Essential saxophone recordings: A work in progress

ByBret Pimentel

Seminal Early Concert Soloists

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.

Similar Posts

  • Review: Ben Britton’s A Complete Approach to Sound for the Modern Saxophonist

    ByBret Pimentel

    I have been in touch with saxophonist Ben Britton since I mentioned his blog in a roundup review last year. He’s a nice guy, not to mention a great (and award-winning) saxophone player:

    I was pleased to hear from Ben about his new book, A Complete Approach to Sound for the Modern Saxophonist. It is now available in print from Amazon (currently a very reasonable $14.95) and as a download from Payhip (a steal at $9.95).

    The book is around 60 pages long, but it’s not densely packed text. It can easily be skimmed in one sitting. What you get for your money is a highly-concentrated, efficient approach to tone production. I (and probably you) have shelves of much longer and much more expensive books that take a week to read and longer to extract anything useful from. Ben’s book is a straightforward, less-is-more approach that is refreshing and worthwhile.

    My copy arrived just in time, as my tenor hasn’t been getting enough attention lately (teaching classical repertoire means lots of alto) and, as I feared, my tone and control have suffered a bit. I soaked some reeds and spent the morning with the book. Read More “Review: Ben Britton’s A Complete Approach to Sound for the Modern Saxophonist”

  • Review: D’Addario Evolution clarinet mouthpieces

    ByBret Pimentel

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    D’Addario was kind enough to send me a couple of their new(ish) Reserve Evolution clarinet mouthpieces to try out.

    The Evolution currently comes in a single opening/facing, but the two Evolution mouthpieces I received are different in appearance: one is the standard black, and the other is what’s called “marble” on D’Addario’s website, or “sandstone marble” on the box. I usually don’t care to have equipment that calls too much attention to itself, but this is pretty cool and subtle enough not to be gaudy on stage.

    I can’t definitively say that there is a difference in how the marble/non-marble play or sound. For the two I have in hand, the marble is possibly very (very) slightly more dark/muted, and the non-marble has very slightly more brightness/presence. But this doesn’t match my experience trying the mouthpieces back-to-back at the ICA conference (“ClarinetFest®”) over the summer. In any case, if there’s a difference, it’s trivially small, and I think you can pick the one that you think looks nicest.

    As I’ve pointed out in my reviews of D’Addario’s other clarinet and saxophone mouthpieces, these are made with very, very high consistency, which finally brings mouthpieces into the online shopping age: you can just order one from wherever you find the lowest price, and count on it to play just as well as any other. No need to order a bunch of them, put a deposit on your credit card, ship back the ones you don’t want, pay a restocking/sanitation fee, etc. And if you lose or break yours, you can get a replacement quickly and probably not notice any difference. They are great-playing, affordable mouthpieces, but the consistency is the unique, killer feature. I’ve personally adopted each new clarinet and saxophone mouthpiece as it has hit the market.

    (I don’t have a formal relationship, endorsement deal, etc. with D’Addario. They do sometimes send me products to try, presumably with the hope that I will review them favorably, but there’s no advance agreement. And I think that the consistent quality is a significant development in the mouthpiece market, and worth comment.)

    What I’m looking for in a mouthpiece is a good balance between response and stability. To some extent these may be two sides of the same coin. A very responsive mouthpiece “speaks” immediately, even on resistant notes or at softer volume. But sometimes the tone and/or pitch are too flexible, and keeping them in check takes a lot of work. A very stable mouthpiece has consistent tone and pitch, but may take more work to get notes to respond as desired.

    The particular quality of tone is my third consideration. I don’t make this my first priority for a few reasons. One is that a mouthpiece that strikes a good responsive/stable balance is already likely to have an appropriate, middle-of-the-road, versatile tone. (Often, within that middle-of-the-road zone, more “responsive” mouthpieces tend toward “brightness,” “presence,” or “liveliness,” while more “stable” mouthpieces lean toward “darkness,” “warmth,” or a “covered” sound.) Another reason is that tone quality is one of the more malleable aspects of a mouthpiece’s playing characteristics. If it functions well on the response/stability axis, then with a little time I will probably adapt my embouchure in minute ways (even without realizing it) to find the tone I want.

    For the last seven years I have been using D’Daddario’s Reserve X5 clarinet mouthpiece, so I’m using that as my frame of reference. The Reserve and Evolution mouthpieces are both good, solid choices, and I can’t really say broadly that one is better than the other. But they have some differences in response, stability, and tone, which I’ll outline here in case it helps you pick one that best suits your preference.

    Basically I find the Reserve to lean slightly toward responsiveness, with the expected tinge of brightness/presence, and the Evolution to tend more stable, with the darker/more covered sound. It’s subtle.

    (Besides the mouthpieces, D’Addario also makes Reserve and Evolution reeds, which I find to have those same characteristics: Reserve = more responsive, Evolution = more stable. A D’Addario representative tells me the similarly named mouthpieces and reeds are “not meant to be exclusively paired together.”)

    The following audio clips are all played using the same reed, a D’Addario Reserve 3.5. It’s just a little softer than I prefer for the X5, which accounts for some of the responsiveness and brightness but not all of it. Using a 3.5+ brings the sound and response just slightly closer to the Evolutions.

    Evolution (black)

    Evolution (marble)

    Reserve X5

    These photos are of the packaging for the X5 and Evolution mouthpieces. The measurements, oddly, are mostly in inches. (The X5 packaging is several years old, from when these were still sold as “Rico Reserve;” I don’t know if the box otherwise still looks the same.) The side view diagrams seem to indicate that both have a tip opening of ~.042 inches, which seems like a possible typo. Assuming the openings are precisely 1.05mm and 1.08mm (as also indicated on the packaging), these might be better expressed as .041 and .043.

    I like both the Reserve X5 (my current favorite of the Reserve options) and the Evolution, and currently they are both living in my clarinet case. If forced to choose, I think at the moment I would fall back on the X5, because responsiveness feels important to me right now. But I can easily see myself switching to the Evolution at some point, perhaps depending on repertoire and performance situation.

    In any case, the Evolution is another strong addition to D’Addario’s line of mouthpieces, and worth checking out.

  • Instrument stands for doublers: mini-reviews and a wish list

    ByBret Pimentel

    Recently I have been getting a bit of pit work from a nearby community theater. They like to do month-long runs of their shows, which means that the musical director often hires two or more people for each seat in the orchestra, so that they can trade off playing the show according to their availability. One little perk of this method is that often the woodwind player who does the first show leaves his or her instrument stands in the pit for the other doubler(s) to use, so I’ve gotten to try out a variety of stands lately in a real-life situation.

    I have, of course, a number of stands of my own, most of which do a basically satisfactory job, but none of which I’m overwhelmingly enamored with. Read More “Instrument stands for doublers: mini-reviews and a wish list”

  • Synthetic clarinet reeds follow-up

    ByBret Pimentel

    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

    I’ve posted a few times previously about synthetic reeds, which I believe are the inevitable future of woodwind playing. Last June (2025) I published an article in The Clarinet surveying the clarinet reeds currently on the market.

    Because The Clarinet doesn’t endorse specific products, I stuck to factual information about the reeds I sampled. Eight different makers sent samples, with the understanding that it wouldn’t be a “review” per se.

    I personally found some of the reeds to be surprisingly playable, and others to be dismally bad. (To be fair, some other fine players tested them too, and their conclusions didn’t always match mine.) After the article was published, I reached out to a few of the makers to see if they would be amenable to me using the free samples they had sent for a genuine review here on my blog.

    Luckily, the makers of my two favorites agreed to this, so here are some thoughts on those.

    D’Addario Venn

    D’Addario Woodwinds has sent me a number of products for review over the years, and I have been generally quite pleased with them; a number of their products are still my go-tos for clarinet and saxophone. But they are a relative newcomer to the synthetic reed market, and some first-generation samples I received a few years ago had (by a D’Addario rep’s admission) some quality concerns, so I wasn’t expecting to be wowed. But to my surprise and pleasure they turned out to be my favorites of the bunch (by a narrow margin).

    For me, these were an easy transition from my cane reeds of choice (D’Addario Reserve and sometimes Reserve Evolution). A D’Addario representative tells me the Venn synthetics are not meant to be an exact reproduction of any of their cane reeds, but a new Venn-specific cut. Still, they were familiar enough in feel that I hardly noticed the difference, and came very, very close in sound.

    In fact, after using the Venns exclusively in my studio for a few weeks, I felt confident enough to try them in an orchestral context. After playing part of a rehearsal on a Venn reed, I took advantage of a short break to switch back to a favorite cane reed for a quick comparison. To my dismay, another musician in the orchestra (a woodwind player but not a clarinetist) said, “now that’s a reed!”

    The verdict: the Venn comes pretty close to replacing cane for me, and in terms of function (response, dynamic range, articulation, etc.) seems like an equal match. But tone, though quite good, doesn’t yet seem to fully measure up, at least not for me and my setup.

    The Venn reeds look very much like real cane, in color and fibrous structure. In fact, they look so similar to cane reeds that I’ve had to be extra careful trying to keep them separate. I might welcome some distinctive marking to set them apart visually from cane.

    The Venns are smoother and slicker than cane, which feels nice on my lip but does require a little extra care to make sure I get them properly aligned on the mouthpiece.

    Légère French Cut

    Légère reeds are what pop to mind for me, and I suspect a lot of others, when I think of synthetic reeds. They were the first really viable synthetics I tried, somewhere around 25 years ago, and I have always had some since. They have been a lifesaver especially for playing larger reeds in dry climates, or instruments I play less frequently, or for woodwind doubling situations. Their product line is mature and diverse, which is an advantage over D’Addario.

    The French Cut is one of the newer models, and my favorite of the available offerings. Among the players who tested reeds with me, preferences were somewhat split between the French Cut and the also-newish European Cut.

    I also spent a few weeks playing exclusively on the French Cut clarinet reed, and found it very pleasant and easy to play. Like the Venn, it checks all my boxes for function. I do find that with my setup the French Cut has a little different tone compared to Venn and my favorite cane reeds, but only a little, and not in an unpleasant way.

    I did use the French Cut for performance in a musical theater setting, where I was playing only a small amount of clarinet and could get away with tone a little different from my usual. As expected for a synthetic reed, this was great for switching instruments without worrying about reeds drying out. (I used Légère bass clarinet and saxophone reeds on the same gig.)

    For me, they run a very close second to the Venns in terms of function and tone, but it’s a narrow enough margin to probably chalk up to personal preference or the quirks of my mouthpiece.

    Visually, they won’t be mistaken for cane—they are made in Légère’s characteristic clear synthetic material. I don’t mind the look, but if I’m careless about where I set one, it can be hard to spot from across the room. Their slightly textured surface gives them more of the grippy-ness of cane, which feels familiar on my lip and doesn’t require any special effort to place on the mouthpiece.

    Both

    The Venn and Légère synthetics, of course, both share the positive qualities of synthetic materials: longevity, consistency, and impervious-ness to climate. Both are instantly ready to play with no soaking. At the time of this writing, they seem to be selling for almost exactly the same price per reed, which is to say about the cost of a box of 10 cane reeds.

    Both brands also make saxophone reeds, which I’ve dabbled with but haven’t had as much opportunity to test thoroughly.

    Have I switched?

    As I concluded in the article in The Clarinet, I do think that there are some quite viable options for switching fully to synthetic reeds for professional playing, and these two products are certainly among them. Some world-class players have already made the switch to using synthetics exclusively.

    I personally haven’t. While I still believe synthetics are the future, I find myself in a transitional phase. I’ll keep both the Venns and the Légères on hand, and will likely continue to use both at least sporadically. But I’m not fully ready to give up my cane reeds yet.

    I suspect both companies are continuing to refine and develop their product lines, and if their next rounds of offerings are even small improvements on the current products, that may be enough for me to switch over completely.

    Or, if I decided the hassles of cane were too much, I might be able to switch to current synthetic products and adapt my playing to them. I live in a humid climate where I find cane reeds relatively easy to care for, but if I found myself performing in a drier atmosphere or higher altitude that might be enough to convince me to change. Even if I needed to change mouthpieces to get the best out of the synthetic reeds, it might well be worth it.

    Should you switch?

    I think it’s important to remember that someone else’s experiences with a product, including mine, are personal and based on a variety of factors, including what other equipment they use, the finer points of their playing technique, and many other musical and practical factors. The only good way to know if synthetics are right for you is to try them.

    That’s also why I’m not including audio samples here. You will get much more useful information by trying them yourself. (And my experience in the orchestra rehearsal was a good reminder to me that it’s worth getting an unbiased opinion from someone with good ears.)

    In any case, the high-quality synthetic reeds currently on the market are an exciting and promising development, and I look forward to what’s next.

  • Review: Akai EWI4000s wind controller

    ByBret Pimentel

    I recently got my hands on one of these:
    Akai EWI 4000s wind controller

    Believe me when I tell you that this is a seriously cool instrument.

    Even after hearing and reading a number of rave reviews of the Akai EWI 4000S, I was pleasantly surprised by its playability, responsiveness, and capacity for expression. In my opinion, this is a real instrument, and a viable option for serious music-making.

    A few highlights:
    Read More “Review: Akai EWI4000s wind controller”

  • Required recordings, spring 2010

    ByBret Pimentel

    As I explained back in August, I’m having my university students purchase a required recording every semester.

    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: Read More “Required recordings, spring 2010”

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