If any previous post of mine had a similar bent, forgive me, it's an age thing, repeating yourself. This may touch upon the same ground as "How to be Original", but it's a specific question.
When you listen to a saxophone player,
what are the qualities that make their voice unique, recognisable or a pleasurable to hear?
Here are some of the things I can think of right now, while I write this:
Tone (obviously) - it's a big part of the player's expression. Other instruments, like piano depend on this far less, and with guitar, when effects come in to the mix, it gets very complicated. It's easier to get an electric sound from someone than a sax sound, IMO. It's why I ask for non-electric instruments.
Articulation : including all the specific saxophon-y stuff done with mouth and fingers.
Rhythmic phrasing within the musical context. This is probably the most important quality, after tone. When you consider the packages of sixteenth notes being sprayed out in some jazz situations, you get an appreciation for a story being told by more sophisticated phrasing. One of the most famous rhythmic players that comes to mind for me is Sonny Rollins, but all the truly greats share this. Kenny Garrett is one of my favourites.
Between the notes, incidental phrases. Think of Coltrane's Ballads album. Especially good example in All or Nothing at All. In the second A section, he plays his version of the melody with his typical in-between-the-lines phrases. They're apart of Coltrane's voice.
View: https://youtu.be/thCsu5ZvPlo?t=61
Harmonic and note choice in a given harmonic context. Again, I go to Coltrane who "murdered Summertime". This is how he hears a lot of minor progressions, with a flat II in the place of the V chord. That is, when Am goes to E7, he often plays Bb7b5. You hear it from the first moments.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEftw9o1joo
In passing, one very striking harmonic choice is every song Bill Evans ever played.
"Attitude" - this is a quality I read in a Bob Mintzer book on funk and blues. Cool concept. I think the recent post about Yusef Lateef shows that quality.
So does Miles Davis.
Emotion: Dave Sanborn combines a lot of the above with his expressive style.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhdWf4n14zQ
I try to provoke some thought with my posts and I hope you'll be able to come up with other qualities that make a player ultimately listenable.
When you listen to a saxophone player,
what are the qualities that make their voice unique, recognisable or a pleasurable to hear?
Here are some of the things I can think of right now, while I write this:
Tone (obviously) - it's a big part of the player's expression. Other instruments, like piano depend on this far less, and with guitar, when effects come in to the mix, it gets very complicated. It's easier to get an electric sound from someone than a sax sound, IMO. It's why I ask for non-electric instruments.
Articulation : including all the specific saxophon-y stuff done with mouth and fingers.
Rhythmic phrasing within the musical context. This is probably the most important quality, after tone. When you consider the packages of sixteenth notes being sprayed out in some jazz situations, you get an appreciation for a story being told by more sophisticated phrasing. One of the most famous rhythmic players that comes to mind for me is Sonny Rollins, but all the truly greats share this. Kenny Garrett is one of my favourites.
Between the notes, incidental phrases. Think of Coltrane's Ballads album. Especially good example in All or Nothing at All. In the second A section, he plays his version of the melody with his typical in-between-the-lines phrases. They're apart of Coltrane's voice.
Harmonic and note choice in a given harmonic context. Again, I go to Coltrane who "murdered Summertime". This is how he hears a lot of minor progressions, with a flat II in the place of the V chord. That is, when Am goes to E7, he often plays Bb7b5. You hear it from the first moments.
In passing, one very striking harmonic choice is every song Bill Evans ever played.
"Attitude" - this is a quality I read in a Bob Mintzer book on funk and blues. Cool concept. I think the recent post about Yusef Lateef shows that quality.
Yusef Lateef Documentary
I have been listening to a lot of Yusef Latef lately and then suddenly this came up on youtube. May well not be everybody's cup of tea, but I found it interesting and inspiring. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1v6Kf4dnbs
cafesaxophone.com
Emotion: Dave Sanborn combines a lot of the above with his expressive style.
I try to provoke some thought with my posts and I hope you'll be able to come up with other qualities that make a player ultimately listenable.
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