The most distinctive players in jazz
Who are those jazz who have a tone or sound that is immediately recognizable.
To borrow from the cinema term for a legendary director, I'd call these players jazz "auteurs". Like Cinematic icons Bergman, Kurosawa, Scorcese or Hitchcock who had or have a distinctive look, these jazz musicians have a distinctive sound or tone in their playing.
For me there are several that come to mind. I can identify them just by sound.
ReplyDeleteOrnette Coleman
John Coltrane
Jackie McLean
Horace Parlan
Freddie Hubbard
I'll take a very narrow time span, 1958-62, three instruments, trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax and five players, on each instrument, who produced recordings in this period that I wouldn't want to live without:
ReplyDeleteTrumpet: Miles Davis; Kenny Dorham; Lee Morgan; Chet Baker; Howard McGhee.
Alto Sax: Jackie McLean; Art Pepper; Johnny Hodges; Ornette Coleman; Lee Konitz.
Tenor Sax: Coleman Hawkins; Ben Webster; Sonny Rollins; John Coltrane; Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz (OK I know that's six!)
I'm pretty certain, if given who the five were in each case, I, and probably many others, could identify them in a blindfold test because each had their own signatures of phrasing and, particularly tone – an identifiable 'sound'.
I should have mentioned Lee Konitz and Dexter Gordon - two really identifiable players. IMHO, Dexter has the prototypical heavy tenor sound.
DeleteHank Mobley...
DeleteThe angular notes of Thelonious Monk
ReplyDeleteYes, Monk stands out. Earl Hines, Bud Powell, Cecil Taylor, Horace Silver?
DeleteDef Silver, together with the others already mentioned. I'd also add Joe Pass and Django Reinhardt to the list.
DeleteSilver - as mentioned: JR Monterose. instantaneously recognizable for me; Mobley in his early round sound period; McGhee, especially 1940s-early 1950s; Brubeck and Desmond; Cannonball, those swooping passages reminiscent of Benny Carter's attack; Trane - sheets of sound esp.; Getz, pre-bossa nova. Its hard for me to distinguish contemporary guitarists based on sound.
ReplyDeleteOtis check out Orhan Demir a turkish canadian based guitarist his voicing is fabulous w a orient flavor , on trumpet TStanko stands high w his woody tone & voicing and why not call Bill
ReplyDeleteThanks jazzcatflyk - will do. Israbox has a couple of his releases. One can find music in the most unusual places. I was in a club in Tbilisi, Georgia a few years ago
DeleteI overlooked Jackie McLean - from the first few notes in Lights Out, he had me hooked and I can never forget his fervid attack on sax.
DeleteOtis Foster: I always felt that Jackie had the most distinctive jazz horn sound with Coltrane. I can hear their tone from a 1000 miles away.
DeleteOn piano: Mal Waldron and his repetitive and hypnotic figures; Eddie Costa and his work in the lower registers; Hank Jones (and by extension, other Detroit pianists like Barry Harris) for his pearly lustrous sound, enhanced by his use of the piano pedal
DeleteFlip Phillips. tenor sax.
ReplyDelete