Great Players Who sparked your love of Sax music

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I fell in love with jazz while I was in high school when my music teacher gave me a few jazz records one of them being Charlie Parker! Even though I really liked Parker I was initially more interested in trumpet as I listened to Dizzy Gillespie and thought that trumpet would be my instrument of choice! How little did I know about what would follow ;} As I ventured more into the world of jazz I eventually found out about John Coltrane and his Finnish counterpart Juhani Aaltonen. As I was later to find out Aaltonen considered Coltrane as his greatest influence on the tenor saxophone. Those were my source of inspiration that made me forget about my desires of becoming a trumpet player and pick up the tenor saxophone instead! Listening to them made me realise that I just had to find out about my own way of expressing myself through music and it just_had_to_be the tenor saxophone! As for the certain track or album that really made it for me I must mention how deeply moved I was after disovering Coltrane's My Favorite Things album.


As a mark of deep admiration for the two I'm keeping a picture of Juhani Aaltonen as my forum avatar and a quotation from John Coltrane as my signature.
 
For me it has to be Sonny Rollins ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ and John Coltrane ‘Like Someone in Love’ too mention just a couple of my favourites 😀
 
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Musical influences have been both a turn on and a turn off. I listened to the likes of Washington, Sanborn and Getz in during the mid '80. Then discovered George Howard and Najee, Michael Breckers, Candy Duffler, Spike Robinson to name a few. And by this time wanted to play the sax so badly, I could almost taste it. So I got one Spring of ’88. The high point was finding a copy of Ike Quebec’s ‘It might as well be spring’, which subsequently led to listening to Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Cannonball Adderley etc. And then I gave up in frustration, unsupassed ability to make such a wonderful instrument sound so terrible. Now I owe one to my kids. They recently started music lessons at school. Listening to them practice has rekindled my desire to find my voice after a fifteen year break.
 
Sonny Rollins was the one who did it for me. One day I thought I would search jazz on youtube and see what came up. This is actually the first video that got me interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Pz-XYLULg

Then, after a while, I started listening to Coltrane, which got me more interested (some of it anyway). At first, I was into the faster songs because it was impressive that people could do these things, but after a while, I more started listening to the middle tempo songs with simpler chord changes.
 
My earliest recollection of actually paying attention to a sax was listening to Tex Beneke's solo on Little Brown Jug, when I was three years old. But really, I was just more enthralled with that whole album. The flip side of that record was Tuxedo Junction, and the brass section muted work on that arrangement still knocks me out 63 years later.

When I was about seven or eight, I came in the house one day, to find Dad and his friend B. A. Ring listening to Bix Beiderbeke. I was entranced by Adrian Rollini's bass sax work on one of the sides. IT's the one where Bix blows two cornet notes in the middle of the piano solo. I can't remember offhand the name of the tune, and am too lazy to get off my duff and go haul it out of the cabinet. 🙂

I started on flute in the fourth grade. At the end of my ninth grade year, my band director called me into the office, and asked me to close the door behind me. Like any ninth grader, I began wondering what I had done, and preparing excuses - "It's not my fault. I didn't do it. Johnny made me." etc 😀
But, as it turned out, he wanted to ask me if I thought I was serious about music. (WHEW!!!) I opined that I thought I might be, and he said, "Well, there are about thirty orchestras in the world that pay enough to make a living playing flute. Each orchestra has two full-time flute players. That means you have to be one of the sixty best flutists in the world to make a living playing. You do not have the drive to excel. You need to learn to double. Here. Take this school alto sax home for the Summer, and here is a card for a guy who gives private lessons." So, that Summer, I asked my parents to get me some recordings of sax players. They got me an RCA 33 rpm re-release, called Great Jazz Reeds. On it was a cut with a tenor player, called "One Hour", that I just loved. He was Coleman Hawkins. From that day on, I have made it a point to get my hands on everything the Hawk has ever recorded, and never looked back. When the Balanced Action tenor he recorded "Body and Soul " on came up on eBay a couple of years ago, I seriously considered taking out a home equity loan so that I could bid on it. As I recall, it went for about $50,000 US.

So I gotta say, my main influence was (and is) my high school band director, Dick Daniel. I later learned he was the first student to graduate from Shenandoah University as a saxophone major. He holds the lead alto chair in the Never Too Late Big Band, and I am playing lead tenor with them. I guess I got a little better since 1959. ;}
 
"listening to Bix Beiderbeke. I was entranced by Adrian Rollini's bass sax work on one of the sides. IT's the one where Bix blows two cornet notes in the middle of the piano solo. I can't remember offhand the name of the tune,"

It was "Sorry". Bix plays a fantastic ride out. Adrian Rollini always made the bass sax swing. Probably the only person ever to have really made it do so.
YC
 
A gentleman called John Marshall introduced me to sax music although he didn't know it at the time.

He was going to go to the Bude jazz festival in 2004 with someone we both knew at the local pub but that person decided not to go. John and I got talking and he asked if I would like to go instead. I told him I didn't really like jazz but I liked to see music played live so agreed to go for a couple of days. My wife hates jazz and said "for heavens sake, don't bring home a CD". I didn't. I liked the professionalism and skilll of the musicians so much that three weeks after I came back from the festival I bought a cheap and nasty sax from ebay, got a teacher and went on from there ( I replaced the sax very quickly with a much better version).

The following year (2005) we went again to the Bude jazz festival and my wife this time said "Please, buy a CD, it's cheaper!!" She's such a dear! lol.

We didn't make the jazz festival in 2006 because in November 2005 John died of heart failure. He went to a gig at a local pub and was watching a band when he put his hand to his head and then dropped dead.

I have been to the Bude jazz festival every year since.

He loved live music and if (in the unlikely event) there is an afterlife, it would be nice to think that he would appreciate that I am now in a band doing the live music he loved and it was all because of him.

Cheers

Martin

My favourite quote for the moment...the past is history, the future's a mystery, the present is a gift, make the most of it!
 
Young Col said:
"listening to Bix Beiderbeke. I was entranced by Adrian Rollini's bass sax work on one of the sides. IT's the one where Bix blows two cornet notes in the middle of the piano solo. I can't remember offhand the name of the tune,"

It was "Sorry". Bix plays a fantastic ride out. Adrian Rollini always made the bass sax swing. Probably the only person ever to have really made it do so.
YC
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I just dug out the recording, put a new needle in the record player, and listened to it again. It is Goose Pimples, not Sorry. Columbia #35664 (Original Columbia pressing number 81568B) Original Issue Okeh #8544. It is in a Columbia re-issue album, number C29 and is side number 2 of 8. There is no copyright date anywhere on the album, so I don't know when Columbia came out with the Hot Jazz Classics re-issue series. My guess is early 1950's, though, because they are 78 rpm records, and, as I said, I think I was seven or eight when I first heard it. I was born in 1944.
 
Yes, you're quite right of course and I can't imagine how I made that mistake, having even dug out a Bix album (which does have Sorry on it) and listened to Goose Pimples before I wrote my reply!
What is remarkable about Adrian Rollini is how he used the bass sax in different roles. On those Bix records and some with the likes of Red Nichols for example, he takes the role of bass rhythm support in the absence of a double bass or tuba, he takes a part in the ensemble and he also plays his own, often hard swinging, solos. In some later records under his own name he also carries the melody lead. That as well as playing vibes (on which I don't think he is as impressive) and things like the Gufus. But then he was a child prodigy pianist and apparently played Chopin at a concert when he was four. Harry Carney cited him as an influence on his bari playing.
YC
 
I have Sorry included in a re-issue boxed set that Columbia released in about 1998 or so. NOw that I think of it, Goose Pimples is in that collection, too - RATS! I didn't need to add more wear on my 78 to hear it again. nuts. oh well - " ... 'tis done, and there's an end on't," to quote Shakespeare.
 
Been thinking about the "influence" bit for the past day or two now. I can remember bieng absolutely knocked out by a couple of people whom I saw live at local concerts in Baltimore. Here's a list in no particular order: The Duke Ellington Orchestra, when the sax section uincluded Johnny Hodges and Harry carney, The Count Basie Band when Frank Foster was still plaing in it; Dave Brubeck Quartet, with paul Desmond, Kenny Malone, and I can't remember his bassist's name; Canonball and Nat adderly. Shirly Scott and a new unknown by the name of Yusef Lateef were on that gig. While I was stationed at the Navy School of Music in Washington Dc, I used to go to the Bohemian Caverns to catch whoever was playing there. I was luckt enough to see JOhn COltrane, and Miles Davis (thugh not together by then) there, as well as Sonny Rollins, and Jean Baptiste Illinois Jacquet. I missed the Lockjaw Davis appearance there, because the base was shut down and all liberty cancelled because President Kennedy was killed. (I was one of the many sailors lining the streets in the cordon for his funeral.) But I digress .......

I have to say, I was like a sponge; I sucked up thoughts and impressions of what kind of sound I wanted to achieve from all those guys. About ten years ago, I was playing lead tenor for a big band, in which my first private teacher, Bob Spangler, was playing lead alto. The leader passed out a new (to us ) arrangenment of Georgia, that was a tenor feature. I took one look at it, and knew I couldn't get enough air to play it sitting down, so stood up to read through it. After the tune ended, Bob said to me, "Damn, Boy. You got pretty good when I wasn't lookinig. That sounded just like Ben Webster." I think that was the highest praise I have ever gotten for my playing, on any instrument. So, I guess, looking back, I can't say I was influenced by any one particular player, because I listened - and still do - to all off them.
 
picconose said:
a couple of people whom I saw live at local concerts in Baltimore. Here's a list in no particular order: The Duke Ellington Orchestra, when the sax section uincluded Johnny Hodges and Harry carney, The Count Basie Band when Frank Foster was still plaing in it; Dave Brubeck Quartet, with paul Desmond, Kenny Malone, and I can't remember his bassist's name; Canonball and Nat adderly. Shirly Scott and a new unknown by the name of Yusef Lateef were on that gig. While I was stationed at the Navy School of Music in Washington Dc, I used to go to the Bohemian Caverns to catch whoever was playing there. I was luckt enough to see JOhn COltrane, and Miles Davis (thugh not together by then) there, as well as Sonny Rollins, and Jean Baptiste Illinois Jacquet.
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Awesome.
 


Coltrane. My brother tape-to-taped me a few of his late 50's albums and the Monk/Trane collaboration over 20 years ago. Then got into the 'classic quartet' stuff, and then the late work. Plus Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman etc.

More recently Art Pepper inspired me to take up the instrument (and appreciate the alto more!). Been trying to broaden my collection too (enjoying Dexter Gordon and Paul Desmond at the mo)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually going off Coltrane a bit! :shocked:
 
Age 9 - seeing Lee Thompson from Madness fly for the first time - the fact that he was holding a sax was a secondary consideration, but still...

After a 30 year break it was then Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else. His playing style contrasts brilliantly with Miles' spare dry style. Still trying to sound something like him.
 
I'll have to mention a handful to do the idea justice.
1960's when I heard Take Five with Paul Desmond playing with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

1970's That intro to Baker Street by Gerry Raffety and Raphael Ravenscroft.Defines the sound of the 70's for me and also Wayne Shorter with Weather Report. Especially "A Remark You Made".

1980's Careless Whisper for sure. Also Hurt by Juice Newton...awesome sax lead.

Alltime biggest influence and inspiration though will be surprising as he is SOOOO under rated. That one has to be Krautrocker Klause Doldinger with his AWESOME band Passport.
 

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