the jazz authority; random dubiously zappy rants about 'the musicians music'.: Canadian Saxophonists

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Canadian Saxophonists

Well, I can't pretend to know all of the best canadian saxophonists, but I have met and heard a few, studied with a couple, and jammed with my fair share. It seems to me that for someone to make it to the "top", one needs to have a good attitude, in addition to being a phenomenal player. After many years of experience I can tell you that if you've got killer chops, but your attitude stinks and you're unreliabe, people won't want you in their band. On the other hand, if you're a nice guy and are dedicated to making good music, then you'll get there one day.
Improvisation is 99% effort and 1% talent. Seriously, there seems to be a lot of confusion about that. Talent shmalent; I've seen cats who suck during their first few years of playing, only to see them tears later kicking @$$ at a jam.
Anyways, here are some links to some canadian jazz cats websites. Sorry if I left any out - you can leave a comments post on this subject if you have someone in mind.
Keep your ear to the ground for Brodie West and Jane Bunnett among others!

3 comments:

MJW said...

I've been listening to a lot of baritone saxes lately...Harry Carney, Gerry Mulligan, Pat Patrick (with the Sun Ra Arkestra). Tell me, just out of curiosity, who among the Canadian saxophonists are baritone players?

jazzmom said...

I saw Jane Bunnett last summer at the Iowa City Jazz Festival. She sounded great! And it was nice to hear another female musician who plays something other than piano (or who is a vocalist). We women jazzers have gotten too predictable!

camsax@gmail.com said...

i've known a few canadian bari players, but I can't recall any of their names. there was this one cat in Toronto that used to tear it up at a club called the 'rex',. I wonder oif he's still out there...

I'm sure there are some heavies, but I've been somewhat removed from the scene for a few years now.