The saxophone is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. A person who plays the saxophone is called a saxophonist or saxist.
Kyle Eugene Gann is an American composer, professor of music, critic, analyst, and musicologist who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for The Village Voice and other publications, he has supported progressive music, including such "downtown" movements as postminimalism and totalism.
Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman. He worked with an array of musicians, and had especially fruitful collaborations with trumpeter Donald Byrd and as a member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band.
Harry Howell Carney was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments, but primarily used the baritone saxophone, being a critical influence on the instrument in jazz.
Elodie Lauten was a French-born American composer described as postminimalist or a microtonalist.
Svengali is a live album by jazz composer, arranger, conductor and pianist Gil Evans, recorded in 1973 by Evans with an orchestra featuring Ted Dunbar, Howard Johnson, David Sanborn, Billy Harper, Richard Williams, Trevor Koehler, and Hannibal Marvin Peterson. The name of the album is an anagram for Gil Evans.
Leon Brown "Chu" Berry was an American jazz tenor saxophonist during the 1930s. He is perhaps best known for his time as a member of singer Cab Calloway's big band.
Loggins and Messina was an American pop rock duo consisting of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, who achieved major chart success during the early-mid 1970s. Among their well-known songs are "Danny's Song", "House at Pooh Corner", and "Your Mama Don't Dance". After selling more than 16 million records and becoming one of the leading musical duos of the 1970s, Loggins and Messina separated in 1976. Although Messina would find only limited popularity following the breakup, Loggins went on to achieve major chart success in the 1980s. In 2005 and again in 2009, Loggins and Messina reformed for tours in the United States.
Kilimanjaro is the second album by the American Jazz group The Rippingtons, released in 1988 for Passport Jazz Records, and later reissued under the GRP label. Kilimanjaro reached #3 on Billboard's Jazz chart.
Vocalese is the ninth studio album by Jazz band The Manhattan Transfer, released on September 3, 1985 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during 1985. Production came from Tim Hauser and Martin Fischer. This album is considered to be The Manhattan Transfer's most critically acclaimed album. It received 12 Grammy nominations, making it second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller as the most nominated individual album. It also received extremely high ratings from music critics, including a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating from Allmusic. The album peaked at number 2 on the Top Jazz Albums and number 74 on the Billboard 200. The album's title Vocalese refers to a style of music that sets lyrics to previously recorded jazz instrumental pieces. The vocals then reproduce the sound and feel of the original instrumentation. Jon Hendricks, proficient in this art, composed all of the lyrics for this album.
Lanquidity is a 1978 studio album by American jazz musician Sun Ra.
Sophisticated Giant is a jazz album by saxophonist Dexter Gordon, recorded in 1977 by an eleven-piece band playing tunes arranged by trombone player Slide Hampton. The album marked Gordon's return to the United States after a long residency in Europe.
The genre of solo saxophone has a rich, but largely unmapped history in contemporary music, particularly jazz. Many, but not all, musicians who play and record solo saxophone use extended techniques, a vocabulary of the saxophone beyond its normal range. Notable musicians in this field include Kaoru Abe, Anthony Braxton, Peter Brötzmann, John Butcher, Don Dietrich, Eric Dolphy, Brandon Evans, Paul Flaherty, Mats Gustafsson, Coleman Hawkins, Lee Konitz, Steve Lacy, Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker, Sonny Rollins, Sam Newsome, Ned Rothenberg, Masayoshi Urabe, Ken Vandermark, Colin Stetson, Jonah Parzen-Johnson and Andre Vida, Gianni Gebbia.
Cuban Fire! is an album by Stan Kenton and his orchestra released in 1956 by Capitol Records. This was Stan Kenton's big band's first full-length recording of Afro-Cuban-styled music. The LP charted for four weeks in Billboard starting on September 15, 1956, peaking at #17. The concept of the original 1956 recording centers on the Cuban Fire! suite Kenton had commissioned from composer Johnny Richards. The 1991 CD re-issue is augmented with one extra track from the 1956 sessions and five cuts recorded four years later by the first of Kenton's mellophonium orchestras.
Upon Reflection is a solo album by English reed player and composer John Surman, recorded in May 1979 and released on ECM later that same year.
Heads is the fifth album by the jazz musician Bob James, released in October 1977. It was his first album released on his newly formed Tappan Zee label, which was distributed by Columbia Records. All of his Tappan Zee albums are distributed by E1 Music. The album reached number one on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
Uhuru Afrika is an album by American jazz pianist Randy Weston recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Roulette label. The album features lyrics and liner notes by the poet Langston Hughes and was banned in South Africa in 1964, at the same time as was Lena Horne's Here's Lena Now!, with copies of the albums being seized in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Extension is the third album by composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer, and his first for big band, recorded and released in 1963 on the Pacific Jazz label, reissued on CD in 2002 as America the Beautiful, and, under its original name, in 2012.
Zongo Junction was a nine-piece instrumental Afrobeat band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band was formed in 2010. The members of Zongo Junction stretch the Afrobeat style to fit their musical interests, combining elements of Sun Ra, Talking Heads, and Fela Kuti to create their own version of afrobeat. Zongo Junction released their five-song debut EP Thieves! in 2010.
Gerry Mulligan '63 is an album recorded by American jazz saxophonist and bandleader Gerry Mulligan featuring performances recorded in late 1962 which were released on the Verve label.
