Who's the best saxophonist you've ever heard play live?

Inspired by this thread, which was a lot of fun. I think I even said in there that I'd like to see the same thread idea for other instruments, so here goes.

Any genre. And, this being the SH forums, 'best' means 'name everyone you can.'

I'm going with:

Donald Harrison with the Jazz Messengers

Von Freeman and Clifford Jordan (together)

Al Cohn (I shared this story before, but he mysteriously didn't come back after the set break. Found out the next day he had had a heart attack while backstage. He passed two months later.)

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone embarrassingly major.

 

Wayne Shorter (duo with Herbie Hancock in 1997, quartet in 2002)

Sonny Rollins (not great every time I saw him, but I caught a great show in 1996)

 

Clarence Clemons of The E Street Band
“The Big Man”

 

David Sanborn. Followed very closely by Tom Scott.

 

Kenny Garrett's Coltrane trio plus Pat Metheny at Sweet Basil in NYC, wow.

 

Ornette Coleman, who performed at the Canadian War Museum between two tanks whose guns were pointing out at the audience. Seemed appropriate.

 

Sonny Rollins and Michael Brecker.

 

Wayne Shorter - duo with Herbie Hancock

Michael Brecker - Steps Ahead

Branford Marsalis - VSOP II

Bill Evans - with Miles Davis

 

Me, too. It was The Rising tour. He was still superb. Jungleland was all I was waiting for that night...The Big Man did not disappoint.

 

Can’t say “best” but my favorites have been (no order) since the early 80’s

Ornette Coleman
Wayne Shorter
Art Pepper
Peter Brotzmann
Evan Parker
Sonny Rollins
Joe Maneri
Pharaoh Sanders
David Murray
Arthur Blythe
David S Ware
Ken Vandermark
Joe McPhee
Billy Harper
Dewey Redman
Noah Howard
Kenny Garrett
Lou Donaldson
John Gilmore
Sonny Fortune
Azar Lawrence
Clifford Jordan
Charles Gayle
Arthur Doyle
Charles Tyler
Frank Lowe
And some I’m forgetting

 

Wonder if anyone's going to embarrass themselves by claiming the last one was a pianist.

 

Ornette w/ Pat Metheny
James Carter

 

Same here. Was fortunate enough to see the only performance of The River LP with Clarence, and Drive All Night was everything I'd hoped it would be and then some. This was a song I'd dreamed of seeing live since I was a kid and it did NOT disappoint!!

 

Ornette Coleman and John Gilmore

 

Dexter Gordon. Incredible experience.

 

Bobby Keys. Granted, I don't attend many jazz concerts.

 

Sonny Rollins - Music Midtown, Atlanta (2001)

 

David Murray
John Gilmore
Pat Patrick
Marshall Allen
Chico Freeman

 

Bobby Keys
David Sanborn
Mel Collins
Johnny Almond
Steve Douglas
Pee Wee Ellis
Michael Brecker
Sonny Rollins


Really wish I'd seen Jim Pepper, but I missed my chance!

 

Ornette Coleman at the Disney Hall in L.A. At least a third of the audience walked out on him after the first two songs. (Guess they weren't digging their "cool jazz" subscription series that night.) The rest of us gave him a standing O.

Followed by ...

Sonny Rollins
Wayne Shorter
James Carter

recently, we saw shows by David Murray and Pharoah Sanders -- in their prime, I suspect they would have been on the list above.

 

I'm really not a big fan of the sax, and rarely go to jazz shows anymore. I have seen John Gilmore and Marshall Allen many times as I almost always went to the Sun Ra shows when he came through Toronto.

In the rock scene.....David Jackson with VdGG, and Andy Mackay with Roxy Music.

On the thumbs down side and I can't recall the names....but the guy that played on Peter Gabriel's 2nd tour, and the guy that played on one of Lou Reed's 80's tours were pretty brutal.

 

Sadly unlike some I haven't seen many of the greats in person...but I loved

Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders.

 

Yep. I first saw him Nov. 1, 1980 on the River tour and every time since then up till his death. Jake is a great replacement, but he's only that -- a replacement. No disrespect, but you can't replace the irreplaceable.

This thread makes me realize I've seen very few sax players. If I were a bigger jazz fan I'm sure everything would be different.

 

Hearing “Jungleland” live was one of the many highlights for me, when I travelled with my best friend Steve to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, at the old Meadowlands Stadium.

During the song, while The Big Man was blowing one of his iconic, melodic runs, precisely as if I was hearing the classic song while at home, but instead with a stadium full of rapt, attentive fans -

I vaguely recall something got into my eye...

 

Other notables...

Sonny Rollins
Billy Harper
Marty Ehrlich
Tim Berne
Thomas Chapin
John Zorn
Ornette
Charles Lloyd
Charles Gayle