Jan Garbarek has one of the most distinctive voices on the saxophone.
Born in Norway in 1947, Garbarek has become the ‘voice’ of the ECM label. His trademark sharp-edged, bright tone coupled with his use of minimalism has made him popular with fans and musicians alike.
I first became aware Garbarek in the 90’s through his work with the Hilliard Ensemble, but it was my college sax tutor Mike Haughton who really inspired me to check out more Garbarek. I’ve used Garbarek as an inspiration for work at St. Paul’s Cathedral and Ely Cathedral, (see below for the soundcloud clips.)
Phil Woods is our Advent Calendar number 13 and he was one of the finest Alto Players of the late 20th and early 21st Century.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Woods began playing the saxophone at the age of 12, and was at first an admirer of Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. He had a few private lessons in his mid-teens with the pianist Lennie Tristano, and then attended the Manhattan School of Music and then Julliard, (where he studied Clarinet, not saxophone!)
He got his big break playing with Dizzy Gillespie’s Big Band in the 1950’s and then went on to make a number of small band recordings in the late 50’s early 1960’s. A move to Paris with Chan Richardson, (Charlie Parker’s former common law wife) led to a more experimental Avant Garde output. He returned to New York in the late 70s, taking on more commercial work, including the incredible sax solo on Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are.
A fine teacher, Woods put his efforts into teaching jazz in the 80s and 90s and became increasingly bestowed with honours for his contribution to music.
Dexter Gordon is certainly unique, to my knowledge he’s the only serious jazz musician to ever be nominated for an acting Oscar and his incredible career marks him out as one of the true ‘Giants’ of the saxophone.
Dexter was born on February, 27th 1923. His His father, Dr. Frank Gordon, was one of the first African American doctors in Los Angeles who arrived in 1918 after graduating from Howard Medical School in Washington, D.C. Among his patients were Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.
Gordon was one of the first tenor players to translate what Charlie Parker had done on the Alto Saxophone, but he also owes a huge debt to Lester Young. Dexter Gordon spent time in and out of prison for drug abuse and other misdemeanours, but in the 1960s signed for Blue Note records and recorded some of the best albums on the iconic label.
A visit to England in the mid 60’s led to a 14 year stay in Europe where Dexter recorded for many small, independent European labels. A triumphant return to New York in 1976 heralded a renaissance for Dexter Gordon that lasted until his death in 1990.
Lou Donaldson is another of those ‘hidden gems’ that you might not have come across before.
Born in 1926 in Badin, North Carolina, Lou Donaldson grew up playing church music. His father was a minister and his mother a music teacher and it was whilst serving in the Navy during the Second World War that he was introduced to the Be Bop music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Donaldson is best known now for his soulful, funky 1960s recordings that feature some of the greatest soul jazz players ever to record. These include guitarists Grant Green, Melvin Sparks, Jimmy Ponder and George Benson, organists John Patton, Billy Gardner, Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland and Leon Spencer, Jr., drummers Ben Dixon (one of the great underrated groovers), and Leo Morris/Idris Muhammad, whose work on the kit defined the funky boogaloo soul jazz sound of the late 1960s. Records like Good Gracious (1963, Blue Note), Musty Rusty (1965, Cadet), Alligator Bogaloo [sic], Mr. Shing-a-ling (1967, Blue Note) and Hot Dog (1970, Blue Note), among others, are quintessential examples of the jukebox, funky, soulful 1960s jazz that came to define “rare grooves” in the soul jazz revival period of the 1990s.
Tenor Saxophonist George Coleman is best known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock.
Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1935 and attended school with Harold Mabern, Booker Little and Charles Lloyd. He worked with B.B King, Gene Ammons, Jonny Griffin, Max Roach, Jimmy Smith, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Cobb and many, many more.
He took over the tenor saxophone chair in Miles Davis’ Quintet for a brief time, before being replaced by Wayne Shorter. Nevertheless, Miles retained a high opinion of Coleman’s playing, stating that “George played everything almost perfectly…He was a hell of a musician.” Coleman played with Lionel Hampton (1965–1966), also in 1965 on Chet Baker‘s The Prestige Sessions, with Kirk Lightsey, Herman Wright, and Roy Brooks.[6]Clark Terry, Horace Silver, Elvin Jones (1968), Shirley Scott (1972), Cedar Walton (1975), Charles Mingus (1977–1978), Ahmad Jamal (1994, 2000), and many others.
Big Tenor Man Joe Lovano is someone who can divide opinion amongst jazz lovers.
For some he’s a great example of a swinging hard bop tenor, for others, he just plays lots of notes over changes and gets more recognition than players twice as good as he is.
The truth is Joe Lovano has played with some of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th Century and has recorded some great albums. Sure, he can grate in interviews, but then so does my mentor Branford when he gives his very qualified opinion.
Lovano was born in 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio to parents of Sicilian heritage. His father Tony was a tenor saxophonist and encouraged the young Joe to check out Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt. He attended the Berklee College of Music and after he left, Lovano worked with Jack McDuff and Lonnie Smith. He spent three years with the Woody Herman orchestra, then moved to New York City, where he played with the big band of Mel Lewis.
He has recorded with McCoy Tyner, Paul Motion, Peter Erskine and many others as you will see from the playlists below – enjoy and PLEASE SHARE!
