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Classical Tenor Recordings?

6K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  J.Max 
#1 ·
I am mostly a tenor player and I play mostly jazz and I love it. However, I also love playing some good classical music and have played quite a bit of classical -- mostly in college with quartets and doing solo pieces. I enjoy playing classical tenor, but have never found any good classical tenor recordings. I know that the classical realm is dominated by alto and soprano players, but I would love to hear some good classical tenor recordings. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
One player that I think is very interesting on the classical scene is Yasuto Tanaka. His sound is almost cello-like, which is unusual for the sax. Here you can find a version of him playing ''The Swan'' on tenor :



And if your into some classical baritone sax, you should REALLY check this out :

 
#9 ·
One player that I think is very interesting on the classical scene is Yasuto Tanaka. His sound is almost cello-like, which is unusual for the sax. Here you can find a version of him playing ''The Swan'' on tenor :

That was annoying! Cello-like sound? That's what the old jazz players called the "Sweet Lucy sound". The vibrato was very "contrived" sounding. Eccch!
 
#3 ·
That was AWESOME! Thanks so much for posting that reply!

I have always tried for a cello-like sound in my playing. I love The Swan. I have played it on flute and I've always wanted to play it on tenor. Now I'll have to!

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
Steve Mauk has a tenor saxophone CD out that is great and there are many James Houlik recordings. Very different players with very different approaches, but they give good food for thought. Searching on Google should bring both up pretty easily.
 
#7 ·




Two short clips of Dr. Tim McAllister playing snips of Villa-Lobos' Fantasia on tenor. Not the best quality representation of his sound, but decent enough none-the-less. Here's a longer clip of him performing Daniel McCarthy's Towers of Power:

http://www.albanyrecords.com/Mercha...=TROY1108&Category_Code=a-NR&Product_Count=20

Also, even though it's not exactly what you're looking for, check out the recordings at the bottom of http://prismquartet.com/ and listen for Matt Levy. Absolutely wonderful player. I would recommend buying their CDs. Great playing by all four guys - they make amazing music together. On the Pitch Black CD, there is a recording of Matt playing Jacob TV's Grab It! for tenor and tape (or ghettoblaster as Jacob puts it) which is great.

And also, while it's not easily understood music, here's a recording of Miha Rogina and Betka Bizjak Kotnik performing Urška Pompe's Blizzu for 2 tenors and orchestra. Once you make it beyond the multiphonics, they both have great sounds for tenor.

I also second all the aforementioned suggestions. Jim Houlik and Steve Mauk are absolutely brilliant performers, as you can hear in their playing, and are well worth buying, studying, and dissecting their recordings.
 
#14 ·
Last year, Niels Bijl released an all concert tenor album which I think is quite good. "Chant du Saxophone Tenor" - a couple of nice sound clips here: http://www.nielsbijl.nl/audio.php?hl=en

Also, I've been digging the Trio Saxiana's CD "Nachtgesang" recently. Nicolas Prost plays tenor beautifully, and the CD is full of romantic works arranged for 2 saxos and piano. Listen to excerpts at http://www.saxiana.fr/SAXIANA/discographie/

When I introduce students to the sound of concert tenor saxo, I always start with the 2nd mvmt of Houlik's recording of the Ewazen Concerto, for which Jordan Smith graciously provided the link above.
 
#17 ·
Also, I've been digging the Trio Saxiana's CD "Nachtgesang" recently. Nicolas Prost plays tenor beautifully, and the CD is full of romantic works arranged for 2 saxos and piano. Listen to excerpts at http://www.saxiana.fr/SAXIANA/discographie/
This is an excellent cd. Some really nice saxophone playing in a chamber music setting.

I really like Niels playing too.

Both are great recommendations.
 
#18 ·
Wow, I just got Dr. Mauk's Tenor Excursions CD. I knew of it as I mentioned above, but hadn't bought it yet. This thread inspired me to go get. I really have to say that it is GREAT. If none of you own this CD, run, don't walk to your nearest DornPublications to get it.
 
#19 ·
It's awesome. I love the soprano one too.
 
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