Bennett Lester Carter (August 8 1907 - July 12 2003) 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 recognised as such by other jazz musicians who called him "King". Carter was admired for his ability to write saxophone solos, which are sections of music that the entire section plays as one unit in the manner of a solo.

Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 - June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist and bass clarinetist. Dolphy was one of several groundbreaking jazz alto players to rise to prominence in the 1960s. He was also the first important bass clarinet soloist in jazz, and among the earliest significant flute soloists. On early recordings, he occasionally played traditional B-flat soprano clarinet.

Arthur Edward Pepper, Jr. (September 1 1925-June 15, 1982) was an American cool jazz alto saxophonist. He began his musical career in the 1940s playing with Benny Carter and Stan Kenton. In the 1950s Pepper became one of the leading lights of West coast jazz, along with Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, and others. Pepper was born in Gardena, California, but lived for many years in the hills of Echo Park, in Los Angeles. He became a heroin addict in the 1940s, …

Philip Wells Woods (born November 2 1931) is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer. He also performed in other jazz mediums, such a Progressive jazz, post bop and hard bop. Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and studied music with Lennie Tristano, who influenced him greatly, at the Manhattan School of Music and at The Juilliard School.

David Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist, most commonly associated with commercial, radio-friendly smooth jazz and pop-jazz fusion.

Kenneth Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American saxophonist whose fourth album, "Duotones", brought him "breakthrough success" in 1986. Kenny's main instrument is the soprano saxophone, but he also plays the alto and tenor saxophone and the flute on occasion.

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois. He has been noted to be one of the few alto saxophonists of his era to remain uninfluenced by Charlie Parker. His approach—more subdued and measured than that of Parker—took several fellow musicians some time to grow accustomed to after first listens. This does not mean to imply that he feels his approach toward the alto sax in any way superior to that of Parker.

Sonny Fortune (born May 19, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. In New York City he recorded with and appeared live with drummer Elvin Jones's band.. In 1968 he was a member of Mongo Santamaria band, before he performed with singer Leon Thomas and McCoy Tyner (1971-73). In 1974 he replaced Dave Liebman in Miles Davis's band, …

Charlie Mariano (born November 12, 1923 in Boston) is an American jazz alto saxophonist. He played with one of the Stan Kenton big bands, Toshiko Akiyoshi (his then wife), Charles Mingus, Eberhard Weber, the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble and numerous other notable musicians. He is one of the few non-Indians able to play the nadaswaram, a traditional oboe from South India.

Paul Desmond (25 November 1924 - 30 May 1977), 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". Known to have possessed an idiosyncratic wit, he was one of the most popular musicians to come out of the West Coast's "cool jazz" scene.

Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 - October 28, 1965) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. Bostic was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He turned professional at age 18 when he joined Terrence Holder's band. He made his first recording with Lionel Hampton in 1942 where he played along with Red Allen, J.C. Higginbotham, Sid Catlett, Teddy Wilson and Hampton. Before that he performed with Fate Marable on New Orleans riverboats.

Dave Koz (March 27, 1963) is an American jazz saxophonist and radio host. Koz often draws comparisons to another well-known saxophonist, David Sanborn. Because the two sound almost alike, Koz is sometimes billed as "the second coming of Sanborn." Dave Koz usually plays soprano and alto saxophones, but sometimes plays tenor and occasionally baritone.

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter and big band leader. Jimmy Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of a music teacher and older brother of Tommy Dorsey who also became a prominent musician. He played trumpet in his youth, appearing on stage in a Vaudeville act as early as 1913. He switched to alto saxophone in 1915, and then learned to double on clarinet.

Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley, was a jazz alto saxophonist of the small combo era of the 1950s and 1960s. Originally from Tampa, Florida, he moved to New York in the mid 1950's. The nickname "Cannonball" was a childhood nickname for the portly saxophonist, a corruption of "cannibal". An articulate speaker with an easy manner, Cannonball educated, amused, …

Makanda Ken McIntyre (born Kenneth Arthur McIntyre; also known as Ken McIntyre was an American jazz musician and composer. McIntyre was born in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to his primary instrument, the alto saxophone, he also played flute, bass clarinet, oboe, bassoon, double bass, drum set, and piano, as many other woodwind instruments. He recorded thirteen albums, one of which was released posthumously.

William B. Lawsha, better known as Prince Lasha (pronounced "La-"shay") (born 1929 in Fort Worth, Texas), is an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and clarinetist. In Fort Worth he came of age studying and performing alongside fellow musicians John Carter, Ornette Coleman, King Curtis, Charles Moffett, and Dewey Redman.

Cecil Payne (born December 14, 1922) is a jazz baritone saxophonist born in Brooklyn, NY. Payne can also play the alto saxophone and flute. He has played with other jazz greats, such as Illinois Jacquet, Machito, Woody Herman, Randy Weston, Duke Jordan, Wynton Kelly, Kenny Dorham, Harold Mabern and Count Basie, in addition to his solo work as bandleader.

Hal McKusick (b. Medford, MA, June 1, 1924) is an American-born jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist, most notable for his work with Boyd Raeburn from 1944 to 1945 and Claude Thornhill from 1948 to 1949. In the early 1950s he did work with Terry Gibbs and Don Elliott. McKusick also released albums under his own leadership, including a 1957 album for Prestige titled "Triple Exposure".

'Richie Cole' (born February 29, 1948) is a Jazz alto saxophonist born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He started on alto saxophone when he was ten, encouraged by his father who owned a jazz club in New Jersey. Winning a scholarship, he attended Berklee for two years before beginning his professional career. He is widely known for his creative jazz/bebop style of play.

Leo Wright (December 14, 1933 in Wichita Falls, Texas - January 4, 1991 in Vienna) was an American jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and clarinet. He played with Charles Mingus and Dizzy Gillespie in the late 1950s, early 1960s and in the late 1970s.

Frank Teschemacher (March 13 1906, Kansas City, Missouri - March 1 1932, Chicago) was an American jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, associated with the "Austin High" gang (along with Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and others). He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but spent most of his career based in Chicago, Illinois, although gigs sometimes took him to New York City, around the U.S. Midwest, and he also took a job in Florida with Charlie Straight.

Mindi Abair (born May 31, 1969) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist with a strong Top-40 pop music background. She was a backing musician for such acts as Mandy Moore and the Backstreet Boys, and often appeared in their tours. In 2003, Abair decided to give jazz a try, and the move proved to be an enormous success.

Russell Procope (11 August 1908-21 January 1981), 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.

Bennie Ross Crawford, Jr, aka Hank Crawford, (born December 21, 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk and soul-jazz alto saxophonist. From 1958 to 1963 he worked in Ray Charles's backup band. He also has done musical arrangement for Etta James, Lou Rawls, and others. Much of his career has been in R&B, …

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (December 18, 1917 - July 2, 1988) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist and blues shouter. After working in the Milton Larkins and Cootie Williams orchestras, he established his own big band in 1945. In 1947 he had a major rhythm and blues hit with "Old Maid Boogie/Kidney Stew Blues". Vinson recorded both jazz and rhythm and blues. He wrote "Tune Up" and "Four" for Miles Davis, …

Marshall Allen (born in Louisville, Kentucky, May 25, 1924) is a free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EVI (an electronic valve instrument made by the Akai company). Allen studied alto saxophone in Paris and played in Europe with Art Simmons and James Moody.

Hal Kemp was a Jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He was born in Marion, Alabama and died in Madera, California following an auto accident. Art Jarrett took on leadership of Kemp's orchestra in 1941.

Frank Tiberi, of Camden, New Jersey, is the leader of the Woody Herman Orchestra. He was hand-picked by Woody Herman shortly before Herman's death to lead the band, and he has been doing it since 1987. He plays the alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, and the bassoon. He has been performing and recording since the age of thirteen. He is also a part time professor at the Berklee School of Music, where he teaches improvisational techniques and pedagogy.

Earl Anderza was a West Coast jazz alto saxophonist who recorded only one album, "Outa Sight" (Pacific Jazz 1962). The date also features pianist Jack Wilson and drummer Donald Dean. The bassist is either Jimmy Bond or George Morrow. An almost forgotten artist.

Lem Davis (22 June, 1914-16 January, 1970) was an American swing music jazz alto saxophonist born in Tampa, Florida, probably better known for working with the Coleman Hawkins septet in 1943. He also worked in several small groups, including that of Eddie Heywood.

Leonard William Hambro (1923-1995), commonly known as Lenny Hambro, was a jazz musician who played with Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Shorty Rogers and the Glenn Miller Orchestra Band. He played alto sax, clarinet and flute. Hambro joined the Gene Krupa Band in 1942 and left in December of that year to join the Army Special Services Band. In 1950 he formed the Lenny Hambro Quintet.

Shafi Hadi (born September 21, 1929), a.k.a. Curtis Porter, is an American jazz tenor and alto saxophonist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, perhaps best-known for his recordings with Charles Mingus and with Hank Mobley.

Jerome Najee Rasheed (born November 4, 1957) is a smooth jazz artist. In addition to the saxophone (although the soprano sax is his main instrument, he has also played alto and tenor), Najee can also play flute, keyboards and bass synthesizer. He was one of the first innovators of urban jazz, which grew in popularity throughout the 1990s. Najee has performed with other artists, including singers Freddie Jackson, Will Downing and Jeffrey Osborne, …