Your Top 5 Sax Players?


Ok jazz heads I know there are tons of Tenor and Alto players out there that can impress you on any given day, but who would qualify to be on your ALLTIME great list of five? I know it is hard to limit it to just five, but that is just to make you think a little harder on who really gets to your heart and soul the most. Some guys had very short careers and others had very long ones with many great recordings of exceptional merit. Some were better live and others were better in the studio, but what we want to know is who could REALLY play? Here are my five.

1. Stan Getz
2. Sony Rollins
3. John Cotrane
4. Sonny Stitt
5. Ben Webster
eddinanm3
cannonbal adderly....eddie harris......junior walker....charles lloyd.....roland kirk
I think that Charlie Parker and Lester Young would have to be on the list. I agree that Coltrane belongs on the list as well. Other candidates would include:

Ben Webster
Stan Getz
Coleman Hawkins
Johnny Hodges
Sonny Rollins
Hank Mobley
Ornette Coleman
Cannonball Adderley
Dexter Gordon
Wayne Shorter
Sonny Stitt

Of course, if you limit your list to five or ten, there are a lot of great sax players who would not make the cut, including Chu Berry, Teddy Edwards, Wardell Gray, Ike Quebec, Don Byas, Harry Carney, Sidney Bichet, Steve Lacy, Paul Desmond, Booker Ervin, Gerry Mulligan, Serge Chaloff, Warne Marsh, Eric Dolphy, Pepper Adams, Roland Kirk, Cecil Taylor, Albert Aylor, Al Cohn, Flip Phillips, Zoot Sims, Johnny Griffin, Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Sonny Criss, Arnett Cobb, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Giuffre, Sam Rivers...
If we talk about "favorites", then my list includes Joe Henderson, John Stubblefield, John Handy, Lee Konitz, and Gary Bartz.
John Coltrane
Albert Ayler
Tim Berne
David S. Ware
Peter Brotzmann

The list could go on and on, but if I had to pick 5 then it would be these guys.