Category Archives: Alto Sax

Arthur Blythe – Carespin’ With Mamie (1980)

by

0

From the album Illusions by Arthur Blythe, recorded at CBS Recording Studios, New York , 1980.

It is surprising how artistically productive altoist Arthur Blythe was during his period on Columbia. Despite the hype and Columbia’s reputation for pressuring artists to play mass-appeal music, Blythe´s recordings for that label are inventive and creative. For this, his third Columbia release, Blythe uses two different groups: an “in the tradition” quartet with pianist John Hicks, bassist Fred Hopkins, and drummer Steve McCall, and a more eccentric unit with guitarist James Blood Ulmer, cellist Abdul Wadud, tuba player Bob Stewart, and drummer Bobby Battle. No matter the setting, the distinctive alto of Blythe is heard in top form on six of his unusual originals. It’s recommended. [source]

Bob Stewart - Tuba
James Blood Ulmer - Electric Guitar
Bobby Battle - Drums
Arthur Blythe - Alto Saxophone
Abdul Wadud - Cello

R-1804200-1244396772

Ornette Coleman – All My Life (1971)

by

0

All My Life is from Ornette Colemans album Science Fiction, recorded in 1971 and released in 1972 on Columbia Records.

Science Fiction was Ornette Colemans creative rebirth, a stunningly inventive and appropriately alien-sounding blast of manic energy. Coleman pulls out all the stops, working with a variety of different lineups and cramming the record full of fresh ideas and memorable themes. Bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Billy Higgins and/or Ed Blackwell are absolutely indispensable to the overall effect, playing with a frightening, whirlwind intensity throughout. The catchiest numbers — including two songs with Indian vocalist Asha Puthli, which sound like pop hits from an alternate universe — have spacy, long-toned melodies that are knocked out of orbit by the rhythm section’s churning chaos, which often creates a totally different pulse. [source]

Ornette Coleman - Alto Saxophone  / Charlie Haden - Bass / Billy Higgins - Drums  /                     Ed Blackwell – Drums / Dewey Redman - Tenor Saxophone /                                                   Carmon Fornarotto - Trumpet / Gerard Schwarg – Trumpet / Asha Puthli - Vocals

 

R-1272734-1355952195-2798

Mal Waldron with Eric Dolphy – Warm Canto (1961)

by

0

Recorded 27 June 1961. From the album The Quest.

The Quest is an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron recorded in 1961 and released on the New Jazz label. Some reissues of the album appear under Eric Dolphy´s name. [source]

Joe Benjamin – Bass
Ron Carter – Cello
Eric Dolphy - Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
Charlie Persip – Drums
Mal Waldron – Piano

 

R-4134181-1356444297-1650

 

The Ornette Coleman Quartet – Embraceable You (1960)

by

0

Embraceable You is the only track on the album This Is Our Music which is not written by Ornette Coleman.

This Is Our Music is the fifth album by saxophonist Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960 and released on Atlantic Records in 1961, his third for the label. It is the first with drummer Ed Blackwell replacing his predecessor Billy Higgins in the Coleman Quartet, and is the only Atlantic album by Coleman to include a standard, in this case a version of “Embraceable You” by George and Ira Gershwin. Two recording sessions for the album took place in July and one in August of 1960 at Atlantic Studios in New York City. The seven selections for this album were culled from 23 masters recorded over the three sessions. The 16 outtakes from the two July sessions would later appear on the 1970s compilations The Art of the Improvisers, Twins and To Whom Who Keeps A Record, along with the 1993 box set Beauty Is A Rare Thing, named for a track on this album. [source]

Ornette Coleman – Alto Saxophone
Charlie Haden – Bass
Ed Blackwell – Drums
Con Cherry – Pocket Trumpet

 

url-11

Kaoru Abe – Improvisation, Vol.1 (1972)

by

0

Improvisation, Vol.1 is from the album Winter 1972, by Kaoru Abe, released in 1974 on Sound Works Records.

Kaoru Abe (阿部 薫 Abe Kaoru, May 5, 1949 – September 9, 1978) was an influential Japanese avant-garde alto saxophonist, who is often regarded as having the greatest abrasive saxophone sound. Self-taught at a young age, Abe performed with notables such as Motoharu Yoshizawa, Takehisa Kosugi, Yosuke Yamashita, Derek Bailey and Milford Graves, although he generally performed solo. He was married to the author Izumi Suzuki, and a cousin to singer Kyu Sakamoto. He also appeared in the film Endless Waltz by Kōji Wakamatsu.. [source]

To some listeners, this avant-garde Japanese player from the ’70s wins the sweepstakes for the most abrasive saxophone sound in history, an important competition indeed in this genre. With some saxophonists claiming their tone can remove coats of varnish from antiques, cook a 20-pound goose in one hour, or even wound a small rodent at 200 feet, there is no denying the impact of Kaoru Abe on alto sax; and on clarinet, he hardly harbored ambitions to be the new Artie Shaw. source

Kaoru Abe (阿部 薫)  - Alto Saxophone

 

R-842512-1231894489