Best Sax Albums For a Novice

There is shedloads of good stuff out there HIFIKID.

Try John Coltrane (make sure you listen to him on "Kind of Blue or "A Love Supreme"), Stan Getz (his slow latin stuff is magical), Kenny G or David Sanborn for more modern tastes and even my favourites for many years King Curtis (soul sax) and Jan Garbarek (very modern fijord jazz) Good Luck!

For me Lou Donaldson hits the spot, try the following for starters:

Gravy Train

Blues Walk

Everything I play is Funky

Midnight Creeper

the CD album relaxing at sea (live) is brilliant

+ 1 for the Coltrane and Miles albums recommended above.

Adding to your Sonny Rollins I would recommend Newk's Time, and Saxophone Collossus.

Coltrane . . . .Giant Steps, Blue Train.

Dexter Gordon . . . . Go, Our Man in Paris.

Charlie Parker (aka Charlie Chan) Jazz at Massey Hall

Ornette Coleman . . . The Shape of Jazz to Come

Wayne Shorter . . . Speak No Evil, Adams Apple.

Charles Loyd . . . Hyperion With Higgins

Joe Lovano . . . .I'm All For You

The above are mostly great classic post bop albums, with the exception of Charlie Parker being bebop, and Ornette Coleman's first foray's into free jazz . . . very accessible, and a true classic!  The final two albums are both latter produced music . . . the Lovano has really beautiful ballads.

Best,

Max

I'd have to add Tommy Smith here as well.

His first three albums can be bought as a set for £12 and are classic sax recordings.

And I'm going to add Maceo Parker, particularly his album Roots Revisited.  Not just stunning playing, but a superb recording too, and one I've used often in demonstrations.

Adderley who along with Coltrane makes a seismic contribution to Kind of Blue but try Something Else on Blue Note.

My favourite sax player is Barbara Thompson 

Thompson's Tangos and other soft Dances Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia 2000

Heavenly Bodies Barbara Thompson 1986

Are two of her albums that would serve as an introduction

70's:  Richie Cole.

60's:  Gary Foster.

50's:  Art Pepper.

Not to mention Marshall Allen and Ornette Coleman, once you pass the novice stage.

My mother was the best SAX player i have ever heard.

She used to play in the WAF band in the late 40's early to mid 50's.

Stu.

Try Paul Desmond's 1960's quartet with Jim Hall on guitar.  I find all the titles from this quartet essential.  You may also like Paul Desmond when he was with Dave Brubeck in the late 50's to mid 60's.  A favourite is the 'Japan' and 'Eurasia' suites.  I also have a soft spot for 'Gone With The Wind' - much better than its title implies!  There are a couple of very good Paul Desmond compilations about on RCA at silly money.

Lee Konitz, another lyrical alto player, is also worth checking out.  There is a nice album available he made with tenor player Warne Marsh reissued through Discovery on vinyl.

Often overlooked is our own man Tubby Hayes (1950's to 1960's).  There is a bit of a resurgence of interest at present, but be careful, many are bootleg quality.  'Mexican Green' is a good place to start.  Great tunes, great playing.

There are a many great players passed through Charles Mingus's bands, including Eric Dolphy.  Try 'Ah Um', 'Mingus Mingus Mingus' or with Dolphy 'Town Hall Concert 1964'.  I would mention Eric Dolphy's own 'Out To Lunch', but it may be too 'out to lunch' for a novice! - brilliant though it is.

Same with Miles Davis, the classic quartet that he had through the 60's included players such as George Coleman and Sam Rivers, but Wayne Shorter is brilliant on albums such as ESP and Nefertitti.

I also love Johnny Hodges with Duke Ellington.  Try 'Blues in Orbit' or 'Far East Suite'.  There is also a very nice vinyl LP of Hodges with Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax)  issued on Wax World through Discovery vinyl.  Adolph Sax upon hearing Hodges commented that that was how he'd intended his instrument to sound.

If I were checking out that little lot this Christmas for the first time, I'd be in heaven.

I've tried to keep my recommendations concentrated on the lyrical and expressive.  I'd also recommend more Blue Note era Rollins, Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson.

Hope this helps.........

Isn't a kind of Blue by Miles Davis?

Yes, and it features not one but two prominent jazz masters on sax . . . John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderley.

Graham . . . another one of my favorites is Back to Back, Desmond and Ellington small group combo.   This group grooves like there's no tomorrow!

P.s.  As a bonus, believe this got a very nice remastering . . . very good sound.

Max - Back to Back is Hodges and Ellington in small group combo!  But yes, I agree, great album.  As is Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond - 'Two of a Mind' - great interaction between baritone and alto.

Late 50's early 60's was a great era for jazz; been listening tonight to Shelley Manne plays the Music from Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini).  Sounding great on vinyl reissue on Wax Time.

saxophone? ballad?

Ben Webster

and this is as good  a place as any to start.

and jazz samba, Stan Getz

both very accessible, readily available and imminently listenable

SJB

All

Thanks for the recommendations.

I went to HMV yesterday to buy several of these.  In our local store they didn't have any by most of the names above.

Will try a bigger store or will use amazon.  Is there a specialist Jazz website for buying cd's etc?

HiFiKid

Just try amazon/hmv and jpc in Germany.All online.

jpc always have a great stock of jazz albums and give a great fast service to the uk.

Stu.

Barbara Thompson albums are available in the Amazon. 

As a bandleader and collaborator, British saxophonist and flutist Barbara Thompson is a key contributor to cutting-edge jazz and jazz-rock ensembles. With a classical music education at the Royal College of Music, Barbara was attracted to jazz, joining Neil Ardley’s New Jazz Orchestra in the '60s, where she met Colosseum drummer Jon Hiseman, who she married in '67. Barbara performed and recorded with Colosseum and became a permanent member in 2004. During the '70s, Barbara  joined the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble (a ten-piece band also featuring Wolfgang Dauner, Ian Carr, Kenny Wheeler, Albert Mangelsdorff, Charlie Mariano and Jon Hiseman) and formed her own jazz-rock band, Paraphernalia, as well as a Latin ensemble, Jubiaba. Barbara's recordings go from jazz-rock fusion and modern creative jazz to world and folk music and even modern classical. She also composes music for theatre.

An incredibly nice person and brilliant composer and musician. She signed a record for me way back in the early 70s, which remains a treasured possession. 

HiFiKi,

what Stu said; I have had good success with Amazon and some of the sellers they work with, such as Action Records.

Have fun.

HiFi Ki,

As per Graham,

I spent many, many months searching even some of the largest HMV stores (ie: London's Oxford Street) for Jazz albums I'd been recommended after I first became interested - which was just two years ago.

Stock levels were poor. I'd recommend you find the albums you might want - and order off Amazon. Their stock is much more extensive than any High Street retailer can manage. It might be sad for some people but it is true.

One bonus as well, is that there a great deal of sax albums mentioned in this thread which are priced at around £5 or less on Amazon.

I'd definitely recommend buying some - seeing who you like, then maybe buying some more by them.

I started with jazz with one CD, gently expanded and learned what I would and would not like in a while. Then tried things I thought might sound interesting and then.....oh, sure everyone knows the story!

Hope this helps.

Jon

The Galaxy recordings by Art Pepper on LP are magical music and outstanding quality records....

The Cannonball Adderley / Bill Evans recording is one of my favorite jazz ballad LP's......

Anything by Stan Getz as long as it is on LP and not his smooth jazz experiments........

Jeff

For jazz vinyl, check out Discovery.  There are some great records here, and my experience with Wax Time reissues is good.  The Billie Holiday and Ben Webster's Soulville are next on my list.

Jazz records from this recording period sound great on vinyl, IMO.

http://www.discovery-records.com/vinyl.htm