born April 7, 1959 in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts is a woodwind specialist playing Saxophone & Flute.At the age of 14 he attended Dartmouth High School in Dartmouth, Massachusetts...
(1959- ),(alto,tenor,flute) - Paul DesmondPaul DesmondPaul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...
(1924–1977), (alto) - Lakis Diakogiannis (1941- ), (alto, tenor, flute)
- Johnny DoddsJohnny DoddsJohnny Dodds was an American New Orleans based jazz clarinetist and alto saxophonist, best known for his recordings under his own name and with bands such as those of Joe "King" Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Lovie Austin and Louis Armstrong. Dodds was also the older brother of drummer Warren "Baby"...
(1892–1940), (alto) - Klaus DoldingerKlaus DoldingerKlaus Doldinger is a German saxophonist, especially well-known for jazz and as a composer of film music. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards .-Life and work:...
(1936- ), (tenor, soprano) - Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
(1928–1964), (alto, flute, bass clarinet) - Arne DomnerusArne DomnérusSven Arne Domnérus was a Swedish jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist, popularly nicknamed Dompan....
(1924-2008), (alto) - Sam DonahueSam DonahueSam Donahue was an American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist, trumpeter and musical arranger. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he is probably best known for his work with Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Billy May, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others.He is the father of guitarist Jerry...
(1918–1974), (tenor) - Lou DonaldsonLou DonaldsonLou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...
(1926- ), (alto) - Jimmy DorseyJimmy DorseyJames "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
(1904–1957), (alto) - Bob DownesBob DownesBob Downes is an English avant-garde jazz flautist and saxophonist. Probably best known for his work with musicians like Mike Westbrook and for leading his own group since 1968, the Open Music Trio.-External links:*...
(1937- ), (alto, soprano) - Paquito D'RiveraPaquito D'RiveraPaquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...
(1948- ), (alto) - Gerd DudekGerd DudekGerd Dudek is a German jazz tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist.Dudek studied clarinet privately and attended music school in the 1950s before joining a big band led by his brother Ossi until 1958...
(1938- ), (tenor, soprano) - Candy DulferCandy DulferCandy Dulfer is a Dutch smooth jazz alto saxophonist who began playing at the age of six. She founded her band, Funky Stuff, when she was fourteen years old. Her debut album Saxuality received a Grammy Award nomination. Dulfer has released nine studio albums, two live albums, and one compilation...
(1969)- , (alto) - Hans DulferHans DulferHans Dulfer is a Dutch jazz musician who plays tenor saxophone.Hans Dulfer was born on 28 May 1940 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He began at age 17 and has been referred to as "Big boy" because of his album of the same name. At the end of the sixties he and Herbert Noord founded a quartet that...
(1940)- , (tenor) - Paul DunmallPaul DunmallPaul Dunmall is a British jazz saxophonist who plays tenor and soprano saxophone as well as the baritone and the more exotic Saxello and the Northumbrian pipes.He has a long discography on the Duns Limited Edition label....
(1953- ), (tenor, soprano, baritone, saxello)
E
- Allen EagerAllen EagerAllen Eager was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Eager first played jazz as a teenager during World War II in the bands of Bobby Sherwood, Sonny Dunham, Shorty Sherock, Hal McIntyre, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey, and Johnny Bothwell...
(1927–2003), (tenor, alto) - Bill EasleyBill EasleyBill Easley plays alto, tenor and the flute, and the clarinet. He worked with George Benson in the late 60s Isaac Hayes in the 70s. He Attended Memphis State University in the 1970s. He also did sessions at Stax and Hi Records . Easley moved back to New York in 1980 and has recorded sessions for...
(tenor, alto) - Teddy EdwardsTeddy EdwardsTheodore Marcus "Teddy" Edwards was an American jazz tenor saxophonist based on the West Coast of the US. Some consider him to be one of the most influential jazz saxophonists.-Biography:...
(1924–2003), (tenor) - Richard ElliotRichard ElliotRichard Elliot is a Scottish-born saxophone player.He was a member of the funk band Tower of Power playing tenor sax for 5 years during the 1980s. He also worked on Stacy Lattisaw's 1986 album "Take Me All The Way". His solo career took off when he remade the Percy Sledge classic "When a Man...
(tenor) - Booker ErvinBooker ErvinBooker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
(1930–1970), (tenor) - Ellery EskelinEllery EskelinEllery Eskelin American tenor saxophonist. Born in Wichita, Kansas, raised in Baltimore, Maryland from the age of two. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were also musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and became a cult figure after his death in the little known...
(1959- ), (tenor) - Bill EvansBill Evans (saxophonist)Bill Evans is an American jazz saxophonist. His father was a classical piano prodigy and until junior high school Evans studied classical clarinet. Early in his studies he was able to hear such artists as Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz live at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago...
(1958- ), (tenor, soprano) - Herschel EvansHerschel EvansHerschel "Tex" Evans , was a tenor saxophonist who worked in the Count Basie Orchestra. He had also worked with Lionel Hampton and Buck Clayton...
(1909–1939), (tenor, alto)
F
- Joe FarrellJoe FarrellJoseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
(1937–1986), (tenor, soprano) - Wally FawkesWally FawkesWally Fawkes Wally Fawkes Wally Fawkes (born 1924 in Vancouver, Canada (left in 1931 for England) is a British-Canadian jazz clarinetist and, until recently, a satirical cartoonist...
(1924- ), (soprano) - Wilton FelderWilton FelderWilton Lewis Felder is both a saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of The Crusaders, initially called the Jazz Crusaders. Felder, Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample, and Stix Hooper founded the group while in high school in Houston...
(1940- ) - Buddy FeatherstonhaughBuddy FeatherstonhaughRupert Edward Lee "Buddy" Featherstonhaugh was an English jazz saxophonist.Featherstonhaugh studied in Sussex, and had his first professional gig with Pat O'Malley in 1927. He was with Spike Hughes from 1930 to 1932, and toured England in Billy Mason's band behind Louis Armstrong that same year...
(1909–1976), (tenor, baritone) - Ricky FordRicky FordRicky Ford is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Ford was born in Boston and studied at the New England Conservatory. In 1974 he recorded with Gunther Schuller and then played in the Duke Ellington Orchestra under Mercer Ellington from 1974 to 1976...
(1954- ), (tenor) - Jimmy ForrestJimmy ForrestJimmy Forrest was an African American jazz musician, who played tenor saxophone throughout his career....
(1920–1980), (tenor) - Sonny FortuneSonny FortuneSonny Fortune is an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He also plays soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone and clarinet.-Biography:...
(1939)- , (alto, soprano) - Al FosterAl FosterAl Foster is an American jazz drummer. Foster played with Miles Davis's large funk fusion group in the 70s, was one of the few people to have contact with Miles during his retirement, and was also part of his comeback album The Man With the Horn of 1981...
(1944- ), (tenor) - Frank FosterFrank Foster (musician)Frank Foster was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s.-Biography:...
(1928-2011), (tenor, soprano) - Charlie Fowlkes (1916–1980), (baritone)
- Bob FranceschiniBob FranceschiniBob Franceschini is an American jazz saxophonist, songwriter, and arranger. He has appeared on more than eighty albums of other recording artists, including those of Mike Stern, Paul Simon, and Willie Colón.-Career:...
(1961), (tenor) - Bud FreemanBud FreemanLawrence "Bud" Freeman was a U.S. jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing the tenor saxophone, but also able at the clarinet. He had a smooth and full tenor sax style with a heavy robust swing. He was one of the most influential and important jazz tenor saxophonists of...
(1906–1991), (tenor) - Chico FreemanChico FreemanChico Freeman is a modern jazz tenor saxophonist and trumpeter and son of jazz saxophonist Von Freeman...
(1949- ), (tenor, soprano) - Von FreemanVon FreemanEarle Lavon Freeman Sr. is an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. He is the father of jazz saxophonist Chico Freeman.-Biography:...
(1922- ), (tenor)
G
- Brent GallaherBrent GallaherBrent Christopher Gallaher is an American saxophonist.He is the son of Linda Gallaher and Christopher S. Gallaher. His father was a professor of music at Frostburg State University. The Gallaher family moved to Morehead KY in 1972 when Christopher was hired by the Morehead State University...
(1969- ), (tenor, soprano, alto) - Al Gallodoro (1913-2008], (alto)
- Jim GallowayJim GallowayJim Galloway is a jazz clarinet and saxophone player. He has based his career in Canada since emigrating in the mid-1960s...
(1936- ) - Jan GarbarekJan GarbarekJan Garbarek is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter...
(1947- ), (tenor, soprano) - Lou GareLou GareLou Gare is an English free-jazz saxophonist born in Rugby, Warwickshire, perhaps best known for his works with the improvised music ensemble AMM and playing with musicians such as Eddie Prévost, Mike Westbrook, Cornelius Cardew, Keith Rowe and Sam Richards...
(1939- ), (tenor) - Joe GarlandJoe GarlandJoseph Copeland "Joe" Garland was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger, best known for writing "In the Mood"....
(1903–1977), (tenor, baritone, bass) - Tim GarlandTim GarlandTim Garland is a British jazz saxophonist, composer and band-leader. He is also known for his innovative bass clarinet playing and for his prolific output as composer, blurring the boundaries between modern jazz and classical concert music.As a performer, he has worked widely both in Britain and...
(1966- ), (tenor, soprano) - Kenny GarrettKenny GarrettKenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
(1960- ), (alto, soprano) - Charles GayleCharles GayleCharles Gayle is a free jazz saxophonist, pianist, bass clarinetist, and percussionist.-Biography:Charles Gayle was born in Buffalo, New York. Some of Gayle's history is unclear. He was apparently homeless for approximately twenty years, playing saxophone on street corners and subway platforms...
(1939- ), (tenor) - Ben Van Gelder (1988- ), (alto)
- Herb GellerHerb GellerHerb Geller , is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger.His musical abilities could have been inherited from his mother, Francis. She worked at the Hollywood neighbourhood cinemas playing piano, accompanying silent movies...
(1928- ), (alto, soprano) - Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
(1927–1991), (tenor) - John GilmoreJohn Gilmore (musician)John Gilmore was an American jazz tenor saxophone player best-known for his long tenure as a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra...
(1931–1995), (tenor) - Jimmy GiuffreJimmy GiuffreJames Peter Giuffre was an American jazz clarinet and saxophone player, composer and arranger. He is notable for his development of forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating forms of free improvisation.-Biography:Born in Dallas, Texas, of Italian ancestry,...
(1921–2008), (tenor, baritone, soprano) - Victor GoinesVictor GoinesVictor Goines is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist and received his Masters in Music at Virginia Commonwealth University. Goines is the director of jazz studies at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He previously served as first artistic director of the Juilliard School's jazz...
(1961- ), (tenor, soprano) - Harry GoldHarry GoldHarry Gold was a laboratory chemist who was convicted of being the “courier” for a number of Soviet spy rings during the Manhattan Project.-Early life:Gold was born in Switzerland to poor Russian Jewish immigrants...
(1907–2005), (bass, tenor, alto) - Benny GolsonBenny GolsonBenny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
(1929- ), (tenor) - Paul GonsalvesPaul GonsalvesPaul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
(1920–1974), (tenor) - Scheila GonzalezScheila GonzalezScheila Gonzalez is an American multi-instrumentalist and music educator. She is best known for playing the saxophone and other instruments with artists such as Dweezil Zappa, Alex Acuña, Ray Parker, Jr., and many others...
(1971- ), (tenor) - Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
(1909–1986), (alto) - Dexter GordonDexter GordonDexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
(1923–1990), (tenor) - Kenny GKenny GKenneth Bruce Gorelick , better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American, adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986...
(Kenny Gorelick, 1956- ), (soprano, alto, tenor) - Bill GrahamBill Graham (musician)William Henry "Bill" Graham is an American jazz saxophonist.Graham was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Denver, where he led his own ensemble which included Paul Quinichette among its members. He studied at Tuskegee University and then Lincoln University of Missouri after a stint in...
(born 1918), (alto) - Wardell GrayWardell GrayWardell Gray was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods.Today often overlooked, Gray's playing displays a unique style, an unmatched tone and a strong presence.-Early years:...
(1921–1955), (tenor) - Bunky GreenBunky GreenBunky Green is an American jazz alto saxophonist and educator.-Biography:Vernice "Bunky" Green was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he played the alto saxophone, mainly at a local club called "The Brass Rail."...
(1935- ), (alto) - Johnny GriffinJohnny GriffinJohn Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
(1928–2008), (tenor) - Euge GrooveEuge GrooveSteven Eugene Grove , better known as Euge Groove, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 background....
(1962- ) - Steve Grossman (1951- ), (alto, soprano, tenor)
- Gigi GryceGigi GryceGigi Gryce was an American saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, educator, and big band bandleader.His performing career was relatively short and, in comparison to other musicians of his...
(1927–1983), (alto) - Peter GuidiPeter GuidiPeter Guidi is a jazz saxophonist and jazz flutist whose main instruments are flute, alto and bass flute, alto and soprano saxophones.Born in Scotland of Italian parents, Peter Guidi is a self-taught musician...
(1949- ), (alto, soprano) - Lars GullinLars GullinLars Gunnar Victor Gullin was a Swedish jazz baritone saxophone player, occasional pianist and composer closest in playing style to United States Cool school players, with a full tone, but also a lightness uncommon with baritone saxophonists and an influence from Swedish folk music, which helps...
(1928–1976), (baritone) - Tommy GwaltneyTommy GwaltneyThomas O. "Tommy" Gwaltney is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. He has played clarinet, saxophone, and vibraphone....
(1925- ), (alto, tenor)
H
- Rajiv Halim (1990- ), (alto)
- Scott HamiltonScott Hamilton (musician)Scott Hamilton is a jazz tenor saxophonist, born in 1954 and associated with swing and mainstream jazz.-Biography:He emerged in the 1970s and at the time he was considered to be one of the few musicians of real talent who carried the tradition of the classic jazz tenor saxophone in the style of...
(1954- ), (tenor) - John HandyJohn HandyJohn Richard Handy III is an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Biography:In the 1960s, Handy led several groups...
, (1933- ), (alto) - Everette HarpEverette HarpEverette Harp , is an African American blues, jazz and gospel saxophonist who has recorded on Blue Note and Capitol Records. Harp's 2006 album, In the Moment, debuted in the number one position of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart.-Biography:Everette Harp started playing piano at two, and began...
(1961- ) - Billy HarperBilly HarperBilly Harper is a Jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.-Biography:...
(1943- ), (tenor, alto) - Joe HarriottJoe HarriottJoseph Arthurlin 'Joe' Harriott was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone....
(1928–1973), (alto) - Eddie HarrisEddie HarrisEddie Harris was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ...
(1934–1996), (tenor) - Donald HarrisonDonald HarrisonDonald Harrison, Jr. is an American jazz saxophonist from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Biography:Harrison studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and Berklee College of Music. He played with Roy Haynes, Jack McDuff, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Terence Blanchard and Don Pullen in the...
(1960- ), (alto) - Antonio HartAntonio HartAntonio Hart is a jazz alto saxophonist. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied with Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and has a master's degree from Queens College, City University of New York. His initial training was classical, but he switched to jazz in college...
(1968- ), (alto, soprano) - Tubby HayesTubby HayesEdward Brian "Tubby" Hayes was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing in groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest British jazz instrumentalists.- Early life :Hayes was born...
(1935–1973), (tenor) - Alfred HarthAlfred HarthAlfred 23 Harth is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who mixes genres in a polystylistic manner...
(1949- ), (tenor, soprano, alto, baritone) - Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
(1901–1969), (tenor) - Jimmy HeathJimmy HeathJames Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...
(1926- ), (tenor) - Ernie HenryErnie HenryErnie Henry was an American jazz saxophonist.Henry played in the late 1940s with Tadd Dameron , Fats Navarro, Charlie Ventura, Max Roach, and Dizzy Gillespie . From 1950 to 1952 he played in the band of Illinois Jacquet...
(1926–1957), (alto) - Joe HendersonJoe HendersonJoe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than forty years Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.-Early life:From a very large family with five sisters and nine...
(1937–2001), (tenor) - Julius HemphillJulius HemphillJulius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone; less often soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.-Biography:...
(1938–1995), (alto, soprano, tenor) - Woody HermanWoody HermanWoodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
(1913–1987), (alto) - Vincent HerringVincent HerringVincent Herring is an American jazz hard bop and post-bop saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:Herring's formal musical education began at age 11, when he started playing saxophone in school bands and studying privately at Dean Frederick's School Of Music in Vallejo, California...
(1964- ), (alto) - Warren Hill (19??-), (soprano, alto)
- Nigel HitchcockNigel HitchcockNigel Hitchcock is an English jazz saxophonist.-Biography:Hichcock began to play alto sax at age 8. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the lead alto chair for the next 5 years...
(1971- ) - Johnny HodgesJohnny HodgesJohn Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
(1907–1970), (alto, soprano) - Ron HollowayRon HollowayRonald Edward "Ron" Holloway is an American tenor saxophonist. He is listed in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz where veteran jazz critic Ira Gitler described Holloway as a "bear-down-hard-bopper who can blow authentic R&B and croon a ballad with warm, blue feeling." Holloway is the recipient...
(1953), (tenor) - Charlie HolmesCharlie HolmesCharlie Holmes was an alto jazz saxophonist of the swing era. He also played clarinet in jazz and oboe for the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra in 1926....
(1910–1985), (alto) - Paul HornPaul Horn (jazz musician)Paul Horn is an American jazz flautist, and is considered by some to be a pioneer of New Age music.-Biography:Paul Horn was born in New York City, and began playing the piano at the age of 4 and the saxophone at the age of 12...
(born 1930), (alto) - George HowardGeorge HowardGeorge Howard may refer to:*George Howard , governor of Maryland, 1831–1833*George Howard , American smooth jazz saxophonist, known for his R&B sound...
(1956–1998), (soprano, tenor) - Derek HumbleDerek HumbleDerek Humble was an English jazz alto saxophonist.Humble was born at Livingston, Durham, England and played professionally from his teenage years. He was working with Kathy Stobart by 1950 and played with Vic Lewis in 1951 and Jack Parnell in 1952...
(1932–1971), (alto)
J
- Illinois JacquetIllinois JacquetJean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo....
(1922–2004 ), (tenor) - Joseph JarmanJoseph JarmanJoseph Jarman , is a jazz musician, composer and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He is perhaps best known as one of the first members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Early life:Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois...
(1937- ), (alto) - Boney JamesBoney JamesBoney James, is a saxophonist, songwriter and producer who popularized urban jazz...
(tenor, alto, soprano) - Carter JeffersonCarter JeffersonCarter Jefferson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Jefferson played clarinet and alto saxophone early in his career, playing in the backing bands for The Temptations, The Supremes, and Little Richard in the 1960s. In 1971, he entered New York University, and played with Mongo Santamaría and...
(1946–1993) - Hilton JeffersonHilton JeffersonHilton Jefferson was an American jazz alto saxophonist born in Danbury, CT, perhaps best-known for leading the saxophone section from 1940-1949 in the Cab Calloway band...
(1903- ), (alto) - John JenkinsJohn Jenkins (jazz musician)John Jenkins was an American jazz saxophonist.Jenkins initially studied clarinet in high school but switched to saxophone after six months on the instrument. He played in jam sessions led by Joe Segal at Roosevelt College from 1949-1956. He played with Art Farmer in 1955 and led his own group in...
(1931–1993), (alto) - Bill JohnsonBill Johnson (reed player)Bill Johnson was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger....
(1912–1960), (alto) - Budd JohnsonBudd JohnsonNot to be confused with Buddy Johnson.Budd Johnson was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Earl Hines, among others.-Biography:He initially played...
(1910- ), (alto) - Edward "Kidd" Jordan (alto, tenor, soprano, baritone)
- Louis JordanLouis JordanLouis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
(1908–1975), (alto)
K
- Richie KamucaRichie KamucaRichie Kamuca , was an American jazz tenor saxophonist born in Philadelphia.-Musical career:Like many players associated with West Coast jazz, Kamuca grew up in the East before moving west around the time that bebop changed the prevailing style of jazz...
(1930–1977), (tenor) - Tom KeenlysideTom KeenlysideTom Keenlyside is a Juno Award-winning saxophonist and jazz flute player from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Biography :Born and raised in Vancouver, Keenlyside took up the trumpet in 1962 at the age of 12, and played in various rhythm and blues bands throughout the 1960s. He played is first...
(all saxes, jazz flute) - Robin KenyattaRobin KenyattaRobin Kenyatta was an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Career:Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, United States, Kenyatta grew up in New York. He played with Bill Dixon there in the 1960s, playing with his project "The October Revolution in Jazz"...
(1942- ), (alto) - Peter KingPeter King (saxophonist)Peter John King is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, and clarinettist.- Early life :Peter King was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, on August 11, 1940. He took up the clarinet and saxophone as a teenager, entirely self taught...
(1940- ), (alto, soprano) - Rosa KingRosa KingRosa King was an American Jazz and blues saxophonist/singer who made her fame in Amsterdam and recorded many albums under a variety of labels.-Career:...
(and singer) - Rahsaan Roland KirkRahsaan Roland KirkRahsaan Roland Kirk was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute and many other instruments...
(1936–1977), (all saxes - including some of his own creation) - Eric KlossEric KlossEric Kloss is an American jazz saxophonist.Blind since birth, Kloss first played professionally in the Pittsburgh area in the 1960s, and played with Pat Martino in 1965; later that year he made his first recordings at age 16 for Prestige Records...
(1949- ), (alto) - Kadota "Jaw" KouskePE'Zis a Japanese jazz instrumental band consisting of five men, dubbed "The Samurai Jazz Band." They have been signed onto Sony Music Japan since 2008.-Members:* Ohyama "B.M.W" Wataru, born in Kanagawa, trumpet* Kadota "Jaw" Kouske, born in Ehime, saxophone...
(tenor, soprano) - Dave KozDave KozDave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
(alto, soprano, tenor, baritone) - Sigurd KøhnSigurd KøhnSigurd Køhn , was a Norwegian jazz saxophonist and composer. He was, along with his 16 year old son, killed in Khao Lak, Thailand by the tsunami following the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on December 26, 2004....
(1959–2004), (alto) - Lee KonitzLee KonitzLee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...
(1927- ), (alto, soprano) - Fela KutiFela KutiFela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
(1939–1997),(tenor, alto)
L
- Pat LaBarberaPat LaBarberaPat LaBarbera is an American-born Canadian jazz tenor, alto and soprano saxophonist, clarinetist, and flautist born in Mt. Morris, New York, most notable for his work as a soloist in Buddy Rich bands from 1967–1973....
(1944- ), (soprano, tenor) - Steve LacySteve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
(1934–2004 ), (soprano) - Harold LandHarold LandHarold de Vance Land was an American hard bop and post-bop tenor saxophonist. Land developed his hard bop playing with the Max Roach/Clifford Brown band into a personal, modern style. His tone was strong and emotional, yet displayed a certain fragility that made him easy to...
(1928–2001), (tenor) - Prince LashaPrince LashaWilliam B. Lawsha, better known as Prince Lasha , was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist....
(1929–2008), (alto) - Yusef LateefYusef LateefDr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
(1920- ), (tenor) - Azar LawrenceAzar LawrenceAzar Lawrence is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his contributions as sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. Lawrence was the tenor saxophonist Tyner used following John Coltrane's death....
(1952 - ), (tenor, soprano) - Ronnie LawsRonnie LawsRonald Wayne "Ronnie" Laws is an American jazz, blues and funk saxophonist. He is the younger brother of jazz flautist Hubert Laws.-Biography:...
(1950 - ), (alto, tenor) - Amy LeeAmy Lee (sax)Amy Lee is an American saxophonist, composer and arranger. She has played with a variety of musicians and singers, and is best known for being a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band....
(soprano, alto) - David Liebman (1946- ), (soprano, tenor)
- Erica LindsayErica LindsayErica Lindsay is an American saxophone player and composer. Erica Lindsay is an American jazz - saxophonist and composer....
(1955- ), (soprano, tenor) - Fred LipsiusFred LipsiusFred Lipsius was the original saxophonist and arranger for the jazz-rock band, Blood, Sweat and Tears, for which he played alto saxophone and piano...
(1945- ), (alto) - Zachary LiptonZachary Lipton"Zack Lipton", Zachary Lipton is a jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader from New Rochelle, New York. He attended Columbia University and is the grandson of composer Issachar Miron. He has produced one album and is currently producing his second...
(1985- ), (soprano, tenor) - Charles Lloyd (1938- ), (tenor, alto)
- Mornington LockettMornington LockettMornington Edward Lockett is an English jazz saxophonist.Lockett began playing clarinet at age 14 before switching to tenor sax. He studied at Dartington College of Arts, graduating in 1981, then undertook further study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1984-85...
(1961- ), (tenor) - Joe LovanoJoe LovanoJoseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
(1952- ), (tenor, alto) - Preston LovePreston LovePreston Haines Love was a renowned alto saxophonist, bandleader and songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska.-Biography:Preston Love grew up in North Omaha and graduated from North High....
(1921–2004), (alto) - Arun LuthraArun LuthraArun Luthra is a jazz musician based in New York, N.Y., U.S.A.-Early life:Arun Luthra was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. of an Indian father and a British mother. He began his formal music training in Belgium at the age of nine, studying European classical guitar...
(soprano, tenor, alto) - Jimmy LyonsJimmy LyonsJimmy Lyons was an alto saxophone player. He is best known for his long tenure in the Cecil Taylor Unit.-Biography:...
(1931-1986), (alto)
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- Rudresh MahanthappaRudresh MahanthappaRudresh Mahanthappa is a New York-based jazz alto saxophonist and composer.Mahanthappa was born in Trieste, Italy, and grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1992 and received his Master of Fine Arts degree in jazz composition from Chicago's DePaul University...
(1971- ), (alto) - Joe MainiJoe MainiJoe Maini was an American jazz alto saxophonist.Maini played early on in the big bands of Alvino Rey, Johnny Bothwell, and Claude Thornhill . Soon after, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked frequently as a session musician...
(1930–1964), (alto) - Didier MalherbeDidier MalherbeDidier Antonin Malherbe is a saxophonist and flautist. He was one of the founders of the Canterbury sound band Gong....
- Steve "The Count" MarcusSteve MarcusSteve Marcus was an American jazz saxophonist....
(1939–2005), (tenor, soprano) - Charlie MarianoCharlie MarianoCarmine Ugo Mariano was an American jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Cologne, Germany.-Biography:Mariano was the son of Italian immigrants....
(1923–2009), (alto) - "Blue" Lou MariniLou MariniLou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...
(1945- ) (soprano, alto, tenor) - Branford MarsalisBranford MarsalisBranford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
(1960- ), (tenor, soprano) - Warne MarshWarne MarshWarne Marion Marsh was an American tenor saxophonist born in Los Angeles.-Biography:Marsh came from an affluent background: his father was the cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh , and his mother Elizabeth was a violinist...
(1927–1987), (tenor) - Andy McGheeAndy McGheeAndy McGhee is a tenor saxophonist and educator.Andy McGhee graduated from New England Conservatory in 1949 and worked for a short time with trumpeter Roy Eldridge and local Boston musician Fat Man Robinson...
(1927- ) - Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyreKalaparusha Maurice McIntyreKalaparusha Maurice McIntyre is an American free jazz tenor saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist.McIntyre was born in Clarksville, Arkansas but his family moved to Chicago when he was a child. He began playing drums at seven, then switched to saxophone...
(1936- ) - Hal McKusickHal McKusickHal McKusick is an American-born jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist, most notable for his work with Boyd Raeburn from 1944 to 1945 and Claude Thornhill from 1948 to 1949.-Biography:...
(1924- ), (alto, clarinet) - Jackie McLeanJackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
(1931–2006), (alto) - Charles McPhersonCharles McPherson (musician)Charles McPherson is an American jazz alto saxophonist born in Joplin, Missouri and raised in Detroit, Michigan, most notable for his work from 1960-1972 with Charles Mingus....
(1939- ), (alto) - Marion MeadowsMarion MeadowsMarion Meadows is an American tenor saxophonist, soprano saxophonist, composer, and smooth jazz recording artist of Native American, African American and Caucasian descent. Meadows has released a total of 9 albums to date.-Upbringing:...
(soprano) - Bob MintzerBob MintzerBob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
(1953- ), (tenor) - Roscoe MitchellRoscoe MitchellRoscoe Mitchell is an African American composer, jazz instrumentalist and educator, mostly known for being "a technically superb—if idiosyncratic—saxophonist." He has been called "one of the key figures" in avant-garde jazz who has been "at the forefront of modern music" for the past...
(born 1940), (saxes) - Hank MobleyHank MobleyHenry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
(1930–1986), (tenor) - James MoodyJames Moody (saxophonist)James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
(1925-2010), (tenor, alto) - Frank MorganFrank Morgan (musician)Frank Morgan was a jazz saxophonist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He mainly played alto saxophone but also played soprano saxophone. During the 1950s he was known as a Charlie Parker successor and recorded several bebop albums.Morgan's father was a guitarist with the vocal group The...
(1933–2007), (alto) - Dick MorrisseyDick MorrisseyRichard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
(1940–2000), (tenor, soprano) - Gerry MulliganGerry MulliganGerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
(1927–1996), (baritone) - Mike MurleyMike MurleyMike Murley is a jazz musician in Toronto, Canada who was a member of the celebrated jazz ensemble The Shuffle Demons. Along with leading various projects, he has also been a sideman with musicians and groups such as David Occhipinti, David Braid, Rob McConnell, and Metalwood...
(tenor, soprano) - David MurrayDavid Murray (jazz musician)David Murray is an American jazz musician. Murray plays mainly tenor saxophone and sometimes bass clarinet. He has recorded prolifically for many record labels since the mid-1970s.-Biography:...
(1955- ), (tenor) - Henry 'Boots' MussulliBoots MussulliBoots Mussulli was an American jazz saxophonist, based chiefly out of Boston....
(1915–1967), (alto)
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- Ted Nash (1960- ), (alto)
- Oliver NelsonOliver NelsonOliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
(1932–1975), (alto, tenor) - David "Fathead" Newman (1933–2009), (tenor)
- Lennie NiehausLennie NiehausLennie Niehaus is an American alto saxophonist, arranger, and composer on the West Coast jazz scene. He has played with the Stan Kenton big band, and various other jazz bands on the West Coast of the U.S. Niehaus has arranged and composed for motion pictures, including several produced by Clint...
(1929- ), (alto) - Sal NisticoSal NisticoSal Nistico, born Salvatore Nistico 2 April 1938 in Syracuse , died 3 March 1991 in Berne, Switzerland, was a jazz tenor saxophonist....
(1938–1991), (tenor)
O
- Mike OsborneMike OsborneMichael Evans Osborne was an English jazz alto saxophonist, pianist and clarinetist, perhaps most noteworthy for his contributions as a member to the Chris McGregor band Brotherhood of Breath in the 1960s and 1970s.He was born in Hereford and attended Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire and the...
(1941–2007), (alto) - Greg OsbyGreg OsbyGreg Osby is an American jazz saxophonist who plays mainly in the free jazz, free funk and M-Base idioms.-Biography:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Osby studied at Howard University, where he majored in Jazz Studies, and then at the Berklee College of Music, with Andy McGhee...
(1960- ), (alto, soprano) - Dick OattsDick OattsRichard "Dick" Oatts is a jazz saxophonist from Jefferson, Iowa. He became interested in saxophone due to his father Jack Oatts. To this day he still plays on the same Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone his father gave to him. He began his professional career in Minneapolis in 1972 and in 1977 he joined...
(soprano, alto, tenor)
P
- Walter ParazaiderWalter ParazaiderWalter Parazaider is best known for being a founding member and saxophone player for the rock band Chicago. He also plays the flute and other woodwind instruments in the band, including clarinet. On the hit "You're Not Alone," he played backing rhythm guitar.Parazaider began playing the clarinet...
(1945- ), (alto) - Michael J. ParlettMichael J. ParlettMichael J. Parlett is an English jazz saxophonist producer and radio host.-Career:Michael J. Parlett is a prominent British saxophonist and bandleader whose musical abilities were borne of the 1980 jazz music genre...
(1963- ), (tenor) - Charlie ParkerCharlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
(1920–1955), (alto, tenor) - Evan ParkerEvan ParkerEvan Shaw Parker is a British free-improvising saxophone player from the European free jazz scene.Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free jazz and free improvisation, and has pioneered or substantially expanded...
(1944- ), (soprano, tenor, alto) - Leo ParkerLeo ParkerLeo Parker was an American jazz baritone saxophonist.Parker studied alto saxophone in high school, and played this instrument on a recording with Coleman Hawkins in 1944. He switched to baritone saxophone later that year when he joined Billy Eckstine's bebop band, playing there until 1946...
(1925–1962), (baritone, alto) - Maceo ParkerMaceo ParkerMaceo Parker is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones...
(1943- ), (alto) - Derek PascoeDerek PascoeDerek Pascoe was the vocalist and saxophonist in Flintlock. He appeared in one episode of the children's TV science fiction programme, The Tomorrow People, "The Heart of Sogguth" in which the band's music was to revive an ancient demon....
(1957- ), (Tenor) - Jerome Don PasquallJerome Don PasquallJerome Don Pasquall was an American jazz reed player.Pasquall grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and played early in his life on the mellophone in brass bands. He served in the Army in 1918 in the 10th Cavalry Band, and picked up clarinet during this time...
(1902–1971), (alto) - George PaxtonGeorge PaxtonGeorge Paxton was an American big band leader, saxophonist, composer, publisher, and arranger of swing jazz music from the 1930s to the late 1940s; as well as president and producer of Coed Records, primarily a doo-wop label, from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.-Early career:He was born in...
(1930s and 1940s bandleader), (tenor) - Cecil PayneCecil PayneCecil Payne was a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne also played the alto saxophone and flute...
(1922–2007), (baritone & other instruments) - Art PepperArt PepperArt Pepper , born Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr., was an American alto saxophonist and clarinetist.About Pepper, Scott Yanow of All Music stated, "In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker" and: "When Art Pepper...
(1925–1982), (alto, tenor) - Bill Perkins (1924–2003), (tenor, baritone)
- Eric PersonEric PersonEric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...
(1963- ), (alto, soprano, tenor, sopranino) - Houston PersonHouston PersonHouston Person is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. Person is also known for his distinctive sassy sound and his expressive style of playing...
(1934- ), (tenor) - Flip PhillipsFlip PhillipsFlip Phillips was an American jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. He is best remembered for his work with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1946 to 1957.-Biography:...
(1915–2001), (tenor) - Courtney PineCourtney PineCourtney Pine CBE is an English jazz musician. At school he studied the clarinet, although he is known primarily for his saxophone playing. Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the flute, clarinet, bass Clarinet and keyboards...
(1964- ), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Bobby PlaterBobby PlaterBobby Plater was an American jazz alto saxophonist.Plater began playing alto sax at age 12, and played locally in Newark with Donald Lambert and the Savoy Dictators in the 1930s. He played with Tiny Bradshaw from 1940-42 before spending 1942-45 serving in the U.S. military during World War II...
(1914- ), (alto) - Pony PoindexterPony PoindexterNorwood "Pony" Poindexter was an American jazz saxophonist.Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax growing up. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne, and following this attended Candell Conservatory in Oakland, where he based himself...
(1926–1988) - Odeon Pope (1938- ), (tenor)
- Art Porter, Jr.Art Porter, Jr.Arthur Lee 'Art' Porter, Jr., , was an American jazz saxophonist. He was the son of jazz musician Art Porter, Sr., as well as the namesake of "The Art Porter Bill".-Early life:...
(alto) - Noah Preminger (1986- ), (tenor)
- Chris PotterChris Potter (jazz saxophonist)Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina...
(1970- ), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Russell ProcopeRussell ProcopeRussell Procope , an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist, was known best for his long tenure in the reed section of Duke Ellington's orchestra, where he was one of its two signature clarinet soloists....
(1908–1981), (alto) - Dudu PukwanaDudu PukwanaMtutuzel Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist, composer and pianist .-Early years in South Africa:...
(1938–1990) (alto, soprano)
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- Rama IX of Thailand (1927- ), (alto)
- Boyd RaeburnBoyd RaeburnAlbert Boyd Raeburn was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophonist.Boyd Raeburn was born in Faith, South Dakota, and became one of the greatest and least-known of jazz bandleaders during the 1940s...
(1913–1966), (bass) - Boots RandolphBoots RandolphHomer Louis "Boots" Randolph III was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit, "Yakety Sax"...
(1927-2007), (tenor) - Nelson RangellNelson RangellNelson Rangell is an American velvet-smooth jazz musician and composer originally from Castle Rock, Colorado. Although Rangell is known for his work with the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, his primary instrument is the piccolo flute, which he began playing at the age of 15...
(1960- ), all saxes - Sonny RedSonny RedSonny Red was an American alto saxophonist associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles...
(1932–1981), (alto) - Dewey RedmanDewey RedmanDewey Redman was an American jazz saxophonist, known for performing free jazz as a bandleader, and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett....
(1931–2006), (tenor, alto) - Don RedmanDon RedmanDonald Matthew Redman was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer.Redman was announced as a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009....
(1900–1964), (alto) - Joshua RedmanJoshua RedmanJoshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...
(1969- ) (alto, soprano, tenor) - Fritz RenoldFritz RenoldFritz Renold is a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, teacher and festival director based in Aarau, Switzerland.-Early years:...
(1960- ), (alto) - Jerome RichardsonJerome RichardsonJerome Richardson was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet and piccolo...
(1920–2000), (alto) - Scott RobinsonScott Robinson (jazz musician)Scott Robinson is an American jazz musician. Robinson is best known for his work with various styles of saxophone, but has also performed with the clarinet, flute, and sarrusophone, along with other, more obscure instruments....
(1959- ), (all saxes) - Spike RobinsonSpike RobinsonHenry Berthold "Spike" Robinson was a tenor saxophonist. He began playing at age twelve, making recordings with famous jazz and bop musicians on several labels including Discovery, Hep and Concord. However, he sought an engineering degree and followed that profession on a fulltime basis for nearly...
(1930–2001), (tenor) - Bob RockwellBob RockwellBob Rockwell is a jazz saxophonist. He was born in the United States but emigrated to Denmark in 1983, where he has lived since.-Biography:...
(1945- ), (tenor, soprano) - Adrian RolliniAdrian RolliniAdrian Francis Rollini was a multi-instrumentalist best known for his jazz music. He played the bass saxophone, piano, xylophone, and many other instruments. Rollini is also known for introducing the goofus in jazz music...
(1904–1956), (bass, baritone) - Sonny RollinsSonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
(1930- ), (tenor, soprano) - Bernt RosengrenBernt RosengrenBernt Rosengren is a Swedish jazz tenor saxophonist. His recordings have earned him five Gyllene Skivan awards in Sweden.-Biography:...
(1937- ), (tenor, alto) - Ronnie RossRonnie RossAlbert Ronald "Ronnie" Ross was a jazz baritone saxophonist.Ross moved to England in 1946 and began playing tenor saxophone in the 1950s with Tony Kinsey, Ted Heath, and Don Rendell. During his tenure with Rendell he switched to baritone saxophone...
(1933–1991), (baritone) - Marshall RoyalMarshall RoyalMarshall Royal was an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist best known for his work with Count Basie, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years....
(1912–1995), (alto)
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- Edgar SampsonEdgar SampsonEdgar Melvin Sampson was a composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist...
(1907- ), (alto) - David SanbornDavid SanbornDavid Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
(1945- ), (alto, soprano) - David SanchezDavid Sánchez (musician)David Sanchez is a well known, 2005 Grammy winning jazz tenor saxophonist from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico born in September 1968.-Early life:Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor saxophone at age 12. The earliest influences were Afro-Caribbean and danza but also European...
(born 1969), (tenor, soprano) - Pharoah SandersPharoah SandersPharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...
(1940- ), (tenor) - Mario SchianoMario SchianoMario Schiano was an Italian alto saxophonist and soprano saxophonist associated with avant-garde/free jazz.He was born in Naples...
(1933–2008), (soprano, alto) - Anton SchwartzAnton SchwartzAnton Schwartz is an American jazz saxophonist and composer based in Seattle, Washington and Oakland, California.-Biography:...
(1967- ), (tenor) - Ronnie ScottRonnie ScottRonnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
(1927–1997), (tenor) - Bud ShankBud ShankClifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first...
(1926–2009), (alto, baritone, tenor, flute) - Paul ShapiroPaul ShapiroPaul Shapiro is the Humane Society of the United States' senior director of its .He directs an effort to convince retailers, food service providers, and universities to end their use of eggs from caged birds and expand their vegan options...
(tenor, alto) - Archie SheppArchie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
(1937- ), (tenor, soprano, alto) - Andy SheppardAndy SheppardAndy Sheppard is a British jazz saxophonist and composer. He has been awarded several prizes at the British Jazz Awards, and has worked with some notable figures in contemporary jazz, including Gil Evans, Carla Bley, George Russell and Steve Swallow.-Biography:Sheppard was born in Warminster,...
(1957- ), (tenor, soprano) - Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
(1933- ), (tenor, soprano) - Sonny SimmonsSonny SimmonsHuey "Sonny" Simmons is an American jazz musician.He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the english horn. At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument...
(1933- ), (alto) - Zoot SimsZoot SimsJohn Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
(1925–1985), (tenor, soprano, alto, baritone) - Alan SkidmoreAlan SkidmoreAlan Skidmore is a tenor saxophonist of jazz and blues music, son of the saxophonist Jimmy Skidmore.-As a sideman:...
(1942- ), (tenor) - Steve SlagleSteve SlagleSteve Slagle is an American jazz saxophonist.Slagle was born in Los Angeles and grew up in suburban Philadelphia. he received a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. He came to New York in 1976, playing with Machito and his Afro-Cuban orchestra, and played successively with Ray Barretto,...
(1951- ), (alto, soprano) - Ben SmithBen Smith (musician)Benjamin J. Smith was an American jazz alto saxophonist, tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He was born in Memphis.- Early career :...
(1905- ), (alto, tenor) - Bill SmithBill Smith (Canadian musician)William Ernest Smith is a Canadian writer, editor, record producer, saxophonist, and clarinetist of English birth...
(1938- ), (soprano, clarinet) - Buster SmithBuster SmithHenry "Buster" Smith , also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s...
(1904–1991), (alto) - Mike Smith (1957- ), (alto, soprano, flutes, clarinet)
- Tab SmithTab SmithTalmadge "Tab" Smith , was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best known for the tracks, "Because Of You" and "Pretend". He variously worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys and Lucky Millinder.-Biography:Smith was born in Kinston, North Carolina, United States...
(1909–1971), (alto) - Tommy SmithTommy Smith (saxophonist)Tommy Smith is a jazz saxophonist, composer and educator. The late jazz critic Richard Cook said of him, 'Of the generation which emerged in the mid-80s, he might be the most outstandingly talented'.-Biography:...
(1967- ), (tenor) - Gary SmulyanGary SmulyanGary Smulyan is a jazz musician who plays baritone saxophone. He studied at SUNY before working with Woody Herman...
(1956- ), (baritone) - James Spaulding (1937- ), (alto)
- Hal SteinHal SteinHal Stein was an American jazz musician and Bebop saxophone player. He died of lung cancer on April 27, 2008 in his home in Oakland, CA, at the age of 79....
(1928–2008), (alto) - Sonny StittSonny StittEdward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
(1924–1982), (alto, tenor, baritone) - Vernon StoryVernon Story-Biography:Vernon Ford Story, Jazz tenor saxophonist, was born in New Iberia, Louisiana, USA on November 16, 1922. He was encouraged to take up the clarinet as a child by his uncle, Clarence Todd, a professional composer...
(1922–2007), (tenor) - Frank StrozierFrank StrozierFrank Strozier is an alto saxophonist renowned for his playing in the hard bop idiom.Strozier grew up in Memphis Memphis, Tennessee...
(1937- ), (alto) - John SurmanJohn SurmanJohn Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
(1944- ), (baritone, soprano)
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- Richard TabnikRichard TabnikRichard Tabnik is an American Jazz Saxophonist who lives in New York City.-History:Tabnik studied with the jazz alto saxophonist Lee Konitz from 1970 to 1972. During the years from 1975 through 1979, he lived in Buffalo, N.Y...
(1952- ), (alto) - Buddy Tate (1913–2001), (tenor)
- John TchicaiJohn TchicaiJohn Martin Tchicai is a Danish jazz saxophonist. He was one of the earliest European free jazz musicians. He is of Danish and Congolese descent....
(1936- ), (alto) - Joe TemperleyJoe TemperleyJoe Temperley is a Scottish saxophonist. He has performed on various instruments but is most associated with the baritone saxophone and bass clarinet....
(1929- ), (baritone) - Art ThemenArt ThemenArthur Edward George 'Art' Themen is a British jazz saxophonist .Themen was born on 26 November 1939 in Manchester. In 1958 he began his medical studies at the University of Cambridge, going on in 1961 to complete his studies at St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, qualifying in 1964...
(1939- ), (tenor, soprano) - Gary ThomasGary ThomasGary Thomas is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist from Baltimore, Maryland. He is a member of Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition band and has worked with John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Jim Hall, Dave Holland, Greg Osby, Wayne Shorter, Ravi Coltrane, Cassandra...
(1961- ), (tenor, flute) - Lucky ThompsonLucky ThompsonEli "Lucky" Thompson was a United States jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist...
(1924–2005), (tenor, soprano) - Cliff TownshendCliff TownshendClifford Blandford Townshend was an English jazz musician noted for playing the saxophone in The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra, popularly known as The Squadronaires. He was described by acquaintances as a quiet man with a wry sense of humor. He also played clarinet in the band and was respected...
(1917–1986) - Mark TurnerMark Turner (musician)Mark Turner is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist with several recordings to his credit.-Biographical information:Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in Southern California, Turner originally intended to become a commercial artist. In elementary school he played the clarinet, followed by the alto...
(tenor) - Stanley TurrentineStanley TurrentineStanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
(1934–2000), (tenor)
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- David S. WareDavid S. WareDavid Spencer Ware , is an American jazz saxophonist.Ware grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. He attended the Berklee College of Music and worked in New York City as a cab driver for 14 years, later returning to Scotch Plains to live...
(1949- ), (tenor, saxello, stritch) - Earle WarrenEarle WarrenEarle Warren was an alto saxophonist and occasional singer with Count Basie.He was born in Springfield, Ohio....
(1914–1995), (alto) - Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr.Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and...
(1943–1999), (soprano, alto, tenor) - Sadao WatanabeSadao Watanabe (musician)is an influential Japanese jazz musician who plays the alto saxophone, sopranino saxophone and flute. He is known for his Bossa Nova recordings, although his work encompasses a large range of styles with collaborations from musicians all over the world. Sadao first began learning music at the age...
(1933- ), (alto, soprano) - Bobby WatsonBobby WatsonBobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
(1953- ), (alto) - Don WellerDon Weller (musician)Don Weller , is a British jazz musician, tenor saxophonist and composer.-Career:...
(1941-), (tenor) - Ernie WattsErnie WattsErnest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
(1945- ), (alto, tenor) - Trevor WattsTrevor WattsTrevor Charles Watts is an English jazz and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the RAF , he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul...
(1939- ), (alto, soprano) - Ben WebsterBen WebsterBenjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
(1909–73), (tenor) - Don WellerDon Weller (musician)Don Weller , is a British jazz musician, tenor saxophonist and composer.-Career:...
(1941-), (tenor) - Bobby WellinsBobby WellinsRobert Coull "Bobby" Wellins is a Scottish tenor saxophonist best known for his collaboration with Stan Tracey on the seminal 1965 British jazz album Under Milk Wood....
(1936- ), (tenor) - Frank WessFrank WessFrank Wess is an American jazz musician, who has played saxophone and flute.-Biography:...
(1922- ), (tenor) - Barney WilenBarney WilenBarney Wilen was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer.Wilen was born in Nice; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began performing in clubs in Nice after being encouraged by Blaise Cendrars who was a friend of his mother...
(1937–1996), (soprano, alto, tenor) - Mars WilliamsMars WilliamsMars Williams is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Originally a ten year classical clarinetist after being exposed to Big Band and Dixieland Jazz by his trumpet playing father, Mars migrated to the saxophone in his senior year of high school, citing influences from Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane...
(1955- ), (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor) - Steve WilliamsonSteve WilliamsonSteve Williamson is an English saxophonist and composer.....
(1964- ), (tenor, alto, soprano) - Kyle WilsonKyle Wilson-New York Jets:Wilson was taken 29th overall by the New York Jets. Their facilities are not far from his hometown. At the 2010 Jets minicamp, Wilson has impressed the coaching staff, many of whom consider Wilson a "steal."...
, (tenor) - Steve WilsonSteve Wilson (jazz musician)Steve Wilson is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.-Biography:As a teenager, he played in various rhythm and blues and funk bands. After a year accompanying singer Stephanie Mills, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he majored in music. In 1987 he moved to New...
(1961- ), (alto, soprano) - Juli WoodJuli WoodJuli Wood is an accomplished saxophone player who appears regularly in Chicago and Milwaukee area jazz clubs, and sometimes on tours through the Midwest with the Juli Wood Quartet. Wood makes frequent appearances at Scandinavian jazz and blues festivals. She occasionally sets her saxophone aside...
(tenor) - Phil WoodsPhil WoodsPhilip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
(1931- ), (alto, soprano) - Leo WrightLeo WrightLeo Wright was an American jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and clarinet...
(1933–1991), (alto)