Favourite players and sound

Matt AV · Favourite players and sound

Is it possible to like a sax player and not like their sound? Of all the great sax players I like and listen to alot, I like them all primarily because they have a great sound. That is one of the things that makes them great. Do people have favourite players that they don't like the sound of! ...or even find their sound not so good? The posts on Tenor players with the best sound got me thinking on this.

reisio

I remember when I first started listening to Charlie Parker I found his technique (usually) quite brilliant but his sound rather rough and his improvisation somewhat lacking in melody. I eventually got to his better recordings and put such feelings behind me, but I do know what you mean.

Jacob

I used to hate Wayne Shorter's tone on the tenor, but the more I got listening to him, the more I liked it. I've been really digging his newer material (Footprints Live, Beyond the Sound Barrier), but I sometimes enjoy listening to some things he did with Art Blakey back in the Blue Note days.

In all respect, he is an amazing musician and extraordinary composer, but his tone takes a lot of maturity to appreciate. Tone is a very personal thing, especially for someone like him, who's life has been torn apart. Each note he plays has so much meaning to it that he doesn't need to play very many notes. It is almost like he is singing through his saxophone at times.

I got to hear him live once with his quartet (Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade) a few years ago. Man, that was hard to digest because I was so young (15 or so). All I remember from it was that it was different from any other jazz concert I had gone to. Even today, nothing can add up to Shorter's playing and creativity.

Tully

I'll preface this by saying I haven't listened to his soprano recordings much, but as brilliant as his playing is, I have a hard time with Coltrane's soprano sound. I think it's an acquired taste. Laughing

Matt AV

I agree with the previous posts. The players mentioned: Parker, Shorter and Coltrane are all players I have had to work at in order to appreciate thier sound.