Tenor Sax

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I say the tenor saxophone is the most versatile and expressive instrument. Here's Miku Yonezawa going full mid-period Coltrane. Hardly anyone plays this style because it's both unpopular and very hard to do. Usually she tones it down for the audience but not here.



More orthodox is Lenny Pickett, who has been around for a long long time. Tenor sax players don't get famous any more.



Oh yeah, versatility. How about Paul Desmond. "They say I sound like a dry martini. I thought it was more like three dry martinis." I once heard someone say they were involved in scattering the post-cremation ashes of Paul Desmond at the bluffs in Big Sur. "When we tossed the ashes a gust blew them back in our faces. Paul was always pulling some kind of stunt like that."



Yes, it's an alto not a tenor. So sue me.
 
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Several of my music and acoustic engineering teachers taught that among common band instruments, the tenor sax most closely emulates the human voice. I have seen waveform comparative analysis that supports this theory but without offering peer reviewed documents.
 
After Trane was Wayne

 
Hornbein said:
I say the tenor saxophone is the most versatile and expressive instrument. Here's Miku Yonezawa going full mid-period Coltrane.
channeling Coltrane through Michael Brecker

 
Apropos tenor sax compared to human voice, I found this archived paean to beauty:
... the saxophone’s resonant connection to the human voice is a testament to the instrument’s versatility and expressive potential. From tonal warmth and expressive range to articulation and dynamic shaping, the saxophone shares a symbiotic relationship with the human voice. Saxophonists, with their capacity to mimic vocal techniques, become virtuosos in translating the nuances of human emotion into a musical language that transcends words.

This analysis of each saxophone type compared to singers favors the alto sax as closest to the [singing] human voice, an argument I have heard whenever this comparison arises.

While all saxophones have a unique charm and expressiveness, the alto saxophone stands out as the closest to the human voice. Its range, timbre, and expressive potential make it a versatile instrument that can mimic vocal nuances and convey a wide range of emotions.

Personally, I enjoy all woodwinds from oboe to kazoo but tenor sax fulfills a special role in musical expression.
 
Indeed a tenor saxophone duet with Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz.
 
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Sax can sound a bit cheesy (to me) out of its comfort zone (jazz, funk) but there are some good ones.
 
This band were very original, no one sounds like them.
The sax player wrote many of the songs.
This tune (vocal) is two notes pretty much, weird chords, very minor and chromatic.
The sax intro goes sharp on that last note like they had sped up the tape.
 
I think this is nice but it sounds a lot higher, alto?

 
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Sax kicks in 10.50 but it is a little bit of a musical criminal offense to do that, it's like skipping to the good part from Bach (all good bits)