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Solo Sax


Guest Chaney

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I've just received (but haven't yet listened to) Sonny Simmons "Solo: Out Into The Andromeda" and Anthony Braxton "Solo (NYC) 2002" - both on parallactic.

I've been listening to and enjoying IMMENSELY Gianni Gebbia's "Arcana Major / Sonic Tarots Session" on Rastascan.

I'm wondering if you folks can offer any recommendations as to other solo sax offerings? - or ANY solo works, if you like. Any favorites?

Thanks!

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Beyond Braxton and Lacy (more solo recordings than I can digest and be coherent)my favorites remain Evan Parker's Monoceros (direct to disc lp) and the "live" solo portions of Roscoe's Nonaah on my label. Don't know if the Parker is on cd and to my shame, Roscoe's is not. In another thread I sang the praises of RM's Sound Songs, and repeat that recommendation here.

I'm sure I'll think of others later.........

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Haven't heard the Monoceros disc Chuck mentioned, though it consistently gets the praises. His more recent LINES BURNT IN LIGHT is quite enjoyable, as is SIX OF ONE. Both are readily available.

I am loopy about Joe McPhee's AS SERIOUS AS YOUR LIFE. FOR ALTO is a common favorite of Braxton's, but if you can find a copy of WESLEYAN (12 ALTOSOLOS), jump!

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Monoceros is out on disc, through the Chronoscope label. Damn, that's your favorite Chuck? I certainly like it, but ... whooee. Some of the most intense saxophone playing ever, I'd say. Ear-shredding and transcendental all at the same time. Not for the timid, and even for the adventurous I'd say that it requires the utmost attention to "hear" what Parker's going after. To illuminate: it can fuck a person up.

I haven't heard McPhee's As Serious as Your Life, but I'm a big fan of Tenor & Fallen Angels. This was my entry into McPhee's musical world, and I've been continually rewarded ever since.

I personally think there should be a listening mandate when it comes to checking out the unaccompanied saxophone: Coleman Hawkins' recording of his self-penned "Picasso." This, I believe, is where the "solo" saxophone begins. Recorded when Charlie Parker was still a teenager, I'd say that this is some of the most essential music in the saxophone canon. Hawk's solo is just gorgeous, and, at least for me, truly beyond description. The best sounding version that I know of is on the two-disc The Jazz Scene, which Verve put some time ago. Pour a glass of red, dim the lights, sit back, and put that puppy on repeat. Changes, with no changes-playing instrument behind him, come pouring out of the tenor's bell.

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Yeah, "Picasso", made for Norman Granz on 1948 (or was it 1949?) was a turning point. One of my favorite solo sax ever!

Before this recording, Hawk made a previous attempt called "Hawk´s variations, part 1&2". You can find it in the Ocium release "The Hollywood sessions". Recording date is discussed: 1945 or 1947.

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jmpt.jpg

McPhee-AsSeriousAsYourLife.jpg

i agree with the previous recommendations for these two by Joe McPhee , I bought Tenor a few months ago & instantly wanted more.

You may also want to give Furniture music by Ken Vandermark a go also - its inspired by the works of Mcphee & Evan Parker.

Edited by Gary
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Ive been on the verge of buying 'For Alto' for the last couple of months now . it looks like its worth taking the plunge.

Theres a big gap in the 'BRAX' section of my collection thats beckoning me to fill it - For Alto sounds like a good place to start.

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Ive been on the verge of buying 'For Alto' for the last couple of months now . it looks like its worth taking the plunge.

Theres a big gap in the 'BRAX' section of my collection thats beckoning me to fill it - For Alto sounds like a good place to start.

Some of it's very intense, but definitely worth checking out.

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Here are three — actually my favorite, in order — solo Lacy recommendations:

Remains.JPG

Remains; 1991: hatART

Actuality.JPG

Actuality; 1995: Cavity Search; recorded live at The Old Church, Portland, Oregon

Clinkers.JPG

Clinkers; 1979: hatOLOGY (This is the original vinyl cover; I only have the compact disc.)

I like Braxton's For Alto, but it's actually not a disc I return to with any frequency. While the recording does pay its fair share of dividends, it also seems to require a fair amount, and sometimes large amount, of patience on the listener's behalf.

While not solo saxophone, though one of my favorite solo recitals ever, and one that I always recommend to fans of "free improvisation" music, is Peter Kowald's Was Da Ist on FMP. Amazing.

Edited by Late
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No one has the Rivers or (I hardly dare thinking this!) no one LIKES it?

ubu

I'm a Rivers fan, but vocalizing gives me the creeps, so...

A few months ago I tried to get rid of Urs Leimgruber's hatOLOGY CD No Try No Fail because of Joëlle Léandre's (admittedly short) vocalizing on one track, but fortunately Tony ("Chaney") talked me into keeping it, since the rest of album is great. Her vocalizing still turns my stomach, though...

Edited by J.A.W.
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Did you ever hear bluesman Tampa Red's late 1930s Bluebird recordings where he's "kazoo-ing" so abundantly? I did, and I almost lost the will to live...

:g

Can't say that I've had the... ( :wacko: ) pleasure.

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While not solo saxophone, though one of my favorite solo recitals ever, and one that I always recommend to fans of "free improvisation" music, is Peter Kowald's Was Da Ist on FMP. Amazing.

I also love this Kowald CD.

As long as we are taking a tangent into solo bass, I also like Eberhard Weber's "Pendulum" on ECM.

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