I The Netherlands we have besides some great bass sax players already mentioned in this thread also Alex de Leeuw. He plays in an old style Dixieland street orchestra 'Trio Grande'. I wouldn't call him the best bass sax player around, but he knows for sure his way on that big monster . Here are some example clips:
France's Philippe Geiss deserves mention as an amazing modern-day bass saxist.
Notice the setting, a variety-type tv show with elegant presentation and a chic studio audience.
Then try to imagine an American show in that context featuring a bass sax. Impossible!
Don't know the identity of the bass sax player on all those early Bettie Boop cartoons, but he was very inventive and definitely dominated the soundtrack. (I'm also too lazy to google the guy who played one in the club scenes of Jerry Lewis' Visit to a Small Planet.)
I'm reviving this thread as I just discovered a video of Brian Landrus on YouTube, a tune called Kismet from their upcoming album Mirage. Fantastic playing, and what a great tone. I think this is how the bass sax was meant to sound. Enjoy!
Greetings
Bjorn
There is also a great bass saxophonist here in Norway, Nils Jansen. One example of a great bass sax solo is with the band Sharp Nine, on their version of "When the saints" from the album no:network (on spotify or iTunes). Here is a link to another of his solos with the band Ensemble Denada from a concert in India, solo starts at around 3.30.
Greetings
Bjorn
Spencer Clark, Joe Rushton and Adrian Rollini. My favorites are Spencer and Joe Rushton. I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with Spencer and his wife Mary for several years before his death. Got a number of recordings from his estate and purchased his bass from him two or three years before he passed. I also have several recordings of Joe "Blizzard Lipps" Rushton that are very impressive. He got around on the bass better that a lot of people get around on a tenor. There were certainly others, but in my opinion these three were the first to use the bass as their primary instrument and not a novelty.
No one has mentioned Otto Hardwick yet. Granted he didn't get much solo space in the Ellington Orchestra, but he was one of the pioneers on the bass sax and should get some kudos for it.
Just off hand, Doin' the Frog in 1928, Down a Carolina Lane in '33, and Farewell Blues in '35. There aren't many, if any, others. Duke wrote to his players' strengths, and frankly, Hardwick's bass sax playing was not his strength.
In fact a lot of the best bass saxists don't start out on sax. The horn can't be played like just another saxophone because its speaking and venting issues are too unique. If you just double on it, it sounds stuffy and grumpy.
I think Toby is also on bass in the 1932 and '37 versions of E. St. Louis Toodle-oo - strictly in the ensemble of course (Doin' the Frog was his only solo spot, ever). Duke didn't use him as rhythm, but as extra bottom in the ensemble when just Harry Carney wasn't enough.
I assume everyone's seen this picture, taken in 1933.
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