- John Coltrane
John William Coltrane, nicknamed Trane, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Although recordings of his work from as early as 1946 exist, Coltrane's recording career did not begin in earnest until 1955. From 1957 onward he recorded and produced dozens of albums, many of them not released until years after his death. - Charlie Parker
Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr. (August 29, 1920 - March 12, 1955) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Early in his career Parker was dubbed "Yardbird" (there are many contradictory stories of the name's origin). It was later shortened to "Bird" and remained Parker's nickname for the rest of his life and inspiration for the titles of his works, such as "Yardbird Suite" and "Bird Feathers". - Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7 1930 in New York City) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Sonny Rollins has had a long, productive career in jazz, beginning his career at the age of 11 and playing with piano legend Thelonious Monk before reaching the age of 20. Rollins is still touring and recording today, having outlived several of his jazz contemporaries such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Art Blakey, all performers with whom he recorded. - Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25 1933) is an American jazz composer and saxophonist. Commonly regarded as one of the more important American jazz sax players and composers since the 1960s, Shorter has recorded dozens of albums as a leader, and appeared on dozens more with others. Many of his compositions have become standards. - Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman (born March 9, 1930) is an American saxophonist and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Coleman was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he began performing R&B and bebop initially on tenor saxophone. He later switched to alto, which has remained his primary instrument. Coleman's timbre is easily recognized: his keening, crying sound draws heavily on blues music. - Stan Getz
Stanley Gayetsky, usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz musician. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. In 1986, however, Getz said: "I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be..." - Bill Evans
Bill Evans (born February 9, 1958 in Clarendon Hills, Illinois) is an American jazz saxophonist. He plays primarily tenor and soprano saxophones. Evans attended North Texas State University and William Paterson University, where he studied with Dave Liebman, a Miles Davis alumnus. In the early to mid-1980s, Evans played with Davis and was instrumental in his musical comeback. Evans is not related to jazz pianist Bill Evans, who played with Davis in the 1950s. - Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 - March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He is remembered as one of the finest, most influential players on his instrument and for inventing or establishing much of the hipster ethos which came to be associated with jazz. - Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore Lovano (born 29 December 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. Joe Lovano exclusivley plays Borgani saxophones. His wife is jazz singer Judi Silvano. - Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 - June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Born in Lima, Ohio, he studied music at Kentucky State College and Wayne State University before playing in Detroit at the beginning of his career. - Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis (August 26, 1960, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana) is an American jazz and classical saxophonist. He was born the oldest of six sons to Delores Ferdinand Marsalis and famed pianist Ellis Marsalis, Jr.. He is the oldest of the six Marsalis brothers: Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis III, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mboya Kinyatta, and Jason Marsalis. Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason are also jazz musicians. Ellis is a poet, photographer, & network engineer based in Baltimore. - Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945 in Chicago) is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, and pianist. He has created a large body of highly complex work. While not known by the general public, Braxton is one of the most prolific American musicians/composers to date, having released well over 100 albums of his works since the 1960s. Among the vast array of instruments he utilizes are the flute; the sopranino, soprano, C-Melody, F alto, E-flat alto, … - John Zorn
John Zorn (born September 2 1953 in Queens, USA) is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Though not well-known to the general public, Zorn's recorded output is astonishingly prolific, with hundreds of album credits as a performer, composer or producer. His work has touched on dozens of musical genres, … - Kenny G
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
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. - Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is a prominent American Neo-bop jazz saxophonist who records for Nonesuch Records. Redman, who is both African American and Jewish American, was born in Berkeley, California, to the late jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman and his wife, Renee Shedroff. He graduated from Berkeley High School, class of 1986. In 1991 he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. - David Sanborn
David Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist, most commonly associated with commercial, radio-friendly smooth jazz and pop-jazz fusion. - Eric Dolphy
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. - Jackie McLean
John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean (May 17 1931 - March 31 2006; some sources give 1932 as his year of birth) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City. - Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928) is an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist. Like many other successful musicians from Chicago, he studied music at DuSable High School under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe, alto sax and finally, shortly after joining Lionel Hampton's Orchestra, tenor sax. While still at high school, at 15 Griffin was playing alongside T-Bone Walker in a band led by Walker's brother. - Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16 1913 - October 29 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. - Benny Carter
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. - Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president, older only than Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and as he was born in the period after World War II, is known as the first Baby Boomer president. - Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. - Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt (February 2 1924 - July 22 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was a quintessential saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom and was also one of the most prolific saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 records in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern in tribute to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. - Dave Koz
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. - Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp is an American jazz saxophonist. Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 24, 1937, but raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied piano, clarinet and alto saxophone before focusing on tenor saxophone (he occasionally plays soprano saxophone). He is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late sixties which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African race, … - Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born October 13, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Sanders was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, under the name Farrell Sanders. He began his professional career playing tenor saxophone in Oakland, California. Sanders moved to New York City in 1961 after playing with rhythm and blues bands. He received his nickname "Pharoah" from Sun Ra, … - Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker (born February 14, 1943) is a noted American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. Parker's rhythmic and rapid playing style draws on the earlier innovations of be-bopper Charlie Parker (no relation), and Cannonball Adderley, mixed with Brown's own innovations in funk music. - Don Cherry
Don Cherry (November 18 1936-October 19 1995) was an innovative jazz trumpeter probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and raised in Los Angeles, California. Cherry became well known in jazz in 1958 when he performed with Ornette Coleman, first in a quintet with pianist Paul Bley and later in what became the predominantly piano-less quartet which recorded for Atlantic Records. - Johnny Hodges
John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (25 July, 1907-11 May, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist and lead player of Duke Ellington's saxophone section, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He spent 38 years with Ellington, leaving to lead his own band from 1951 to 1955. Hodges started playing with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Lucky Roberts and Chick Webb. When Ellington wanted to expand his band in 1928, Ellington's clarinet player Barney Bigard recommended Hodges, … - Benny Golson
Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Rodney. After graduating from Howard University Golson joined Bull Moose Jackson's rhythm and blues band; Tadd Dameron, … - Chris Potter
Chris Potter (born January 1, 1971) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina. He exhibited an early interest in all kinds of music and quickly became a prodigy, mastering several instruments including guitar and piano, and finally gravitating toward the alto and tenor saxophone. - Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman (born on 4 September 1946, Brooklyn, New York) is an American saxophonist and flutist. Liebman is a New Yorker, and a History graduate from New York University. He learned both piano and saxophone as a boy but had no formal jazz education. In the late sixties he worked with Pete La Roca, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Steve Swallow, amongst others, before joining Elvin Jones's band. In 1972 he was asked to join Miles Davis's group, … - James Moody
James Moody (born March 26 1925) is a jazz saxophone and flute player. He was born in Savannah, Georgia. As he grew up in New Jersey, he was attracted to the saxophone after hearing George Holmes Tate, Don Byas, and Count Basie. He recorded his first album for Blue Note Records in 1948. He is best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvises vocals for that tune. - Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera (b. 4 June, 1948) is a Grammy award-winning alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist from Havana, Cuba. - Boney James
James "Boney James" Oppenheim, (born September 1, 1961 in Lowell, Massachusetts) is a saxophonist who popularized urban jazz (an updated version of contemporary jazz that contains elements of hip-hop). Boney James is a two-time Grammy nominee and a Soul Train Award winner. He has accumulated three Gold records. His current and tenth CD, "Shine", debuted at #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz charts, #6 on the R+B chart and #44 on the Pop Chart. - Van Morrison
Van Morrison was born in Belfast in 1945, the son of a shipyard worker who collected American blues and jazz records. Van grew up listening to the music of Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson , Lightnin' Hopkins and John Lee Hooker . As a teenager he played guitar, sax and harmonica with a series of local Irish showbands, skiffle and rock'n'roll groups before forming an r&b band called Them in 1964. - Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", (April 5, 1934 - September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family: his father was a saxophonist, his mother played stride piano, and his older brother Tommy played trumpet. He began his prolific career with blues and rhythm and blues bands, and was at first greatly influenced by Illinois Jacquet. - William Parker
William Parker (b. Bronx, New York City, New York, January 10, 1952) is an American free jazz double bassist. As a bassist, Parker is possessed of a formidable technique, albeit an unconventional one. Unlike a great many jazz bassists, Parker was not formally trained as a classical player, though he did study with Jimmy Garrison, Richard Davis, and Wilbur Ware and learned the tradition. Parker is one of few jazz bassists who regularly plays arco.
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