![]() ![]() ![]() The saxophone, like the trumpet, remains an iconic instrument in jazz, and one that, through its indelible musical associations, has become totally synonymous with the genre. Though this tenor trio’s influence (along with Parker’s) is powerful and continues to shape the saxophone’s narrative in jazz today, almost 60 years later, there has nevertheless been a raft of talented horn blowers – and there are many more still emerging – all armed with a unique sound, style, and approach to their instrument. In Parker’s wake came a raft of virtuoso jazz saxophonists during the 50s, including tenor heavyweights Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, all of whom took saxophone playing to new, higher, levels of artistry while pushing jazz ever forwards. Parker’s influence was pervasive and his explorations helped to change the course of jazz, transforming it from dance music to art. The saxophone (the tenor and alto varieties) only began to play an important role in the big-band swing era, when Johnny Hodges and Coleman Hawkins emerged as one of the best jazz saxophonists of their era.īut it was altoist Charlie Parker who made the biggest impact with a technically challenging and harmonically progressive new form of jazz called bebop, in the mid-40s. Though marching band music was part of jazz’s foundation, it was the trumpet, rather than the saxophone, that first took the spotlight. Yet when he died in poverty, in 1894, Sax, who invented several other wind instruments besides the saxophone – all of which bore his name – would have seen that the saxophone had been adopted mostly by military marching bands, though his hope that it would feature prominently in classical music orchestras was not to be fully realized. It also reveals a number of one-off talents who have helped take the music in new directions. Its status as one of the genre’s most important instruments is undisputed even the most cursory glance at the list of musicians hailed as the best jazz saxophonists of all time is essentially a list of the most famous saxophone players ever. There’s no doubt that, if he were alive today, 19th-century Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax would be extremely surprised – and pleased, too, no doubt – at how the saxophone, which he invented and then patented back in 1846, has become universally popular, and was crucial in defining the sound of a 20th-century-born musical style called jazz. ![]()
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