Saxophone Archives -

Music Jazz Jazz By Instrument Archive by category "Saxophone"

Preaching to the Choir – Vincent Herring – A Winner!

As I sit here and hope that one of these times I try my laptop will, like it do last night, turn on, I am listening to the latest release from saxophonist Vincent Herring Preaching to the Choir. I have several of Herring‘s albums in my music library and have enjoyed his music.

Preaching to the Choir is the 56 year-old Herring‘s 23rd release either as a leader or co-leader. Herring‘s career started way back In 19&6. Herring has also appeared on countless albums as a sideman. He has appeared on multiple albums for the likes of: Cedar Walton, Nat Adderly and Freddie Hubbard. read more

New Music from Vincent Herring Joins My Music Rotation. Part 1

I do believe, two of the albums that have been in my music rotation for a few weeks. Now highlight my eclectic taste in music. One is the latest from jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring, while the other is from a bluegrass band Trout Steak Revival. While I don’t think I am alone with my live for both these genres of music, I would think I am in the minority.
Anyway here is my take on the first of these two albums.

Hard Times – Vincent Herring

The first time I listened to this album the two other instruments that stood out besides Vincent’s saxophone were the guitar and piano.
The other day when I looked closely at the album cover I discovered why! The pianist is none other than the great Cyrus Chestnut. While the guitar is provided by the equally great Russell Malone. read more

New Morning Exercises & Hank Crawford’s Bday!

Ed K (Renaissance Granddad) – Day 23823 (Dec 21, 2016)

Woo! Hoo! Today is the Winter Solstice!! That of course means, today is either the shortest day of the year or the longest night! I prefer to look at it as the shortest day and from here until the Summer Solstice the days keep getting longer!! I used to hate it when it was dark when I went to work in the morning and again when I came home in the evening.

For years i ran at 5:30 after work. I always hated it when daylight savings time ended and it would get dark before 5! I particularly hated it the night I sprained an ankle coming off of a sidewalk and not seeing the two by fours that someone had put along the curb so they could jump the curb! From that night on I have been leary of running at night! read more

Hank Mobley….exploring his music

Hank Mobley – Tenor Saxophone – Composer

(July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986)

I first discovered the saxophone of Hank Mobley one night in 2014 when I was exploring some jazz. That night I explored the music of Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly and Hank Mobley. One that night Hank Mobley’s album Soul Station was my favorite of the night!! You can read about it in- A Jazzy Night with Music from Blue, Wynton and Hank and friends!! Here’s some background information about Hank Mobley from Wikipedia:

Henry “Hank” Mobley (July 7, 1930 – May 30, 1986) was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the “middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone”, a metaphor used to describe his tone, that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz, and his style that was laid-back, subtle and melodic, especially in contrast with players like Sonny Rollins and Coltrane. The critic Stacia Proefrock claimed he is “one of the most underrated musicians of the bop era.” read more

Night and Day – Vincent Herring

Vincent Herring – Night and Day – A 2015 Favorite!

Back on May 12 I was excited to see that saxophonist Vincent Herring had released a new album titled Night and Day. Then I saw on the album cover who Herring had playing with him on the album and I was even more excited! The other members of this quintet include: Brandi Disterheft on bass, Joe Farnsworth on drums, pianist Mike LeDonne and trumpeter, Jeremy Pelt, Both Disterheft and Farnsworth played with Herring on his last album Uptown Shuffle.

About Night and Day

On Night and Day. Mike LeDonne replaces Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Jeremy Pelt is a new addition! I first listened to some of the great piano of Mike LeDonne back in 2010 when I started to blog. I listened to his album Bag’s Groove and really liked it! Since then I’ve listened to several of his albums and each time I have been impressed by his playing. As for Jeremy Pelt I first listened to his fine trumpet on a night that I listened to trumpeters Pelt, Terrence Blanchard and Ambrose Akinmusrie! read more

Cannonball Adderley – Things Are Getting Better

Things Are Getting Better is the 11th album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his second release on the Riverside label. The album was released in 1959, when I was 8, so that explains how I missed it on the first go around… Anyway, I had Things Are Getting Better on in the background this morning as I was working on this blog, so I haven’t really listen that closely to the album. But from what I heard and am listening to now, this one’s a keeper. I first chose Things Are Getting Better because of Milt Jackson‘s presence on the album, but then I saw the other players, i.e Wynton Kelly and Art Blakey and then I knew this was the first album to listen to from Cannonball…… read more

Exploring the Music of Jazz Saxophonist Vincent Herring on his birthday – November 19th!!

Among those who are celebrating their birthdays today is jazz saxophonist Vincent Herring, who was born on this day, November 19th in 1964. The year of the great Phillies collapse and the year I went to both a World Series game and the baseball All-Star game in New York. It was a great year for a 13 year-old! Anyway, back to Vincent Herring, even though he has released albums as a leader since 1989’s American Experience, I just discovered his music back in January, when I listened to his 2013 release The Uptown Shuffle, to say the least I was very impressed by his playing!! You can read my post New Jazz from Saxophonist Vincent Herring – The Uptown Shuffle!! to find out more about Vincent and the album. Tonight to celebrate Vincent’s 50th, I thought I’d go back and listen to one of his earliest albums Dawnbird released in 1993 on the Landmark label. Ron Wynn write this about the album in his review at AllMusic…. read more

Exploring the Jazz Saxophone of Houston Person, following his birthday!!

Houston Person – Saxophone (born November 10, 1934)

Houston Person is a jazz artist whose name I have seen on the JazzWeek Chart, as recently as this week. His latest release as a leader The Melody Lingers On is now at # 9. I had yet to listen to any of his music until last week. To be more specific, I listened to two albums on his birthday, November 1oth. The albums nI listened to were Something in Common from 1989 and Now’s the Time. Now’s the Time, released in 1990, was recorded with legendary bassist Ron Carter. Both albums were released on the Muse label. They were recorded at the Van Gelder Studios with Rudy Van Gelder serving as the engineer. I have listened mostly to Now’s the Time and for me it is simply an incredible album, just the two of them, a bass and a saxophone blending together, soaring alone! read more

Jazz Album of the Day – Motif from the Greg Abate Quartet

A good point guard on the basketball court elevates the players around him and makes them better players. That’s just what jazz saxophonist, flutist, and composer Greg Abate does on his latest release Motif and as a result the album is currently among the most added albums on the JazzWeek Chart and I look forward to tracking its upward movement on the chart, over the coming weeks! It doesn’t hurt though, that the other members of his quartet are, like Greg professors at the Berklee College Music, even so, on the album Greg’s compositions give each member of the quartet room to “do their thing” and boy do they know how to do it!! The first time I listened to the album I thought that the leader of the band could be the piano player Tim Ray, because he stood out so much through the first couple of tracks. But then Greg’s great sounding sax kicked in and a few tracks later his flute appeared and I knew who the leader was! read more

Jazz Artists of the Day – Lee Konitz and Pharoah Sanders on their shared birthday – October 13th!!

Two iconic jazz saxophone players share October 13th as their birthdays. one, alto sax player Lee Konitz, is considered one of the main figures in the cool jazz movement, although Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings throughout his career. The other, tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is an important figure in the development of free jazz.

Konitz recorded with Miles Davis in 1949 and 1950 tracks that became the Birth of the Cool album. From Wikipedia.. read more

Category: Saxophone