# Looking for ripping saxaphone solos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951 "2003-07-08T06:40:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tree\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@Tree\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tree_Boy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/1 "2003-07-08T06:40:54Z")
Im assuming that most would come from jazz songs, but if anyone wants to chime in with their favorite(s), I would appreciate it. \*Primarily I’m thinking of ones that are played on a tenor, but I won’t discriminate. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/2 "2003-07-08T06:46:53Z")
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty ---
**Author:** ![Emanuel\_Ravelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc348/32.png) [@Emanuel\_Ravelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emanuel_Ravelli)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/3 "2003-07-08T07:02:59Z")
Check out Gene Amons work. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/4 "2003-07-08T07:36:59Z")
King Crimson’s early work Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” Take Five and Blue Rondo a la Turk by Paul Desmond Various pieces by Cal Tjader and Stan Getz ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/5 "2003-07-08T07:43:53Z")
John Coltrane Charlie Parker ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/6 "2003-07-08T08:10:32Z")
Grover Washington, Jr.: His Soul Box collection. Especially solos on “Masterpiece” & “Trouble Man.” 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Tree\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9dc877/32.png) [@Tree\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tree_Boy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/7 "2003-07-08T12:34:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*John Coltrane > > Charlie Parker \*\* Any specific works of theirs that stand out? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/8 "2003-07-08T12:48:45Z")
Check out Junior Walker’s sax solo in the Foreigner song “Urgent”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/9 "2003-07-08T13:08:15Z")
It could be just my tastes, but the sax solos in Billy Joel’s “Just the way you are” (whatever the real title is) and Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues” are among my favorites. I think it’s Pete Christlieb in both cases. Coltrane and Parker are so imitated by almost every other sax player since them, that almost anything they did should be heard. Bloomdido, Confirmation, KoKo, Cherokee are just a few Parker items. Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, and My Favorite Things for Coltrane. Just for starters. The sax work on Miles Davis’s “Kind Of Blue” (Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly) is beyond great. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/10 "2003-07-08T13:09:21Z")
Stan Getz’s favorite work of his own is the album “Focus” and it is superior. ---
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/11 "2003-07-08T13:21:35Z")
Clarence Clemons has a nice solo in “Jungleland” on Bruce Springsteen’s **Born To Run** album. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/12 "2003-07-08T13:30:32Z")
Two from musical theatre: “The Last Night of the World”–Miss Saigon “I’ll Be Surprisingly Good for You”–Evita ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/13 "2003-07-08T14:13:46Z")
King Curtis’s solo on “Yakety Yak” by the Coasters. So perfect that stuttering-style sax playing came to be known as “yakety saxes,” (and spawned a monster hit for Boots Randolph!). ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/14 "2003-07-08T14:45:33Z")
In a rock vein, Billy Joel’s sax player Mark Rivera has had some wonderful solos. Clarence Clemons with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band is also great. And whoever mentioned “Baker Street” is right on. I’m a sax player myself, and I realize that Parker and Coltrane may be the greatest of all time. But personally, I really love the smooth, cool stylings of Stan Getz, Lester Young, and Paul Desmond (who is best known for playing on “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk” with the Dave Brubeck Quartet). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/15 "2003-07-08T15:14:28Z")
**Big Bad Voodoo Lou** , I’m with you on that score. Gerry Mulligan (baritone) is another I’ve always liked, as much for his group sound as for the horn itself. Other tenor players I can name: Hank Mobley Sonny Rollins (almost the same degree of “giant” as Trane) Coleman Hawkins Harold Land Zoot Sims ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/16 "2003-07-08T15:36:24Z")
Oooh, Sonny Rollins! I saw him play live a few years ago. I highly recommend his renditions of “St. Thomas,” “Moritat” (better known as “Mack the Knife”), and “Tenor Madness.” Stan Getz is best recognized for infusing jazz with bossa nova, on standards like “Desafinado” and “The Girl From Ipanema,” but his straight-ahead jazz is wonderful too. For Coleman Hawkins, you can’t do much better than the classic “Body and Soul.” How about Johnny Hodges’ “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)”? It’s an alto sax, but what a range! ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/17 "2003-07-08T16:28:11Z")
Walk on the Wild Side, by Lou Reed ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/18 "2003-07-08T16:52:24Z")
Sonny Rollins relies too much on scales, but gets propers for being around so long. Paul Desmond was a virtuoso, as was Getz. Ben Webster had a unique style and is a fave. For a tune that displays a lot of different techniques and good range, try King Curtis’ “Soul Serenade”. Seems to me there was a terrific rip at the end of Paul Simon’s song “50 Ways”. Don’t know the artist, though, and maybe it was a different song, but definitely by Simon. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/19 "2003-07-08T18:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chefguy \* > \*\*Sonny Rollins relies too much on scales, but gets propers for being around so long. \*\* Great God. I don’t believe I have ever heard _this_ particular turn of phrase applied to Mr Rollins’ music. Sonny Rollins was one of the first hornmen to dispense with the comping instuments of piano or guitar in his combos, leaving the brunt of the music-making on himself, with only bass and drums behind him to drive the rhythm. It’s not easy to do all that soloing yourself and keep the ear of the audience, trust me. In July, 1985, he recorded _The Solo Album_, a live concert in the Sculpture Garden of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC…an entire program without accompaniment. “As expected, Rollins drops allusions all over the place and spins core melodic ideas into extended variations…the inspired whirl of the Rollins imagination as it darts here and there, both coherent and unpredicatable, in a manner that has earned him recognition as the music’s supreme improviser.” According to _Jazz Central Station_, “his live sets became grand, marathon stream-of-consciousness solos where he would call forth melodies from his encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, including startling segues and sometimes barely visiting one theme before surging into dazzling variations upon the next.” “Sonny Rollins relies too much on scales” sounds to me like Emperor Franz Joseph’s criticism of Mozart in _Amadeus_…“Too many notes.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951/20 "2003-07-08T19:00:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Great God. I don’t believe I have ever heard _this_ particular turn of phrase applied to Mr Rollins’ music. > > “Sonny Rollins relies too much on scales” sounds to me like Emperor Franz Joseph’s criticism of Mozart in _Amadeus_…“Too many notes.” \*\* Music appreciation is like any other art appreciation: completely subjective, and I probably shouldn’t have been so casual with my remark. I don’t argue Mr. Rollins’ expertise on the instrument, nor denigrate his contributions to jazz. I just don’t have an “ear” for his styling. Perhaps I need to be educated. The line referenced from Amadeus has to be one of the funniest in filmdom. Peace, man. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-ripping-saxaphone-solos/186951.md?page=2)