An excellent tenor saxophonist and a superior arranger/composer, Al Cohn was greatly admired by his fellow musicians. Early gigs included associations with Joe Marsala (1943), Georgie Auld, Boyd Raeburn (1946), Alvino Rey, and Buddy Rich (1947). But it was when he replaced Herbie Steward as one of the "Four Brothers" with Woody Herman's Second... [+] Read More

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At one point in the early '50s, Allen Eager sounded nearly identical to Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Brew Moore; in fact all five tenors (from the Lester Young-influenced Four Brothers school) recorded together. But of the five, Eager has had the least impressive career, lacking the desire to really work on jazz full-time. He had played... [+] Read More

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Despite a remarkably colorful and difficult life, Art Pepper was quite consistent in the recording studios; virtually every recording he made is well worth getting. In the 1950s he was one of the few altoists (along with Lee Konitz and Paul Desmond) that was able to develop his own sound despite the dominant influence of Charlie Parker. During... [+] Read More

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When Bob Mover had his highest visibility in the late '70s, he played in a style very similar to Lee Konitz (with whom he recorded in 1977). Mover worked with Ira Sullivan when he was 16 and after moving to New York in 1969, he freelanced on the local scene. Mover played with Charles Mingus briefly in 1973, was with Chet Baker during 1973-1975,... [+] Read More

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It is a real rarity for a jazz musician to have his career interrupted for a 30-year period and then be able to make a complete comeback. Frank Morgan showed a great deal of promise in his early days, but it was a long time before he could fulfill his potential. The son of guitarist Stanley Morgan (who played with the Ink Spots), he took up... [+] Read More

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Gene Ammons, who had a huge and immediately recognizable tone on tenor, was a very flexible player who could play bebop with the best (always battling his friend Sonny Stitt to a tie) yet was an influence on the R&B world. Some of his ballad renditions became hits and, despite two unfortunate interruptions in his career, Ammons remained a... [+] Read More

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Once accurately billed as "the world's fastest saxophonist," Johnny Griffin (an influence tone-wise on Rahsaan Roland Kirk) has been one of the top bop-oriented tenors since the mid-'50s. He gained early experience playing with the bands of Lionel Hampton (1945-47) and Joe Morris (1947-50), and also jammed regularly with Thelonious Monk and Bud... [+] Read More

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One of the true masters of the bop vocabulary, Phil Woods has had his own sound since the mid-'50s and stuck to his musical guns throughout a remarkably productive career. There has never been a doubt that he is one of the top alto saxophonists alive, and he has lost neither his enthusiasm nor his creativity through the years.
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Alto saxophonist William "Sonny" Criss was an anomaly of the jazz musicians who came up during the bebop era. Criss moved to Los Angeles from Memphis at the age of 15, and at 19 played in Howard McGhee's band with Charlie Parker and Teddy Edwards. As was the norm for every alto player, Parker exerted a huge influence on Criss' playing. His... [+] Read More

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One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving.

Getz had the opportunity to play in a variety of major swing... [+] Read More

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