Results for "saxophone, alto"

David Caceres

Born: July 24, 1967

Popular music has known many "double threats". The ability to both play and sing has positioned numerous jazz artists for stardom, going back to Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller, on through Nat King Cole, Chet Baker, George Benson, and more current examples such as Harry Connick, Jr., Jamie Cullum, and Esperanza Spalding. However, Houston-based vocalist/saxophonist David Caceres offers a rare combination: a soulful, emotive voice with the potential to connect with a varied adult audience and the skills as an alto saxophonist to go toe-to-toe with the best players of his generation. Indeed, Caceres's raw talent and natural charisma make him a sure bet to cross boundaries and unify audiences

Alan Barnes

Born: July 23, 1959

Alan Barnes is a prolific international performer, composer, arranger, bandleader and touring soloist.  He is best known for his work on clarinet, alto and baritone sax, where he combines a formidable virtuosity with a musical expression and collaborative spirit that have few peers.

His range and brilliance have made him a “first call” for studio and live work since his precocious arrival on the scene more than thirty years ago.

His recorded catalogue is immense.  He has made over thirty albums as leader and co-leader alone, and the list of his session and side-man work includes Bjork, Bryan Ferry, Michel LeGrande, Clare Teale, Westlife, Jools Holland and Jamie Cullum. He has toured and played residencies with such diverse and demanding figures as Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache, Ken Peplowski, Harry Allen and Conte Candoli.

John Zorn

Born: September 2, 1953

Drawing upon his experience in classical, jazz, rock, hardcore punk, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular, world and improvised music, John Zorn has created a controversial and influential body of work that often defies academic categories. He has earned great respect within his own community and beyond by going his own way without compromise, developing a large network of supporters world wide, often in unexpected places.

Born in 1953 and raised in New York City, Zorn has been a central figure in the Downtown Scene since 1975, incorporating a wide variety of creative musicians into various compositional formats. He is an indefatigable worker and highly prolific: he has composed over 120 works for classical ensembles including 8 string quartets, vocal music, chamber music, concerti, operas, symphonic and dance works, improvisational game pieces, studio based compositions, and has released over 150 cds under his own name, 99% of which are on his own Tzadik label.

Steve Wilson

Born: March 9, 1961

Steve Wilson has attained ubiquitous status in the studio and on the stage with the greatest names in jazz. A bandleader in his own right, Jazz Times calls him the consummate saxophonist-composer and one of the finest alto and soprano saxophonists of our time. A musicians musician, Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings led by such celebrated and wide-ranging artists as Chick Corea, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Bill Bruford, Gerald Wilson, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, Charlie Byrd, Billy Childs, Karrin Allyson, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller among many others

Bobby Watson

Born: August 23, 1953

A saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator, Bobby Watson grew up in Kansas City, Kan. He trained formally at the University of Miami, a school with a distinguished and well-respected jazz program. After graduating, he proceeded to earn his "doctorate" – on the bandstand – as musical director of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The group, created in 1955 by late legendary drummer who died in 1990, showcased a rotating cast of players, many who, like Watson, would go on to have substantial careers as bandleaders in their own right. The Jazz Messengers – frequently referred to as the "University of Blakey" – served as the ultimate "postgraduate school" for ambitious young players. After completing a four-year-plus Jazz Messengers tenure (1977-1981) that incorporated more than a dozen recordings – the most of any of the great Jazz Messengers, the gifted Watson became a much-sought after musician, working along the way with a potpourri of notable artists – peers, elder statesmen and colleagues all — including, but not limited to: drummers Max Roach and Louis Hayes, fellow saxophonists George Coleman and a younger Branford Marsalis, celebrated multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (who joined the Jazz Messengers at least in part at the suggestion of Watson)

Sadao Watanabe

Born: March 1, 1933

Born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1933. Moved to Tokyo after graduating high-school. In 1962, moved to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music after participating in many band sessions as a alto saxophone player. Representing as a top Japanese musician, also know as a talented photographer, publishes six picture books. As an Executive Producer of the Japanese Government Exhibition Project for the 2005 in Japan, advocates the message "World Peace" through music.

Carlos Ward

Born: May 1, 1940

Carlos Ward (born in Ancón, Panama) is a jazz alto saxophonist and flautist. He is best known as a sideman. His first instrument was the clarinet at age 13 when he lived in Seattle, Washington. Later he attended the Navy School of Music and worked with Albert Mangelsdorff when he was stationed in Germany. His first major effort was his work with John Coltrane in the period 1965-66, although not appearing on any records. He had long-lasting association with Don Cherry: from The Third World (also with Abdullah Ibrahim) through his appearance as featured soloist on the 1973 recording of Cherry's Relativity Suite to the band Nu during the 1980s and beyond. His duet association with pianist Abdullah Ibrahim has also been significant to his career

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

Born: December 18, 1917

From the days in the mid-1930s when he was a teenaged singer and saxophonist in the Houston band of Chester Boone, Cleanhead had his own way with the blues. He was good enough as a young man to tour with blues artists Big Bill Broonzy and Lil Green and then to join trumpeter Cootie Williams’s band. In the Forties he infused his alto with bebop and led his own big band and a sextet that included John Coltrane, who was influenced by Vinson’s expansive style. His “Cherry Red” with Williams made him popular for a while, but it wasn’t until Cannonball Adderley created new exposure for Vinson in the early Sixties that he began to be noticed again by large numbers of people

Justin Robinson

Born: August 14, 1968

Alto saxophonist Justin Robinson was born August 14, 1968, in Manhattan. He first picked up a horn at the age of 13, and honed his sound while attending the High School of Music and Arts (LaGuardia High School) in New York. Robinson developed a passion for the alto sax and, from the influences of Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean, crafted his own distinctive sound. Robinson has collaborated with eminent artists such as the Harper Brothers, Cecil Brooks III, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Ross, Little Jimmy Scott, and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, and most recently, The Roy Hargrove Big Band in addition to the Roy Hargrove Quintet. Justin Robinson wields a hefty portfolio: joined Harper Brothers at 18, debuted on Verve at 22, a decade's-worth of star sideman gigs

Vi Redd

Born: September 20, 1928

An accomplished altoist and vocalist, Vi Redd's impressive music career has flourished for over four decades. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Marian McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music. From her performances with the legendary Count Basie to her personal friendship with the late Sarah Vaughn, Ms. Redd is well-known and well-respected within the annals of jazz. Daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder, Alton Redd, Vi Redd was born in Los Angeles and was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father who was one of the paramount figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene