Your favorite TENOR player on the scene today

[Rooster_Ties]

Has anyone mentioned Mark Shim? Saw him live two years ago, and have one of his Blue Notes - nice lean tone, a guy to watch, but I haven't heard much about him since.

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Here's a previous thread that might be of some interest: forget 'Waldo'... ---> where's Mark Shim????

If he was recording more these days (or even had recorded more over the years), I'd probably rank him pretty high up on my list of favorite tenor players under 50.

Edited November 9, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[Guest]

Tim Berne, Chris Potter.

[gnhrtg]

Mark Shim also plays on Steve Lehman's Artificial Light (Fresh Sound New Talent). I would recommend this disc, only it is a little odd - in part heavy on composed material and generous, and for me undue, solo space given to the vibes player. I find it a joy to hear Lehman, who sound a little more, perhaps too, comfortable, or Shim solo and trade. Unfortunately, this does not happen much, relatively speaking.

[jlhoots]

Mark Shim also plays on Steve Lehman's Artificial Light (Fresh Sound New Talent). I would recommend this disc, only it is a little odd - in part heavy on composed material and generous, and for me undue, solo space given to the vibes player. I find it a joy to hear Lehman, who sound a little more, perhaps too, comfortable, or Shim solo and trade. Unfortunately, this does not happen much, relatively speaking.

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I like this CD more than you do.

[mailman]

Mark Shim also plays on Steve Lehman's Artificial Light (Fresh Sound New Talent). I would recommend this disc, only it is a little odd - in part heavy on composed material and generous, and for me undue, solo space given to the vibes player. I find it a joy to hear Lehman, who sound a little more, perhaps too, comfortable, or Shim solo and trade. Unfortunately, this does not happen much, relatively speaking.

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I like this CD more than you do.

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Mark Turner

[Guest]

Looks like nobody mentioned Bill Evans, born 1958? Surprising.

I suppose "waiting for the next (insert big name here)" is an inherently foolish endeavor. I don't think any scientist is waiting for the next Newton to show up. The discoveries he made can't be discovered again.

Ranking is also beside the point. Playing favorites is different and a good thing, as it gives insight into the tastes of the commentator.

Edited November 13, 2005 by shadowhillway

[md655321]

Chuck, who are some tenor players of the current crop (I guess for this thread, being born in the '50s or later) that you like? Just curious...

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Me too. Chuck -- anybody you like on tenor who's under 50??

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I'm still interested in hearing a response.

[montg]

I like Don Braden's playing. He has a good CD, the New Hang, released fairly recently on HighNote.

And Walt Weiskopf is outstanding--way, way underrated.

There isn't the 'patronage' from the record labels that there once was (Blue Note; Prestige)--the willingness or financial ability of a label to develop an artist seems to be largely absent. I don't think there's a shortage of talent, just a shortage of brains and soul in the music industry (the major labels in particular).

Marcus Strickland is somebody else who always sounds good to me.

Edited November 17, 2005 by montg

[mikeweil]

Forgot to mention I found this guy inspired whenever I encountered him, especially on Andrew Hill's or Russell Gunn's records:

[relyles]

Tardy is a very talented musician. I believe he also has a new recording available on SteepleChase.

[mikeweil]

Here 't is:

[Rooster_Ties]

Damn, I see Helen Sung is on that record (Tardy's latest on SteepleChase).

Saw her here in KC in Tardy's group - and she was on fire!! Gotta get me that one, for sure!!

[Larry Kart]

Nudged by a friend who has fearsomely impeccable taste, I've been catching up on Grant Stewart lately -- his own quartet album "Buen Rollo" on Fresh Sound and Ryan Kisor's "This Is Ryan" on the Japanese label Video Arts, which for some strange reason has become a Ryan Kisor factory lately, cranking out no less than seven Kisor albums, counting this one. (My friend says that the other Kisor-Video Arts that includes Stewart, "Night In Tunisia," should be avoided, but that Kisor's Criss Cross with Stewart is a good one.)

In any case, what makes Stewart interesting in this retro world is that he is a good deal more retro than most but somehow doesn't sound that way in terms of spirit, freshness, etc. That is, stylistically, he sounds like he's never heard a note of Coltrane or Shorter (which is quite a trick, however one does that); instead he springs from pre-"Bridge" Rollins and, above all, Mobley. At times I also hear a touch of Wardell Gray or even the circa 1957 tenor playing of Ira Sullivan -- see the Red Rodney album "The Red Arrow," originally on Signal. I know -- to be this retro in this way and also be real and really good ought to be impossible, but Stewart (unlike so many of the compadres IMO) sounds like he's zestfully making genuine choices in the moment, not shuffling through a computer program of Dexter Gordon licks or throwing around a big warm sound as though that alone ought to be enough. (Compare, in that regard, Stewart's "Something To Live For" from "Buen Rollo" and Ari Ambrose's "Something To Live For" from "Introducing Ari Ambrose" [steeple Chase].) I'm waiting for the bottom to drop out here but so far am surprised and happy.

[Д.Д.]

John Butcher

[marcello]

Larry,

Grant Stewart is a comer.

He will be featured ( with Joe Locke ) on a release led by guitarist Bob Sneider called Film Noir on Sons of Sounds( that's retro for ya!); A producers idea. There will a second one recorded in January.

Stewart has been very, very active in the NYC scene, working hard and paying dues.

It's amusing to me to see Don Braden's name mentioned here. Not exactly new or, to me, advanced ( or at least advancing! ).

Strickland and Weiskopf I like a lot.

My preferences still lie in Tommy Smith and Tim Garland, both who have made exceptional recordings this year that are high water marks for tenor players.

Not a retro bone in their bodies.

[makpjazz57]

I've enjoyed Wayne Escoffery the few times I've heard him live (with bassist Lonnie Plaxico and also with the Mingus Big Band).

Marla

[Tom in RI]

I like Chris's, Potter, Cheek, Speed. Seamus Blake. Mark Turner.

I really enjoy a disc by Robert Stewart on Qwest called The Force, produced by Quincy Jones (I think he also was involved in Sonny Simmons Qwest release, were all Qwest releases produced by Quincy Jones?). Stewart has, at least on this disc, a little Pharoah Sanders influence. Other recordings I have picked up bty Stewart have not grabbed me the way The Force does.

[Larry Kart]

A warning P.S. to my plug for Grant Stewart. Listened today to the first two tracks of his new Criss Cross, "Grant Stewart + Four," and was dismayed by the high percentage of near-undigested Rollins-isms, including some of Sonny's most personal gestures. To some, this might not be a problem; to me, it's near unbearable. By contrast, Stewart's playing on Ryan Kisor's "Awakening", rec. 2002, is at once more Mobley-inspired and, again IMO, much more personal -- perhaps because Hank's style(s) was/were so inherently open that perhaps no one could realize all the implications.

[relyles]

I have enjoyed reading this thread so far. I was giving it some thought this afternoon and it came to me that in my own experience with a few exceptions I have a difficult time distinguishing between most of the saxophonists that would qualify for consideration under this thread based solely on their playing of the saxophone. Admittedly, that is partly because I have not spent the time to listen to many of contemporary saxophonists in depth such that they would be come readilt identifiable to me simply by hearing their playing in whatever context. However, I still think most younger contemporary saxophonists have similar sounds and have yet to develop original voices. As a result, I think I have formed my own preferences based instead on the contexts in which I have heard them. I spend more time paying attention to compositional approaches, the overall sound of the music and their relationships to other preferred musicians than I necessarily do listening to the saxophonists' individual playing. I realize that this is probably a result of my own listening habits (i.e. these days I rarely have opportunities for critical listening), but it is a thought I felt compelled to share.

[mikeweil]

I feel much the same way .... couldn't say it better

[Elissa]

I like Jay Collins on tenor: kinda Pharoah and Sonny meet Hawk. A la Rahsaan however, he plays a mess of flutes simultaneously. Jay sings these days too, with a Dr. John meets Dylan and Stevie feel. He's played and recorded with Andrew Hill, Ben Riley, Kenny Barron, Leroy Vinnegar, Jacky Terrason... tours with Greg Allman at the moment, but has a terribly in-the-pocket latin band as well called Mambo Macoco, started in 1994ish with Bobby Vidal, the original New Yorican. Used to have Dennis Charles in his band.

[montg]

Any opinions on Grant Stewart's recent recording on Criss Cross with Eric ALexander? Haven't heard it but I'm curious.

[jlhoots]

Any opinions on Grant Stewart's recent recording on Criss Cross with Eric ALexander? Haven't heard it but I'm curious.

I have it. I think it's fine.

Great rhythm section too.

[relyles]

I was reminded yesterday while listening to a Gonzalo Rubacalba performance that at times I find David Sanchez to be a very exciting tenor saxophonist to listen to.

[lkaven]

Most of the players mentioned in this thread came through Smalls some of the time, and at one time or another I've heard spectacular music from all of them. As overall artists, I'm not sure I know of anyone who excites me in the same way as--for example--Eric Dolphy did/does. And that is an interesting comparison. Because my love for Dolphy as an artist was in a combination of musical genius and poetic force. He had something to say. And the musical resources that today's artists avail themselves of have nothing over him. He's still more hip and more modern than they are. And oddly enough, I scarcely know any horn players who listen to him now and understand him. Similarly, I know almost none with anything to say.

Some of the best modern horn playing that I've heard was a product of an inspired group setting. The next subject of my label will be early recordings I made of the Omer Avital Sextet at Smalls. I think the saxophonists in this group did some of their best work in it. The early group had Mark Turner, Greg Tardy, Myron Walden, and Charles Owens in it. Over its first two years, it also featured Joel Frahm, Grant Stewart, and Jimmy Greene rotating through the saxophone line. Omer is a strong leader, and the episodic nature of his music cast his sidemen as the dramatis personae. Mark Turner was a real catalyst when he was in the band.

I would vote Chris Byars as being most like Frank Hewitt in being potentially misunderstood and vastly underrated. He was Hewitt's saxophonist and appears on Four Hundred Saturdays. His own material (and w/ Across 7 Street) is unbelievably challenging. Grant Stewart calls him "the smartest tenor player in New York". He's the only one I know who can play brilliant music over the hardest changes in the world at ~400 beats per minute. [Come to think of it, there's an MP3 on the Smalls Records site of Across 7 Street playing Ari Roland's "One For D.T.", a very fast through-composed tune, the sheet music for which is also on my site. That's the kind of solo I'm talking about. Virtually nobody makes that much effortless sense on THOSE kind of changes at THAT speed.] He's chronically underestimated by people who can't hear his tricky moves, and you can spend a long time puzzling over his resolutions. Superficially, it sounds like something else, so you have to give up the belief that you know best when you listen to it. I've listened to some of his solos hundreds of times, and they are about the only solos that stand up about as well as Frank Hewitt's. He really understood Frank, and vice-versa. [One of the only other horn players (on any horn) I would put in the same league is trombonist John Mosca.] I think Ira Gitler agreed with me. He voted Across 7 Street / Made In New York the #1 Album Of 2005 in Jazz Times, and almost nobody in the world caught a single lick off that record, and those who did didn't understand it. So the next generation of Frank Hewitts are already lined up.

Next on my underrated list is Zaid Nasser, who is technically an alto player, but really swings on tenor as well. You might recognize him as Jamil Nasser's son. He's one of my favorite after C Sharpe. If you don't know any better, it sounds like he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. Don't believe it. It's a trap. Also one of Hewitt's regulars.

I'm very impressed by Joel Frahm's playing in the last couple of years. I think he's come into his own as an artist, and his playing is often very much worth hearing. Aside from recordings I made of him with Omer Avital, I'd like to get some of his new work.

Luke "been down in the basement so long, it looks like the penthouse to me" Kaven