Solo Sax

[brownie]

There is a 65-minute solo by Jimmy Lyons in the Jimmy Lyons 5CD box released by Ayler. Disc 3. Very impressive!

[Joe]

Uhhh, Julius Hemphill, anybody?

BLUE BOYE and ROI BOYE AND THE GOTHAM MINSTRELS have both made it to compact disc.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Ned Rothenberg's "The Crux"

[Late]

Joe — I completely neglected Hemphill in my comments above, and shouldn't have, because I always list Blue Boyé as one of my desert island recordings! I guess I do tend to think of this session as not strictly "solo" saxophone (even though it certainly has its "solo" passages), but no need to split hairs. It's wonderful, was recorded by only one person, and there happens to be some overdubbing. I used to be prejudiced against the use of overdubbing (a crazy bias) ... and then I heard this session and finally changed my mind (or, rather, my ears finally opened up).

A huge thumbs-up for Blue Boyé. I'd go so far as to say that this recording is an essential, if not indispensable, chapter in improvised music — a "must-hear." I have the Gotham Minstrels set, but haven't listened to it enough to be able to endorse it one way or another.

[Nate Dorward]

I was a little surprised to see Sonny Rollins' Solo Album pop up here--I've not heard it but I've rarely heard anyone say it was that good. The classic Rollins solo stuff I know is the one-off tracks on otherwise full-group albums. There's examples on his Verve disc (I forget the title--Sonny Plus Brass or something)--a reading of "Body & Soul". & one on The Sound of Sonny.

Lee Konitz has a few solo discs. Lone-Lee is pretty remarkable, as it's very long essays on just "Cherokee" & "The Song Is You"--one of them 40 minutes long (in the unedited form on the CD reissue). There's one called Unaccompanied in Yokohama which I haven't heard. There's also Self-Portrait on Philology, which is a mix of solo stuff & overdubbed pieces. The overdubbed pieces are a bit of a mixed bag & could have been produced with more intelligence by Philology (start with the volume VERY low, as they don't EQ it with each successive layer: this means that by the time it's 4 layers of sax it's 4 times as loud!). But it has a 15-minute "Self-Portrait in Blues" which is one of my favourite Konitz tracks on record.

Did Dolphy ever record any other unaccompanied alto solos than "Tenderly"? Everything else I've heard has been bass clarinet (the "God Bless the Child" features).

Yeah Evan Parker, McPhee, Braxton, Lacy are the champs among living players. David Murray has also recorded solo discs though I haven't heard them. John Butcher is another player working the free end of the spectrum you should know. I gather Fixations is the one to plump for though actually I haven't heard it (I have 13 Friendly Numbers & Invisible Ear both of which I'd recommend too, though the latter is fairly extreme stuff, using amplified sax). The adventurous might also enjoy Berlin Reeds, on Absinth, which is mostly pretty extreme stuff, by 4 different German players, though the Rudi Mahall segment is straightforward free jazz.

I recall that Joe Lovano released a solo disc, not on a regular label but as part of an instructional CD/book set. I don't have it. He also has one or two solo tracks on Rush Hour.

Joe Henderson did "Lush Life" of course on the album of that title.

Charlie Parker recorded, very early on, one solo piece (I think it was 1940-41). It's in rough shape but it survives--I have it on a Stash compilation of rare Bird records.

[David Williams]

McPhee and Braxton, I haven't got round to yet, but love Evan Parker's Monoceros and Six Of One. The Monoceros reissue is officially OOP now, so anyone who wants it better hunt it down soon.

I've been finding Mats Gustafsson's Impropositions compelling listening - I can't imagine solo sax (and fluteophone) gets much more uncompromising than this - anyone else heard, and enjoy, this album? With no melody, harmony or rhythm (in the usual sense), it's the pur sound and process that attracts, and the sense of the sax as a barely-controllable machine. Evan Parker's notion of the sound being released from the instrument applies too.

Edited November 18, 2003 by David Williams

[J.A.W.]

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

I've been listening to this one as well, and, apart from the "Tarots" reference which I don't care for at all, this is a great solo session, which I'd recommend to those even remotely interested in avant / improv

[BeBop]

Does Archie Shepp have a solo recording? Seems like it would be a natural for him; he plays so well in duo settings. I know it doesn't naturally follow that one who plays in duo settings is necessarily adept in a group half that size, but Shepp seems to have the independence and rhythmic foundation to carry on solo.