Welcome to the New 12th Gate!
Tonight, I want to focus a bit on “Cool Jazz.” Of course, the instrument most suited to this genre is the saxophone. I learned to play the tenor saxophone starting in 5th grade band class. I played all through high school and some in college and every once in a while, I would play pickup jobs later in life. My first jazz improvisation was with my 6th grade friends, a group we called the 7 Saints (?!?!). We did a concert with seven tunes – each of us took a solo on one. My solo was on Tequila where I threw in a B flat seventh at the end of my part of the piece rather than holding the C note. Later, I bought an alto which supposedly gave me a little bit of flexibility, but tenor was my “heart and soul.”
So tonight, we bring to our stage four greats – each with their own sax – there are more than four, but these are the ones most often used. All of these artist have left us now, but their music stays with us. Enjoy!
Stan Getz Quartet – Desafinado, Girl from Ipanema
Our first group comes from the mid 80s and includes Stan Getz (1927-1991), Jim McNeely, Marc Johnson and Victor Lewis. Getz plays a B Flat tenor saxophone.
We move a fifth lower in range and bring to the stage master of the baritone sax, Gerry Mulligan, (1927-1996) playing tis 1987 version of Satin Doll. This group includes Gerry Mulligan (bs), Bill Mays (p), Dean Johnson (b), and Butch Miles (dr)
Paul Desmond (1924-1977) wrote Take Five with Dave Brubeck. This performance comes from 1972. Desmond, of course played Alto.
This final clip features Grover Washington, Jr.(1943-1999) in the 1981 version of Come Morning played on the soprano saxophone. Washington is joined in this gig in Philly by Richard Tee(key), Ralph MacDonald(perc), Paul Griffin(synth), Eric Gale(g), Anthony Jackson(b), and Steve Gadd(ds)
Just a note – the saxophone was originally patented as a group of 14 instruments in two families. The orchestral family consisted of instruments in the keys of C and F, and the military band family in E♭ and B♭. Each family consisted of sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and contrabass instruments, alternating in transposition. While all seven members of the military band family are still relatively common, the orchestral group was less successful; The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax –
See Wiki on the Saxophone
