For the third and final installment of our June 2012 cover story on essential tenor sax recordings, we asked a select group of top saxophonists to tell us their own personal favorites.
DAVID MURRAY
Duke Ellington (Paul Gonsalves, tenor) Ellington at Newport
Coleman Hawkins Body & Soul
Coleman Hawkins/Ben Webster Blue Saxophones
Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Rollins/Sonny Stitt Sonny Side Up
John Coltrane Interstellar Space
DAVE LIEBMAN
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
John Coltrane Giant Steps
Joe Henderson Inner Urge
Miles Davis (Wayne Shorter, tenor) Live at the Plugged Nickel
Sonny Rollins A Night at the Village Vanguard
BOB MINTZER
John Coltrane Quartet Crescent
Sonny Rollins The Bridge
Miles Davis (George Coleman, tenor) “Four” & More
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Miles Davis (Wayne Shorter, tenor) Filles de Kilimanjaro
Sonny Rollins Sonny Boy
Sonny Rollins A Night at the Village Vanguard
JOE LOVANO
John Coltrane Coltrane’s Sound
Sonny Rollins Our Man in Jazz
Joe Henderson In ‘n Out
Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil
Dexter Gordon/Wardell Gray “The Chase”
MARK TURNER
John Coltrane Quartet Crescent
Joe Henderson Inner Urge
Sonny Rollins The Bridge
Lester Young Classic Columbia, Okeh, and Vocalion: Lester Young With Count Basie (1936-1940)
Wayne Shorter Native Dancer
CHRIS POTTER
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Sonny Rollins Newk’s Time
Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil
Lester Young Trio Lester Young Trio
Joe Henderson Inner Urge
MARCUS STRICKLAND
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
Sonny Rollins Freedom Suite
Coleman Hawkins Body & Soul
Branford Marsalis Crazy People Music
Hank Mobley Soul Station
Duke Ellington (Paul Gonsalves, tenor) Ellington at Newport
Joe Henderson Inner Urge
Miles Davis (Wayne Shorter, tenor) Live at the Plugged Nickel
BRANFORD MARSALIS
Ornette Coleman Ornette on Tenor
John Coltrane A Love Supreme
John Coltrane Giant Steps
Stan Getz Getz Plays Jobim: The Girl From Ipanema
Coleman Hawkins Body & Soul
Warne Marsh Warne Marsh
Sonny Rollins Our Man in Jazz
Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus
Wayne Shorter JuJu
Lester Young Trio Lester Young Trio
[Marsalis stressed that this list is in no particular order]
The following artists’ lists weren’t featured in the magazine, but their votes were integral in determining our poll results.
Jon Irabagon
1. John Coltrane: Live at the Village Vanguard 1961 (box set)
2. Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil
3. Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
4. Coleman Hawkins: “Body and Soul” (1939)
5. Peter Brötzmann: Machine Gun
6. Dewey Redman/Ed Blackwell: Red and Black in Willisau
7. John Butcher: Fixations (14)
Tie: 8. Albert Ayler: Spirits Rejoice
Pharaoh Sanders: Karma
9. Dexter Gordon: Go!
10. Kurt Rosenwinkel: The Next Step (Mark Turner, tenor)
JD Allen
1. Coleman Hawkins: “Picasso”
2. Lester Young: The Lester Young Trio
3. Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris
4. Sonny Rollins: Our Man in Jazz
5. Ornette Coleman: Ornette on Tenor
6. Branford Marsalis: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
7. Stacy Dillard: One
8. Bill McHenry: Roses
9. Antoine Roney: Whirling
10. Marcus Strickland: Idiosyncrasies
Walt Weiskopf
1. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
2. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
3. Sonny Rollins: The Bridge
4. Joe Henderson: Mode for Joe
5. Stan Getz: The Chick Corea/Bill Evans Sessions
James Carter
1. Coleman Hawkins and Orch.: “Body & Soul”
2. Lionel Hampton & Orch. feat. Illinois Jacquet: “Flyin’ Home,” from The Big Horn
3. Coleman Hawkins: “Picasso”
4. Jones-Smith Inc. feat. Lester Young: “Oh, Lady Be Good,” from Classic Lester Young w/ Count Basie 1936-40
5. Cab Calloway & Orch. feat. Leon “Chu” Berry: “I Don’t Stand (A Ghost of a Chance With You),” from Classic Chu Berry Columbia & Victor Sessions
6. Charlie Parker: Birth of the Bebop Bird on Tenor 1943
7. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
8. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
9. Sonny Rollins: Our Man in Jazz
10. Pat Smythe Trio feat. Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis: Oh, Gee! Live in Manchester, England 1967
Bonus:
11. Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis Quintet: Tough Tenors
12. Don Byas: Savoy Jam Party
Grant Stewart
1. Lester Young with Basie in 1936: “Oh, Lady Be Good”
2. Coleman Hawkins: “Picasso”
3. Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Rollins/Sonny Stitt: Sonny Side Up
4. Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris
5. John Coltrane: Lush Life
Wayne Escoffery
1. Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra on Oct. 11, 1939: “Body and Soul”
2. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
3. Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (John Coltrane, tenor; key track: “So What”)
4. The Duke Ellington Orchestra May 2, 1940: “Cottontail” (Ben Webster, tenor)
5. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
6. Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth (key track: “Stolen Moments”)
7. Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
8. Miles Davis: Miles Smiles (Wayne Shorter, tenor)
9. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
10. Mark Turner Quintet: Yam Yam
Joel Frahm
1. John Coltrane: Coltrane’s Sound
2. Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard
3. Stan Getz and J.J. Johnson: Live at the Opera House
4. Thelonious Monk: Thelonious in Action featuring Johnny Griffin
5. Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil
6. Joe Henderson: Page One
Walter Smith III
1. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
2. Sam Rivers: Fuchsia Swing Song
3. Joe Henderson: In ‘n Out
4. Branford Marsalis: Random Abstract
5. Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil
6. Mark Turner: In This World
7. Joe Lovano Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard
8. John Coltrane: Lush Life
9. Sonny Rollins: The Bridge
10. Joshua Redman: Moodswing
Noah Preminger
1. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
2. Chick Corea: Three Quartets (Michael Brecker, tenor)
3. Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt/Sonny Rollins: Sonny Side Up
4. Ornette Coleman: Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Dewey Redman, tenor)
5. Joe Lovano Quartets: Live at the Village Vanguard
Kirk Whalum
1. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
2. Arnett Cobb: More Party Time
3. Marvin Gaye: Let’s Get It On [key track: “If I Should Die Tonight,” tenor solo by Plas Johnson]
4. The Crusaders: Street Life [key track: “Street Life,” tenor solo by Wilton Felder]
5. Angela Bofill: Angel of the Night [key track: “I Try,” tenor solo by Eddie Daniels]
Bob Belden
1. Joe Henderson: Power to the People
2. Art Blakey: Free for All (Wayne Shorter, tenor)
3. Stanley Turrentine: Sugar
4. Dexter Gordon: Go!
5. Jan Garbarek: Triptykon
Don Byron
1. Eddie Harris: The In Sound
2. Lester Young: The Lester Young Trio (Rich, Cole)
3. Miles Davis: Live at the Plugged Nickel (disc six) (Wayne Shorter, tenor)
4. Lee Morgan: Delightfulee (Joe Henderson, tenor)
5. Sonny Rollins/Coleman Hawkins: Sonny Meets Hawk!
6. Lester Young: The Complete 1936-1951 Small Group Sessions (Vol. 6)
7. Freddie Hubbard: Ready for Freddy
8. Art Blakey: Free for All (Wayne Shorter, tenor)
9. Nat Adderley: Live at Memory Lane (Joe Henderson, tenor)
10. Arnett Cobb: More Party Time
11. McCoy Tyner: The Real McCoy (Joe Henderson, tenor)
Michael Blake
1. Lucky Thompson: Lucky Strikes
2. Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Rip, Rig and Panic
3. Yusef Lateef: Eastern Sounds
4. Eddie Harris: The Electrifying Eddie Harris
5. Clifford Jordan: These Are My Roots
Chris Kelsey
1. Sonny Rollins: The Bridge
2. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
3. John Coltrane: Blue Train
4. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West
5. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
6. Ornette Coleman: Ornette on Tenor
7. Warne Marsh and Pete Christlieb: Apogee
8. Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost: Rare and Unissued Recordings (1962-’70)
9. Lennie Tristano: Crosscurrents (Warne Marsh, tenor)
10. Ornette Coleman: New York Is Now! (Dewey Redman, tenor)
Anat Cohen
1. John Coltrane: Crescent
2. Joe Henderson: The State of the Tenor (Live at the Village Vanguard)
3. Stan Getz/Kenny Barron: People Time
4. Sonny Rollins: The Bridge
5. Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt: Boss Tenors
6. Joe Lovano: Celebrating Sinatra
Eli Degibri
1. Oliver Nelson: Screamin’ the Blues
2. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West
3. John Coltrane: Newport ’63
4. Miles Davis: Live at the Plugged Nickel
5. Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J.J. Johnson
Ken Peplowski
1. Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Rollins/Sonny Stitt: Sonny Side Up
2. Count Basie: The Complete Decca Recordings 1937-’39
3. Don Byas/Slam Stewart: “I Got Rhythm,” “Indiana” and “Laura,” from the 1945 Town Hall Concert (Commodore release)
4. Zoot Sims: Warm Tenor
5. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
Eric Alexander
[in no particular order]
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
George Coleman: Amsterdam After Dark
Joe Henderson: Page One
Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard
Dexter Gordon: Dexter Calling…
Walter Blanding Jr.
[in no particular order]
Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago (John Coltrane, tenor)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (John Coltrane, tenor)
Don Byas: Jazz in París
John Lewis: The Wonderful World of Jazz (Paul Gonsalves on tenor, playing “Body and Soul”)
Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2
Erik Lawrence
1. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
2. Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard
3. Coleman Hawkins: “Body and Soul”
4. Lester Young: The Lester Young Trio
5. King Curtis: Live at Small’s Paradise
6. Rahsaan Roland Kirk: The Inflated Tear
7. The Brecker Brothers: Heavy Metal Be-Bop (Michael Brecker, tenor)
8. Keith Jarrett: My Song (Jan Garbarek, tenor)
9. Art Tatum/Ben Webster: The Tatum Group Masterpieces
Harry Allen
1. Coleman Hawkins: “Body and Soul”
2. Count Basie and His Orchestra w/ Lester Young: “Oh, Lady Be Good”
3. John Coltrane: Giant Steps
4. Stan Getz: [tie] Getz/Gilberto & Jazz Samba
5. Duke Ellington: Ellington at Newport (Paul Gonsalves, tenor)
6. Woody Herman: Four Brothers
7. Al Cohn/Zoot Sims Sextet: From A to Z
Jeff Coffin
1. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme
2. Johnny Griffin: Introducing Johnny Griffin
3. Charles Lloyd: Forest Flower
4. Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus
5. Eric Dolphy: Out to Lunch!
6. Albert Ayler: Goin’ Home
7. Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil
