Enjoy:

Joseph Robinson: Principal Oboe, New York Philharmonic

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Saint-Saëns Sonata, Piston Suite, Poulenc Trio, Nielsen Two Fantasy Pieces, Dring Trio, Shickele Gardens, Still Incantation and Dance, Martin Petite Complainte

Anthony McGill

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Poulenc Sonata, Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie and Petite Piece, Messager Solo de Concours, Rachmaninoff Vocalise and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Gershwin Three Preludes, Summertime, and It Ain’t Necessarily So

Judith Leclair: Works for Bassoon

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Saint- Saëns Sonata, Andres Chants d’arrière saison, Boutry Interférences, Glière Humoresque, Milde Andante and Rondo and Polonaise

Kenneth Tse: Saxophone

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Feld Sonata, Muczynski Sonata, Heiden Solo, Morosco Blue Caprice, Benson Aeolian Song, Kaufmann Meditation, Bernstein West Side Story Medley

• The oboists don’t have anything Baroque yet.
• The clarinetists don’t have anything by Weber yet.
• The bassoonists don’t have the Mozart concerto yet.
• The saxophonists don’t have the Glazunov concerto yet.

I think I found some great recordings to fill those voids. As a diversity bonus, three of the four are talented women, and one of those is a native Israeli.

Here are the selections:

Ray Still: A Chicago Legend: Baroque Oboe Sonatas

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Bach Sonata in G minor, Handel Sonatas nos. 1 and 2, Telemann Partitas 2, 5, and 6, Vivaldi Sonata no. 6

Sharon Kam: Works for Clarinet and Orchestra

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Mendelssohn Konzerstücke, Spohr Concerto No. 4, Rossini Introduction, Theme, and Variations, Weber Concertino

Kim Walker: Mozart/Hummel/Wolf-Ferrari

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Mozart Concerto, Hummel Concerto, Wolf-ferrari Concerto

Debra Richtmeyer: Extravaganza for Saxophone and Orchestra

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Glazunov Concerto, Strauss Oboe Concerto, Ott Concerto, Rachmaninoff Vocalise

This semester, I’m having my each of my students add a good chamber music recording to their library. The students required to buy these recordings are technically enrolled in applied lessons, which means they study solo repertoire, although I do also coach some of them in chamber music. But even those whose degree requirements don’t specify chamber group participation ought to have at least the most passing of acquaintances with chamber music for their instrument.

For the saxophonists, choosing a format was simple enough—the saxophone quartet is the only significant chamber music setting with saxophones (although I did consider using this recording).

For the other reed players, I considered some options (double reed quartets, clarinet quartets or choirs, bassoon quartets…) but ultimately settled on a wind quintet recording for the clarinetists and double reeders. This may be the only chamber recording I require any of them to buy during the course of their 4-year (well, hopefully 4-year) education—I could possibly choose one more in another couple of years—and I wanted to make it count. The wind quintet tradition is rich and, in woodwind terms, long.

As usual, I was looking for good collections of fairly standard repertoire by exemplary musicians, reasonably priced and readily available. I had to steer clear of some tempting wind quintet choices by outstanding European groups, since I wanted to make sure my students are absorbing American-school ideas about tone. I also gave strong consideration to a great 2-disc set by the Utah Saxophone Quartet (which includes a couple of my former teachers; incidentally, all four members are really excellent doublers and they play some nice clarinet quartets on this recording, too), which I ultimately passed on because it’s not (yet?) available on iTunes and I’m trying to be 21^st-century enough not to demand that my students buy physical discs.

So here’s what I finally settled on:

Borealis Wind Quintet, A La Carte: Short Works for Winds

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Rota Petite Offrande Musicale, Farkas Hungarian Dances, Beach Pastorale, Schuller Suite, Grainger: Walking Tune, Turrin: Three Summer Dances, Persichetti: Pastoral, Milhaud: La Cheminee du Roi Rene, Briccialdi: Potpourri Fantastico

This album was nominated for a Grammy award in 2006.

New Century Saxophone Quartet: Standards

Find it on: Amazon | iTunes

Repertoire: Singelee Quartet No. 1, Desenclos Quartet, del Borgo Quartet, Mintzer Quartet No. 1, Torke July

There are a number of criteria that go into these selections, but I mentioned one in particular back in the spring:

So far my two-semester tally, selecting recordings for four different instruments, is six white men and two white women. I’d like to improve on that in the future, though I do think that, ultimately, what comes through the earphones is more central to this project than the colors or genders represented on the CD covers.

I think I did manage to pick out two this semester that add a little diversity, and certainly without compromising one bit on quality: my oboe students are getting a fine recording by Brazilian oboist Alex Klein, and the saxophonists will be enjoying a new release by African-American saxophonist (and one of my teachers) Otis Murphy. On the other hand, I did end up with all men this time around.

One other victory this semester is that all these recordings are available for download on iTunes. I still like having the CD myself, but iTunes is a convenient and, more importantly, economical option for my students.

Here are the selections:

Oboe: Alex Klein, Oboe Concertos of the Classical Era

Find it on: iTunes | Amazon

Repertoire: Krommer Concertos, Hummel Introduction, Theme, and Variations

Clarinet: David Shifrin, Brahms/Schumann Soirée

Find it on: iTunes | Amazon

Repertoire: Brahms Sonatas, Schumann Fantasiestücke

Bassoon: Frank Morelli, Baroque Fireworks

Find it on: iTunes | Amazon

Repertoire: Zelenka Trio Sonata, Vivaldi Sonatas in B-flat major and A minor, Telemann Sonata and Quartet

Saxophone: Otis Murphy, Fantasy

Find it on: iTunes

Repertoire: Maslanka Sonata, Bozza Aria, Tomasi Ballade, transcriptions of Bizet, Saint-Saëns, and Narita.

The purpose of this, of course, is to help the students develop good aural concepts of tone, phrasing, expression, vibrato, ensemble, and so forth. To try to learn to play an instrument well without a solid aural concept is like trying to learn a foreign language from a textbook. You might pick up a few things, but you’ll be sunk unless you get to really hear—over and over—how the words and phrases sound.

I’m discovering that it’s a challenge to make the recording selections meet all the criteria I’d like. For example, I would like for each one to:

• Be by a major soloist, preferably living
• Contain very standard literature that my students should know, without too many repeats from previous selections
• Contrast with last semester’s selection (for example, if last semester’s recording was music with piano, I tried to pick a concerto recording this time around)
• If at all possible, contribute to a sense of diversity

The last one has been a challenge. So far my two-semester tally, selecting recordings for four different instruments, is six white men and two white women. I’d like to improve on that in the future, though I do think that, ultimately, what comes through the earphones is more central to this project than the colors or genders represented on the CD covers. I’ve got a few ideas for future selections and welcome additional suggestions.

Here are this semester’s selections:

Oboe: Nancy Ambrose King Plays Oboe Concertos

Repertoire: Concerti by Mozart, Goosens, Vaughan Williams, and Martinů.

Clarinet: Paul Meyer, French Clarinet Art

Repertoire: Sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Poulenc, Chausson Andante et Allegro, Debussy Petite Pièce and Première Rhapsodie, Milhaud Sonatine and Duo Concertant, and Honegger Sonatine.

Bassoon: Dag Jensen, Musique pour Basson er Piano

Repertoire: Tansman Sonatine and Suite, Koechlin Sonate and Trois Pièces, Dutilleux Saraband et Cortège, and various short pieces by Bozza, Bitsch, and Mihalovici.

Saxophone: Claude Delangle, Under the Sign of the Sun

Repertoire: Ibert Concertino da Camera, Tomasi Concerto, Ravel Pavane pour une Infante défunte, Maurice Tableaux de Provence, Schmitt Légende, Milhaud Scaramouche.

Note: This is something I wrote back in the olden days (2003?) and published on another website. I’ve relocated it here with a few minor edits. I still think it’s a pretty decent list, with, admittedly, a few weaknesses (the biggest ones, I think, are a failure to really address the jazz singers, and a certain saxophone-centric bias). In any case, I hope you enjoy it.

Full disclosure: if you buy any of these albums by clicking on the links below, I earn an astonishingly tiny sum of money.

Hello, music fans!

You need this.

I’ve picked out, for your listening pleasure, ten essential jazz albums, as an easy introduction to the wide world of jazz. You’re welcome.

I’ll assume that you already love music. But maybe you’re a lifelong rocker. Or a connossieur of the great classical composers. Or maybe you like both kinds of music: country and western. No matter your taste, the jazz section of the record store can be a little bewildering.

Let’s face it, the jazz world is a members-only club. We jazz fans love to lord our superior musical tastes over the uninitiated masses. You listen to whom? Kenny G?! I think I need to lie down.

Plus, if you’re like me, your budget doesn’t quite allow for the latest comprehensive 40-disc boxed set from Verve or Columbia Records. Same thing goes for rare and valuable vinyl collector’s items.

So, these ten albums have been carefully chosen to do a few things:

• Introduce you to key jazz artists, styles, albums, and songs.
• Keep the cost reasonable. These albums are all readily available and reasonably priced single compact discs (no expensive multidisc sets) or iTunes albums.
• Preserve the dignity of the jazz tradition, by giving you the music in complete album format whenever possible. No samplers or compilations, except in a couple of cases where compilations are the only logical choice.
• And, most importantly, add the pleasure and richness of the jazz world to your life!

Let’s get going! We’ll do this in a sort of rough chronological order.

The Short List

Click away, kids!

• Louis Armstrong: Best of the Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings
• Duke Ellington: Best of the Duke Ellington Centennial Edition
• “The Quintet”: Jazz at Massey Hall
• Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
• Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
• John Coltrane: Giant Steps
• Horace Silver: Song For My Father
• Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come
• Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim: Getz/Gilberto
• Weather Report: Heavy Weather

Louis Armstrong: Best of the Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

Columbia/Legacy, originally recorded 1926-1928 in New York City.

Why this album?

• Louis Armstrong was the vital figure in coalescing the emerging “hot” jazz style (as opposed to the “sweet” style favored by white bands in those segregated days). There is very little in today’s diverse jazz world that can’t be traced directly back to these essential recordings by Armstrong’s Hot Five (a quintet, of course), and the expanded Hot Seven group.
• As I said, I prefer not to use compilations, but an exception is clearly in order here, since these recordings predate the LP record, and would have been released as singles. There are a number of compilations available, but this one is especially solid.

Style:

• Traditional (or “trad”) jazz, hot jazz, or Dixieland.

Important people:

• Louis Armstrong, cornet, leader, composer

What to listen for:

• Collective improvisation, with everyone playing their independent, made-up-on-the-spot parts simultaneously. This is a hallmark of Dixieland jazz. Armstrong’s power as a soloist, however, forces the introduction of a new texture that will quicky become a jazz staple: that of the single soloist, accompanied by bass, drums, and maybe guitar and/or piano.
• Armstrong’s bold, brassy cornet sound. Popular legend says that in those days, before modern recording studios, Armstrong had to play in the next room to avoid overpowering the rest of the band on the recording.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Continually point out how Armstrong is way, way ahead of his time.
• For bonus snobbery points, pronounce the “S” in Louis, and correct people who call him Louie. Armstrong became “Louie” in the media, but always prounounced the “S” when referring to himself.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Duke Ellington: Best of the Duke Ellington Centennial Edition

RCA Victor, originally recorded 1927-1973.

Why this album?

• This album will have to represent all of the so-called “big bands” (usually somewhere from fifteen to twenty-five musicians), although the bands of Count Basie or Stan Kenton could also have taken this spot. The Duke wins out because of his timeless repertoire, as well as his unmatched stable of virtuoso musicians (which gradually changed throughout the band’s history).
• Again a compilation—this is the last one, I swear. We have the same problem of some of these recordings predating the LP; also, the band’s longevity makes a compilation a good choice for a big-picture view.

Style:

• Big band

Important people:

• Edward “Duke” Ellington, leader, piano, composer & arranger
• Billy Strayhorn, composer, arranger, Ellington’s right-hand man
• Ben Webster, tenor saxophone
• Johnny Hodges, alto saxophone
• Jimmy Blanton, bass
• Harry Carney, baritone saxophone
• Juan Tizol, valve trombone
• Ray Nance, trumpet, violin

What to listen for:

• The full, rich sound of the big band. The collective improvisation of the Dixieland band has been abandoned in favor of a more organized, orchestrated sound, with the musicians reading their parts from sheet music.
• Individual personalities. Ellington and collaborator Billy Strayhorn write music with individual musicians in mind, highlighting each band member’s characteristic and idiosyncratic style.
• Antiphonal writing, in which a soloist or group is contrasted against another soloist or group in a conversation, an exchange, or even a battle.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Admit that you admire the new directions that the band explored post-1950, but you really prefer the more raw sound of the Blanton-Webster years (about 1940-1942, when bassist Jimmy Blanton and saxophonist Ben Webster made essential contributions to the band’s sound).

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

“The Quintet”: Jazz at Massey Hall

Debut, recorded 1953 in Toronto, Canada.

Why this album?

• “Bebop,” the fast-paced, virtuosic, harmonically inventive music generally associated with New York City and the mid-1940′s, makes arguably its definitive statement in this recording in Toronto in the 1950′s. The founding fathers of bebop are at the top of their game here, playing their most characteristic repertoire with wild abandon.
• The so-called “Quintet” isn’t a formal group, just an auspicious meeting of the minds. By 1953, however, most of these musicians had played with each of the others many times. The important thing is that we get each of these five incredible and important musicians all together on one disc.

Style:

• Bebop, or just “bop”

Important people: everyone on the album.

• Charlie Parker, alto saxophone
• Dizzy Gillespie, trumpet, composer
• Bud Powell), piano
• Charles Mingus, bass
• Max Roach, drums

What to listen for:

• The breakneck tempos and virtuosic improvised solos.
• The small-group dynamic. Economic pressures and the quest for something new had broken up many of the big bands by the late 1940′s. Bebop musicians, freed from the heavily-orchestrated big bands, love to feed from each other’s energy, “quote” each other’s melodic lines, and interject humor and invention into each solo.
• Complex rhythms, melodies, and harmony. Bebop is the thinking man’s jazz. This isn’t music for dancing or for socializing; it’s music for smiling knowingly while nursing a highball.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Think up a fictional song title, and pretend to hear Charlie Parker or Dizzy Gillespie quoting from it. “Was that a little bit of ‘Purple Moon?’ I could have sworn it was the triplet lick from the second bar of the bridge.” Bebop fans will immediately agree with you. Others will give you blank stares. From now on you may treat all of them as hopeless squares.
• Remember, Gillespie was bebop’s most public figure, and popular with the media and the public, but jazz fans usually regard Parker as the more important musical figure.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

Capitol, recorded 1949-1950 in New York City.

Why this album?

• By 1949, Miles Davis had studied at the feet of the bebop giants, absorbed their style, and was ready to try a new direction. This album is, in fact, widely considered to represent the birth of the “cool” school, a mellower, gentler, more orchestrated sound to contrast with the fire and fury of bebop.

Style:

• Cool jazz, or “Cool School”

Important people:

• Miles Davis, leader, composer, trumpet
• Gil Evans, composer
• Lee Konitz, alto saxophone
• Gerry Mulligan, baritone saxophone

What to listen for:

• Heavy influence of classical music: focus on melody and counterpoint, elegance and balance of form, even use of orchestral instruments like the French horn and the tuba (virtually unused in jazz since the Dixieland days).
• The refined but carefully un-virtuosic solos from Davis and saxophonists Konitz and Mulligan.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Don’t be afraid to use the word “nonet” to decribe Davis’s 9-piece band. (Pronounce it like “no net.”)

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

Columbia, recorded 1959 in New York City.

Why this album?

• Miles Davis makes the list twice in a row because of two honest-to-goodness jazz revolutions. In fact, he will continue to reinvent himself and the music throughout his career.
• This album heralds the arrival of modal jazz, a style that pushes its musicians to invent and innovate within a limited harmonic framework.

Style:

• Modal jazz

Important people:

• Miles Davis, leader, composer, trumpet
• Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, alto saxophone
• John Coltrane, tenor saxophone
• Bill Evans, piano

What to listen for:

• A sense of stasis created by the use of “modal” harmony, a technique in which the musicians limit themselves to a certain collection of notes.
• Davis’s use of “space” (silence) in his solos. Davis was known to have encouraged saxophonist Coltrane—notorious for his rapid and extended volleys of notes—to use more space in his solos, too.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Smirk at Cannonball Adderley’s solos, and remark on his inability to resist throwing in a bebop lick here and there.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

John Coltrane: Giant Steps

Atlantic, recorded 1959 in New York City.

Why this album?

• Coltrane’s analytical mind and obsessive practice routine led him to a new sound, heard in this watershed recording. His compositions here are methodical explorations of a new harmonic direction. The complexities of Coltrane’s harmonic ideas stand in stark contrast to the much simpler palette of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue album, on which Coltrane appeared in the very same year. Coltrane’s album would prove to be as influential and important as Davis’s.

Style:

• Post-bop or hard bop

Important people:

• John Coltrane, leader, composer, tenor saxophone

What to listen for:

• Angular, even jarring harmonic progressions; the building blocks of bebop arranged into a new and surprising structure.
• Coltrane’s stark, metallic tone, very different from the full, round, smoky sound associated with the tenor saxophone in previous decades.
• Coltrane’s phenomenal technical ability on the saxophone. His long, cascading volleys of rapid notes became known as “sheets of sound.”

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Confess that you cried the first time you heard Coltrane play “Naima.”
• Refer to bassist Paul Chambers as “P.C.,” as Coltrane did when he named one of the tunes on this album “Mr. P.C.”

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Horace Silver: Song For My Father

Blue Note, recorded 1963 in Englewood, New Jersey.

Why this album?

• The designation “hard bop” applies to much of the diverse bebop-influenced music of the 1960′s (including John Coltrane’s 1959 Giant Steps). But Song For My Father exemplifies the sound that is most often associated with that term: it’s bebop mixed with a strong element of gospel and the blues.

Style:

• Hard bop

Important people:

• Horace Silver, leader, piano, composer
• Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone
• Rudy Van Gelder, recording engineer

What to listen for:

• Less flashy than bebop, but more soulful and gritty. The beboppers were all about clever, fluent melodic lines. The hard-boppers could do that, too—and then moan and wail with the best of the bluesmen.
• The marvelous soundscape created by legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, whose Englewood home recording studio was as important to the Blue Note sound as Joe Henderson’s tenor saxophone.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• If anyone comments that the title track’s groove reminds them of Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” you may give them the look of death. If they in any way imply that “Rikki” is a better song, you are permitted to slap them.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come

Atlantic, recorded 1959 in Los Angeles.

Why this album?

• Ornette Coleman was a major figure in the avant garde and “free jazz” movements. While the album’s title proved to be less than one hundred percent prophetic, the free-er approach of Coleman and a few others did at least become a part of the vocabulary of jazz to come.

Style:

• Avant garde jazz

Important people:

• Ornette Coleman, leader, composer, alto saxophone

What to listen for:

• If you have a trained musical ear, you may be bothered at first by the, shall we say, flexible approach to both pitch and rhythm. If you don’t have a trained ear (yet?), you will still probably recognize that there are some strange things afoot here. Relax, people! This music is about coloring outside the lines. Catch hold of the expressive and emotional content, and enjoy the ride.
• Coleman often cited his own theory of “harmolodics” as justification for the unconventional aspects of his music, but has never really given a satisfactory explanation of just what “harmolodics” means. Don’t let that bother you. Just listen.
• There’s no instrument playing chords here; usually a jazz group will have a piano and/or guitar to fill that role. Instead, Coleman’s quartet uses bass and drums to create a sort of pulsating background texture, which leaves the saxophone and cornet free to experiment in the foreground.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Point out to anyone who will listen that Coleman is playing an unusual plastic saxophone on this recording.
• If anyone complains that the musicians seem out of tune, treat them with pity—this music is way over their poor little heads.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim: Getz/Gilberto

Verve, recorded 1963 in New York City.

Why this album?

• Since the early days of jazz, jazz musicians have been enthralled by the nuanced rhythms of Brazil and the Caribbean. This fascination came to a head—and created a brief mainstream pop sensation—with the bossa nova, a cosmopolitan blend of the Brazilian samba, French impressionist composition, and American jazz’s cool school. This album is the jazz bossa nova sound at its best.

Style:

• Bossa nova, or, to be less specific, “Latin”

Important people:

• Stan Getz, tenor saxophone
• Antonio Carlos Jobim, composer, piano
• Joao Gilberto, guitar, vocal
• Astrud Gilberto, vocal. Mrs. Gilberto, a housewife, was at the recording session to translate, and was apparently invited on the spur of the moment to sing on the record.

What to listen for:

• Do you get the urge to dance—very slowly—when you listen to the bossa nova? That’s because its characteristic groove is a half-speed version of the samba, a fast-paced Brazilian dance.
• Getz’s playing is unmistakably jazz, while the Brazilian musicians’ contribution is decidedly bossa. This collaboration is not so much a blending of styles as it is a surprisingly effective contrast.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Act like you are barely tolerating Astrud Gilberto’s singing. Speak the name of Antonio Carlos Jobim in hushed, reverent tones.
• By the way, the J’s and G in “Jobim” and “Joao Gilberto” sound like the S in “fusion.” The G in “Getz” doesn’t.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Weather Report: Heavy Weather

Columbia, recorded 1977 in Hollywood.

Why this album?

• The fusion of jazz with rock would prove to be one of the most exciting and dynamic combinations in the history of either music. The band Weather Report did it with very listenable and memorable results.

Style:

• Fusion

Important people:

• Josef Zawinul, keyboards, composer
• Jaco Pastorius, electric bass, composer
• Wayne Shorter, soprano and tenor saxophones, composer

What to listen for:

• The prominence of electronic instruments, such as electric pianos, keyboard-based synthesizers, and electric bass guitar, which were rapidly proving themselves as very useful jazz instruments.
• The stunning technique of Jaco Pastorius on the electric bass, which suddenly became a virtuoso instrument.

How to sound smart talking about this album:

• Immediately and contemptuously dismiss any comparisons between Weather Report’s original “Birdland” and the Manhattan Transfer’s vocal cover version.

Buy it!

• Get the CD on Amazon.com
• Download it on iTunes

Your to-do list

1. Buy all of these albums, and play them in your personal compact disc player or pod-type device.
2. Write something awesome in the comments.
3. Tell your friends.
4. Embark with ears wide open on a lifetime journey through the wonders of jazz music, or whatever.
5. You should probably get started.

The purpose of this, of course, is to help the students develop good aural concepts of tone, phrasing, expression, vibrato, ensemble, and so forth. To try to learn to play an instrument well without a solid aural concept is like trying to learn a foreign language from a textbook. You might pick up a few things, but you’ll be sunk unless you get to really hear—over and over—how the words and phrases sound.

Here are the recordings I’ve selected for this semester. They are recordings of some of the most admired and relatively current performers (all are actively performing except for the late, great Mr. Mack), performing core solo literature. There’s no flute recording because I’m only teaching reeds, but maybe something like this would have been a good choice.

Oboe: John Mack, Oboe

Repertoire: Schumann Three Romances, Saint-Saëns Sonata, Hindemith Sonata, Poulenc Sonata, short pieces by Murgier, Berghmans, Planel, and Barraud.

Clarinet: Sabine Meyer, Mozart/Debussy/Takemitsu

Repertoire: Mozart Concerto (played on basset clarinet), Debussy Première Rapsodie, Takemitsu Fantasma/Cantos.

Bassoon: Klaus Thunemann, Hummel/Weber

Repertoire: Weber Concerto, Weber Andante e Rondo Ungarese, Hummel Concerto.

Saxophone: Eugene Rousseau, Saxophone Masterpieces

Repertoire: Creston Sonata, Muczynski Sonata, Heiden Sonata, Kabelác Suita, Heiden Fantasia Concertante.

Mr. Gallodoro is a living legend of woodwind playing: born in 1913, started playing professionally as a teenager, and is still at it. I’ve got him listed on my little woodwind doublers’ hall of fame, and you can read his full official bio here.

The Many Sides of Alfred Gallodoro, vol. I is a collection of recordings from 1948 to 1958. The release date of the compilation appears to be 1998.

Mr. Gallodoro is known for virtuoso playing on clarinet, bass clarinet, and alto saxophone, and you can hear him do all three on this disc.

Of special interest to me was the Concerto for Doubles (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet) by Ralph Hermann, since there are precious few good feature pieces for woodwind doublers. (Just to make things confusing, there is one other piece in existence, also titled Concerto for Doubles, using the same instrumentation, and commissioned by Paul Whiteman for Mr. Gallodoro, but composed by Thomas Filas.) The Hermann piece was recorded in a single midnight session in Carnegie Hall, with a fifty-piece orchestra. No pressure! The piece, like most of the Whiteman band’s music, sounds dated to 21st-century ears, but charmingly so.

The first movement showcases Mr. Gallodoro’s fluid, fluent alto playing, including a nice altissimo C at the end. The second movement, a pretty bass clarinet feature, shows off Mr. Gallodoro’s surprising but effective use of vibrato on that instrument (he doesn’t use it on the “soprano” clarinet). Too bad this movement is the only example of his bass clarinet playing that made it onto the disc. I like that Hermann’s bass clarinet writing, though it does use the bass clarinet’s higher register at times, really puts the meaty stuff where it belongs, in the instrument’s lowest octave. Contemporary composers take note. The third movement is my favorite, a light and slightly tongue-in-cheek waltz. The clarinet writing is virtuosic, and Mr. Gallodoro’s playing sounds beautifully effortless.

Next up is Mr. Gallodoro’s rendition of Jimmy Dorsey’s Oodles of Noodles. Don’t be put off by the silly title, and hang on through the virtuosic-but-hokey opening section: the real payoff here is the bluesier middle section. Throughout, Mr. Gallodoro’s technique is jaw-dropping, and his sound lovely. I recently attended the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference and heard many incredible players doing the latest cutting-edge music, full of special effects and bizarre sounds. I can’t help but wonder how well some of them would handle a piece like this. Mr. Gallodoro’s live recording of Paul Bonneau’s Caprice en forme de valse, which WAS played at the conference, sounds absolutely fresh and modern. Had Mr. G been at the conference, I think he would have sent some saxophonists back home to woodshed.

Mr. Gallodoro’s own version of of Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu for clarinet and orchestra is solidly arranged and expertly executed, but the really substantial clarinet work here is the Brahms Quintet. Mr. Gallodoro’s playing, is, as always, above reproach in terms of technique and musicianship (okay, maybe just a little pitchy in spots?), but the disc still loses momentum at this point. The Brahms is just too long and too heavy among the shorter, lighter fare on this disc. Sue me, but I would have liked to hear a movement or two of this, and then maybe a little more bass clarinet.

The final three pieces are saxophone features with band. All three pieces are with the Gabe Bartold band of 1958, thought Stardust and Harlem Nocturne seem to be scored for jazz big band, while William Reddie’s Caprice for Alto Saxophone and Concert Band seems to be for a larger symphonic wind group. The two jazz tunes are great and show off Gallodoro’s jazz chops; the Reddie piece is also excellent and displays his abilities as a “classical” saxophonist. I hadn’t even heard of the Reddie piece, and a cursory Googling doesn’t turn up much besides this CD, but I think it’s a grat piece and it’s a shame it isn’t heard much. Perhaps it’s too short and too tonal for today’s soloists. Oh well.

All in all, The Many Sides of Alfred Gallodoro, Vol. I is a very pleasant listen, and certainly a must-have for woodwind doublers. As far as I can tell, there is no volume II. At least, not yet—give the man another century!

Mule, Marcel

Marcel Mule: Le Patron of the Saxophone (Clarinet Classics, compilation 1996)

Marcel Mule: Le Patron of the Saxophone: Encore! (Clarinet Classics, compilation 2000)

These compilations also feature recordings by the Mule Saxophone Quartet.

Wiedoft, Rudy

Kreisler of the Saxophone (Clarinet Classics, compilation [year?])

Leeson, Cecil

Rascher, Sigurd

Regrettably, recorded performances by Sigurd Rascher and Cecil Leeson are not currently in print. Important out-of-print recordings include Sigurd Rascher Plays the Saxophone, volumes I and II, formerly published by Grand Award, and The Art of Cecil Leeson, volumes I-VII, formerly available on the Enchante label.

Contemporary Concert Artists

Delangle, Claude

The Solitary Saxophone (Bis, 1994)

Unaccompanied works.

Harle, John

Saxophone Concertos (EMI, 1991)

Houlik, James

American Saxophone (Koch International Classics, 1996)

Widely regarded as the world’s leading concert tenor saxophonist.

Pittel, Harvey

Moving Along (Crystal, 1997)

Rousseau, Eugene

Saxophone Concertos (Deutsche Grammophon, 1998)

Londeix, Jean-Marie

No recordings currently available. Out-of-print recordings include Works for Saxophone and Piano (EMI, 1973) and Jean-Marie Londeix, Alto Saxophone (Golden Crest, 1975).

Saxophone Quartets and Ensembles

Mule Saxophone Quartet

See “Mule, Marcel” under Seminal Concert Soloists.

The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra

See “The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra” under Unusual Saxophones and Techniques.

Rascher Saxophone Quartet

Music for Saxophones (Cala, 1995)

Like Sigurd Rascher’s solo recordings, his recordings as leader of the Rascher Saxophone Quartet are out of print. This is a fine recent recording led by his daughter, Carina Rascher. It includes several works for saxophone quartet, plus several arrangements demonstrating the quartet’s virtuosity in a variety of styles.

World Saxophone Quartet

Plays Duke Ellington (Nonesuch, 1986)

Hollywood Saxophone Quartet

New York Saxophone Quartet

The Six Brown Brothers

Recordings by the Hollywood, New York, and Brown Brothers groups are, sadly, no longer available.

Saxophone in Chamber Music (with other instruments)

Cottrell, Steven

The Electric Saxophone (Clarinet Classics, 2001)

Saxophone works with electronic tape.

Horsch, Kyle

Chambersax (Clarinet Classics, 1999)

Chamber works with saxophone, including Webern’s op. 22 Quartet.

Seminal Jazz Soloists

Adderley, Julian “Cannonball”

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy: Live at “The Club” (Capitol, 1966)

Somethin’ Else (Blue Note, 1958)

Cannonball should also be heard on Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue and Milestones.

Bechet, Sidney

Ken Burns Jazz: Sidney Bechet (Columbia/Legacy, compilation 2000)

A broad introduction to the first important jazz saxophonist on record. One of a very small handful of truly noteworthy soprano saxophonists.

Brecker, Michael

Michael Brecker (MCA/Impulse!, 1987)

Perhaps better known for his fusion bands and session work, Brecker’s debut as a leader reveals a contemporary approach to a more jazz-oriented style.

Coleman, Ornette

The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic, 1959)

The best and best-known of Coleman’s groundbreaking and controversial avant-garde jazz recordings. On this date, Coleman plays a Grafton plastic saxophone.

Coltrane, John

A Love Supreme (Impulse!, 1964)

Blue Train (Blue Note, 1957)

Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1960)

My Favorite Things (Atlantic, 1961)

These are the most essential of the essential recordings by jazz’s most important and influential tenor player. Also-rans with Coltrane as leader include John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman and Ascension. Selected recordings as a sideman include Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959, Miles Davis, leader), Milestones (Columbia, 1958, Miles Davis, leader), and Mating Call (Tadd Dameron, leader). Noteworthy compilations have been released by several labels: John Coltrane: The Prestige Recordings (1956); Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (Rhino, 1959); and The Classic Quartet: Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings (1998).

Getz, Stan

Getz/Gilberto (Verve, 1963)

People Time (Verve/Gitanes Jazz, 1991)

Getz/Gilberto is the best of Getz’s popular bossa nova recordings; People Time is a 2-disc set of live recordings in a duo setting with pianist Kenny Barron and a fine sampling of Getz’s exceptional bop playing.

Gordon, Dexter

Go! (Blue Note, 1962)

The highest of several career peaks by the widely influential West Coast bop tenor player. A more complete overview can be found in The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions (Capitol, compilation 1996).

Hawkins, Coleman

Body and Soul (RCA, compilation 1996)

This album (be careful—there are several with the same title) gives the best overview of Hawkins’s peak period. Ken Burns Jazz: Coleman Hawkins (Columbia/Legacy, compilation 2000) provides a broader picture of his career, including the early recordings with the Fletcher Henderson band. Both albums include the quintessential “Body and Soul” recording of 1939.

Mulligan, Gerry

The Original Gerry Mulligan Tentet and Quartet (GNP Crescendo, 1953)

Also recommended is Miles Davis’s Birth of the Cool (Capitol, 1949).

Parker, Charlie

Blue Bird: Legendary Savoy Sessions (Definitive, compilation 2000)

Confirmation: The Best of the Verve Years (Verve, compilation 1995)

Legendary Dial Masters (Stash, compilation 1989)

These three compilations cover the most essential master takes. Savoy, Dial, and Verve have each released “complete” multi-CD sets that include alternates and partial takes.

Rollins, Sonny

Saxophone Colossus (Prestige, 1956)

Way Out West (Prestige/Contemporary, 1957)

A close runner-up is Tenor Madness (Prestige, 1956), which includes the famous title duet with John Coltrane.

Young, Lester

Ken Burns Jazz (Columbia/Legacy, compilation 2000)

This is the best single-disc collection of Young’s playing. It includes the famous Lady Be Good with Billie Holiday, sessions with the Basie band, and some of Young’s neglected post-WWII recordings. A more complete set is the 4-disc The Lester Young Story (Columbia, compilation 2000). Important small-group recordings are Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve, 1952) and Pres and Teddy (Verve, 1956) with the Teddy Wilson Quartet.

Seminal Soloists in Rock, Pop, and Related Styles

Bostic, Earl

All His Hits (King, compilation 1996)

“G,” Kenny

Greatest Hits (Arista, 1982)

McNeely, Cecil “Big Jay”

Nervous (Saxophile, compilation 1995)

Ousley, “King Curtis”

Instant Soul: The Legendary King Curtis (Razor & Tie, compilation 1994)

Randolph, Homer “Boots”

Greatest Hits (Monument, compilation 1976)

Sanborn, David

The Best of David Sanborn (Warner Bros., compilation 1994)

Unusual Saxophones and Techniques

Carter, James

Chasin’ the Gypsy (Atlantic, 2000)

Carter plays soprano and tenor saxophones, as well as the rare bass and rarer f-mezzo.

Kirk, Rahsaan Roland

The Inflated Tear (Atlantic, 1967)

One of the few multi-instrumentalists who has dared to play several at once, and one of the even fewer to pull it off. On this date, Kirk plays tenor and such saxophone cousins as the stritch and the manzello, not to mention English horn, clarinet, and flute.

The Nuclear Whales Saxophone Orchestra

Fathom This (Whaleco, 1999)

The saxophone sextet perhaps best known for using saxophones from sopranino to contrabass. Both of those, plus five in between, are heard on this album.

Rollini, Adrian

Bouncin’ in Rhythm (Pearl, compilation 1995)

A collection of recordings by the unchallenged master of the now-rare bass saxophone, with bands led by Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, Joe Venuti, and others.