Music with Saxophone

With three saxophone riff songs being big hits ("Thrift Shop", "Problem", "Talk Dirty" [last one being sampled from Balkan Beat Box's "Hermetico"]), I've been inspired to ask this question.

What are the best uses of Saxophone in music?

I'm already aware of "Careless Whisper" and some of the stuff by Huey Lewis and the News.

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You can't talk saxophone without talking about jazz. You can't talk about either without acknowledging John Coltrane. "Giant Steps" is another of his major recordings.

Also important: Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, Coleman Hawkins, and Sonny Rollins.

edited 16th Aug '14 6:27:17 PM by MetaFour

I didn't write any of that.

For good examples of saxophone in music, check out most rock 'n' roll from 1954 to 1966. Tenor sax solos in rock 'n' roll are highly missed these days.

There's also a lot of saxophone music from the 1910s and 20s that's somewhat interesting, when it was first gaining popularity and was considered a novelty instrument.

And we can't forget:

Don't forget Frank Trumbauer and Adrian Rollini, masters of the C-melody sax and bass sax, respectively.

edited 16th Aug '14 6:34:04 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

@Aldo: Surf Rock saxophones usually weren't very technically proficient, but they're a lot of fun all the same.

Oh, I also forgot Stan Getz (though I don't know much of his stuff outside his bossa nova albums Jazz Samba and Getz/Gilberto). And Ornette Coleman, the free jazz pioneer. And John Zorn, the jazz punk pioneer.

Saxes in Balkan and Romani music are interesting too. Like Yuri Yunakov or the aforementioned Balkan Beat Box.

I didn't write any of that.

Okay, how have we not brought up Baker Street yet? I hear that damn song every time I go into a restaurant, and it bugged me beca use I didn't know what the song was called. Then finally I mentioned it to my cousin when it came on in an Applebee's, and she pulled up Shazam on her phone to finally tell me.

Gerry Rafferty knew how to use sax in his stuff. I don't know who actually played for him.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

The "Baker Street" riff was provided by Raphael Ravenscroft.

simple as

The saxophone in Mercury by Bloc Party is rather awesome in my opinion.

edited 17th Aug '14 7:35:58 AM by Rvdz

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Meta Four, post 4: Not just surf rock, the whole general variety of rock 'n' roll of the 50s and early 60s is what I was talking about. Surf rock is a subdivision - albeit a highly enjoyable subdivision - of rock 'n' roll.

Just wanted to put that out there.

edited 17th Aug '14 9:23:48 AM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Great song.

Also, Peter Brötzmann. Especially on Fuck de Boere and with Last Exit.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

• Stay at Home by Men At Work.
• Things We Never Did by Sad Lovers & Giants.
• Rescue Rangers opening (full) by The Jets has the most amazing sax solo I ever heard. Not the most technically impressive, but it hit me right in the feels.

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Speaking of Men at Work, when I think of memorable sax hooks, the first thing I think of is "Who Can It Be Now?".

Here's a good one:

Yes, that's a young Vince Gill on lead vocals.

I don't know the original song, but here. Saxophone made as cheesy and gratuitous as possible.

And now something a bit more raw:

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

Speaking of Men at Work? I wanted to use that song as an example, but the sax part (exclusing the solo) was a 6 note riff that was based on a guitar melody by Colin Hay. Stay at Home (which I consider to be a prequel to Who Can It Be Now?) has a more elaborate role for the instrument, and there is just more of it in the composition.

edited 17th Aug '14 10:28:29 PM by KlarkKentThe3rd

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This probably speaks to what a colossal fucking nerd I am, but this song has one of my favorite sax solos (starts at around 3:12).

Pink Floyd have some classic tracks with sax on 'em- "Money" and "Us and Them'' from DSOTM and Part 1 of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" are good examples...

Also, King Crimson have several good examples, most notably "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Pictures of a City"... Also, on a more Fusion-y note, there's any of Wayne Shorter's solos on the old Weather Report albums. Good stuff there...

Also, really digging the Men At Work mention above. They did make very good use of a sax in a New Wave context...

If at first ya don't succeed, try a bit more, then give up or cheat... ;) -Myself Nothing can stop me now! -Piggy by Nine Inch Nails

Saxophone starts at 1:41, but I personally recommend listening all the way through. So chill.

To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."

This is just overkill.

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Herbie's a genius. Though he's not the sax player on that or any other of his records... Also, I can't remember whether the sax on that track is Wayne Shorter or Bennie Maupin (both played on that album).

Now I feel like an idiot for NOT mentioning any of Herbie's records above...

If at first ya don't succeed, try a bit more, then give up or cheat... ;) -Myself Nothing can stop me now! -Piggy by Nine Inch Nails

"Sex Bomb" by Flipper is the best use of saxophone in a hardcore punk song.

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Very narrow category indeed, but I'll take it. Great tune, great band...

Also, Funhouse by The Stooges. Several songs on that one have some pretty sweet (in a nasty sorta way) sax going on, especially the title track...

If at first ya don't succeed, try a bit more, then give up or cheat... ;) -Myself Nothing can stop me now! -Piggy by Nine Inch Nails

If you haven't heard of them, I'd check out Morphine. They're basically a Rock Trio that has a baritone saxophonist instead of a guitarist. They're also notable because their singer/bassist, Mark Sandman, played bass in a rather unconventional way: he used only two strings and played with a slide. And since he also had a baritone singing voice, their music has very little going on in the treble register, giving them a distinctive bass-heavy sound.

For more experimental music, try James Chance and the Contortions and whatever other names he went by. And speaking of experimental saxophonists, you gotta respect John Zorn for playing grindcore with a saxophone. Here is a collection of some of some of his grindcore and other weird/short tracks. His more "normal" music is a bit more sane sounding than this, but I'm posting it here anyway because what isn't awesome about saxophones in grindcore?

edited 19th Aug '14 2:59:36 PM by FingerPuppet

Had to think about that last one for a bit (Morphine, that is- almost got 'em confused with Codeine, who sound totally different...), but I've listened to them before. They had some good albums back in the day. Mostly I remember them for the slide bass, though...

That's some No Wave stuff going on there, good stuff. Chance was in a few other bands, too. All of which did some good, funky No Wave noise... Also, isn't that stuff Zorn did with Naked City AWESOME?! Such a weird idea, but it kinda works...

If at first ya don't succeed, try a bit more, then give up or cheat... ;) -Myself Nothing can stop me now! -Piggy by Nine Inch Nails

I confuse Morphine, Codeine and Medicine sometimes, which is funny because all of them are fairly different but strangely complementary in sound.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.