Who should i listen to???

[AntonioDavila]

I' am a senior at my high school with just about a year of jazz playing under my belt and I am going to be pursing a music education at cal state long beach. I love jazz and i love playing it but i only know a few artists to listen to like paul desmond, charlie parker, and john coltrane. If you guys have any suggestions of who else I should listen to it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks 🙂
-AntonioDavila

 

[Nick Wyver]

There's a load of ideas in the other "Who should I be listening to" Thread.

 

[Two Voices]

Here's the link to the thread Who Should I Be Listening To that Nick mentions!

For me I have been ploughing through iTunes for years downloading various Jazz. Got too much I'm sure 🙂))

Here’s a few off the top of my head that I listen to:

Ray Charles
Duke Ellington
Thelonious Monk
Greg Vail
Steve Lacy
Gerry Mulligan
Miles Davis
Charlie Parker
Sonny Rollins
Stan Getz
Dizzy Gillespie
Sidney Bechet
Zoot Sims
Sonny Sitt
Colman Hawkins
Jan Garbarek
Wayne Shorter
Cannonball Adderley
Lee Konitz
John Coltrane
Jane Ira Bloom
Count Basie

 

[BigMartin]

Also (no particular order)

Sonny Criss (why so many Sonnys?)
Art Pepper
Lester Young
Ben Webster
Dexter Gordon

 

[Randy Hunter]

There are already some great suggestions of whom to listen to in the above posts. My suggestion is where to listen. Try www.grooveshark.com You can enter an artist or song title and it will pull up a play list consisting containing exclusively what you are looking for. You can just sit and compare the great saxophone players one after the other if you want to.

Randy
www.randyhunterjazz.com
Lessons page: www.beginningsax.com/Jazz Improv Lessons.htm

 

[Jules]

Don't just listen to sax players either- there's plenty of inspiration to be had from other instrumentalists.....

 

[zootsaxenberger]

Don't just listen to sax players either- there's plenty of inspiration to be had from other instrumentalists.....

Jules is spot on! if you listen to other instrumentalists you often hear phrases that you can "borrow" and adapt to the sax, doesn't always work but it is always an interesting exercise.

 

[Jules]

Jules is spot on! if you listen to other instrumentalists you often hear phrases that you can "borrow" and adapt to the sax, doesn't always work but it is always an interesting exercise.

listening back to desk tapes of some of my gigs with sandy dillon (IE- when I'm not playing straight R&B) I've realised a huge amount of what I do comes from celtic folk music (Irish pipes in particular- though i suspect a bit might be Jan Garbarek) and guitar feedback

 

[picconose]

I would add to that list;
Adrian Rollini - especially his work with Bix Beiderbeke
Al Gallodoro
Jimmy Dorsey - he and Al are the best technicians I have ever heard, including some fantastic people like Coltrane and Parker
King Curtis - he probably had the biggest tenor sound of anyon, ever
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - get your hands on a copy of him playing The Rev, with Shirley Scott on Hammond B3
Believe it or not, you can learn a lot by listening to guys like Rick Wakeman, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Peter Gabriel, too.
And don't ignore vocalists - there are a lot of them who do (or did) things that apply equally to all facets of jazz playing - even guys like Sinatra - he used to be able to sing all day long on one tank of air - the man had amazing breath control and sense of timing

 

[tiritiuk]

Don't just listen to sax players either- there's plenty of inspiration to be had from other instrumentalists.....

Since I started this saxy journey, I began to listen classical stuff, and it´s an amazing world. People like Arno Bornkamp, Clude Delangle,Nobuya Sugawa...There are so many you shouldn´t miss.
My teacher is a member of SaxAntiqua http://www.saxantiqua.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&view=folder&Itemid=85) and he introduced me into this classical sax stuff.
Happy listening
Jose

 

[Staxman]

Who should you listen to?

Depends ...you will get inundated with great advice from these pages from players with loads more experience than I have, BUT please don't forget to listen to good vocalists - particularly their phrasing e.g.

Ella Fitzgerald
Frank Sinatra
Louis Armstrong vocals

...and don't forget jazz is not too serious....try

Louis Jordan

 

[kevgermany]

Cleo Laine and Natalie Cole would be worth adding to the list...

 

[Staxman]

Yes, of course.....brilliant !

Cleo Laine and Natalie Cole would be worth adding to the list...

..they are fabulous...also Nina Simone needs adding to the list....

thanks for the reminder

 

[daveysaxboy]

I respect any player ,person who learns to play anything. so i try to listen to ANY sax player.Thats when you will find your style.You will hear your likes,dislikes and try to hear what there doing in there style.Remember the sax is a lead voice also but the most important thing is there sound,,if your sound is weak address it fast.The 2 most important things i try to apply is sound 1st and space 2nd,space or silence is the most important note of all.Playing all the 12 notes as fast as you can can sound great but it can ware thin very quick.When not to play makes music magic and with a great sound your heading the right route.Now comes the hard part,doing it.Its a never ending search but its great fun learning,getting better,and better and making music you enjoy .

 

[Flipper2008]

the one person you should listen to the most is yourself. Record your playing and then hear yourself as really are.

 

[crocodilian]

I've been playing for about 8 months and really got into Coltrane and Rollins but also Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins and (my current fave) Branford Marsalis. In fact check out the very musical Marsalis family. Joshua Redman is very good too.

I started listening to bands that are still considered Jazz but with a more rocky element: Led Bib, Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland are very good to listen to. Quite manic in places but some very interesting music.

 

[J-Ryder]

Moving away from the American song book type jazz...

Try having a look at

Kenny Wheeler (Trumpet)
John Taylor (Piano)
Stan Sulzmann (Sax)
Soweto Kinch (sax)
Norma Winstone (Voice)
Tim Garland (sax)
Jan Garberek (Sax)


Back on to the USA,

Cannonball Adderley (Sax)
Clifford Brown (Trumpet)
Bill Evans (Piano)
Miles.... (always Miles!)
Kenny Garratt (sax)
Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)
Branford Marsalis (Sax)
Kurt Elling (voice)

And to be honest, countless more which i could list... for me it's always been about exploring and finding out myself. I will check out a cd and see who is playing, if i'm into it i will then go and have a look at what these other players have done and who they have played with. I think the key here is to make sure your listening to different things, from dixie to Hard bop to funk... Eventually you will find players and styles that you like which will direct you in your own playing.

Jamie.

 

[Bernie]

Also (no particular order)

Sonny Criss (why so many Sonnys?)
Art Pepper
Lester Young
Ben Webster
Dexter Gordon

I'm reviving an old post here as it seems relevant to what I want to ask.

I also like Sonny Criss, Art Pepper, Lester Young, and John Coltrane (particularly Ballads and similar), I'd like to hear some suggestions for less well-known, possibly contemporary musicians who play in related styles. Small groups, not too far out, players who stick relatively close to the melody.

 

[Nick Wyver]

players who stick relatively close to the melody.

That could be a problem. Are you looking for players of old standards or contemporary stuff?

 

[Bernie]

Old standards mainly I suppose, yeah. My main reason for listening to music like this is to learn to play it myself, and I play by ear, so it's easier if its a tune I already have in my head. But I did originally get into jazz when I heard Dave O'Higgins playing one of his his own compositions (Under the Stone, on Woman's Hour, circa 1996), so I'm not completely averse to contemporary stuff. Modal jazz, I like that.