# Soprano sax & jazz



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Do you have recommendations for this in particular? I really love the timbre of this instrument.

I was listening to this Branford Marsalis thing, for example.


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

You love soprano sax? In jazz it's often considered to be the ugly duckling of the saxophone family.

Well you have more Branford






Zoot sims:






Coltrane






Joshua Redman with Brad Mehldau


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Sidney Bechet is probably the pioneer on the instrument. Here's a fantastic version of Summertime





Between those influenced by Coltrane, David Liebman used it





And don't forget about Steve Lacy who is one of the most important soprano sax players





In more recent times Jane Ira Bloom did interesting things with it, mixing it with electronic effects




(this one was a piece commissioned by Nasa to her, the version on Art & aviation is great)


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Wayne Shorter in the early incarnations of Weather Report. It is hard for me in these cases to separate the quality of the playing from the quality of the compositions. The "compositions" are simply great. I put compositions in quotation marks because the first one has so much group improvisation in it:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

norman bates said:


> Sidney Bechet is probably the pioneer on the instrument. Here's a fantastic version of Summertime
> Between those influenced by Coltrane, David Liebman used it
> 
> And don't forget about Steve Lacy who is one of the most important soprano sax players
> ...


Interesting selection. Of course, there's no one like Sidney Bechet. Dave Liebman is a monster, but I can't watch him. His left shoulder is up, his neck is constricted, and his face is contorted. That's a terrible form for a saxophone. I'm reminded of Harvey Pittell's comments to Branford Marsalis, who came to Harvey for lessons: "Your playing is amazing: it's amazing you can get a sound at all playing like that."

Jane Ira Bloom has the best soprano sound of the group (I couldn't get sound from your clip; I had to hear another one). In my clip, her neck is straight, her shoulders are down, and her face is relaxed. Plus she has a rubber mouthpiece. This kind of thing makes a difference.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Norman Bates: Just an update, I wasn't aware of Jane Ira Bloom until you brought her up. I'm really enjoying her playing. It's making me want to stop work and get out my own soprano and start playing for fun.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

From their beautiful duet album, Paris Blues.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Thanks all for the recommendations. I was already familiar with some of them, but some others are new to me.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Jerome Richardson was an outstanding player and had a great soprano sax sound. Listen at 2:50 to how he develops his motives.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> Norman Bates: Just an update, I wasn't aware of Jane Ira Bloom until you brought her up. I'm really enjoying her playing. It's making me want to stop work and get out my own soprano and start playing for fun.


I didn't know you're a soprano player! Do you have suggestions about albums or musicians? Anyway I don't know much about her discography, I think I've hear just a couple of her albums. Art & aviation is very interesting, when I listened to it I thought it was very original music, something that I can't say for a lot of modern jazz. I was impressed especially by "Most distant galaxy", the piece I've posted.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

norman bates said:


> I didn't know you're a soprano player! Do you have suggestions about albums or musicians?


I should, but I don't listen to very much jazz. I like it too much. (If that makes sense.)


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## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

Sidney Bechet was indeed a soprano-sax pioneer (whatever you think of his idiosyncratic sound) but he was also a terrific bandleader. His "I know that you know" and "Polka Dot Stomp" are right up there with my all-time favorite pieces of music. He gives plenty of room to his bandmates to show off, then near the end he steps in and just blows the roof off the thing.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

The albums _IF _, _6th Sense In The 11th House_, and _Makatuka_ by Nathan Davis feature some brilliant soprano work. Davis plays several reeds on these discs, all convincingly. He headed the Jazz Studies Department at University of Pittsburgh for well over 40 years. His albums from the 70s are a real treat and were originally pressed in very limited editions in Pittsburgh, where I actually picked mine up, years ago -- in a little record shop (which no longer exists) a couple of blocks west of the University.





















Nathan Davis remains a well kept secret in jazz, sadly. The fellow is a player, and his albums deserve reissue and rehearings.

Look for him on YouTube.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

*David Liebman* is a master of the soprano saxophone. I don't think anyone has mentioned him.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

EdwardBast said:


> Wayne Shorter in the early incarnations of Weather Report. It is hard for me in these cases to separate the quality of the playing from the quality of the compositions. The "compositions" are simply great. I put compositions in quotation marks because the first one has so much group improvisation in it:


That first link isn't working for me, but I'm really into the early Weather Report stuff at the moment. The Live In Tokyo 2 CD set, and their first album. I also picked up Wayne Shorter's Odyssey Of Iska CD.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Check out Karl Jenkins's playing on Soft Machine's '6' and '7' albums. His predecessor in the band, Elton Dean, sometimes played saxello, which is a soprano variant.


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

All at least double:

Andy Sheppard
Yuval Cohen
Gary Bartz
Tony Malaby
Chico Freeman
Sam Rivers
Oliver Lake


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