Instruments

Sax (Soprano)

The soprano saxophone was originally one of a family of fourteen saxophones of various sizes, created by the Belgian-French instrument maker Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. (A saxophone is a reed instrument with a cone-shaped, keyed metal body.) Unlike the more common alto and tenor saxophones, its body is straight rather than bent into a U shape. One of the smallest and highest members of the group, the soprano saxophone was a moderately popular orchestral and band instrument in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (it still sometimes appears in marching bands), and, as saxophones gained importance in jazz around 1930, it made its mark on that music as well. The soprano saxophone enjoys some prominence as a jazz solo instrument, thanks to the fascination its piercing tone has exerted upon experimental improvisers such as Roscoe Mitchell.

Artist Highlights

Artist Active Styles
Roscoe Mitchell 1960s - 2020s Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Improvisation, Free Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Modern Creative, Progressive Jazz, Saxophone Jazz, Chamber Music
Bruce Ackley 1970s - 2020s Avant-Garde Jazz, Chamber Music, Modern Creative
Branford Marsalis 1980s - 2020s Hard Bop, Jazz Instrument, New Orleans Jazz, Post-Bop, Saxophone Jazz, Modal Music, Neo-Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Keyboard
Bob Wilber 1940s - 2010s Early Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Continental Jazz, Dixieland, Swing, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz
Jimmy Heath 1940s - 2020s Hard Bop, Straight-Ahead Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Modern Big Band, Post-Bop, Saxophone Jazz
Charlie Barnet 1930s - 1960s Band Music, Big Band, Swing
John Coltrane 1940s - 1960s Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz, Hard Bop, Modal Music, Post-Bop, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz, Film Score
John Surman 1960s - 2020s Post-Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Modern Composition, Jazz Instrument, Jazz-Rock, Film Score
Jane Ira Bloom 1970s - 2020s Avant-Garde Jazz, Modern Creative, Post-Bop, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz
Lee Konitz 1940s - 2010s Cool, Post-Bop, Jazz Instrument, Modern Creative, Saxophone Jazz
Wayne Shorter 1950s - 2020s Fusion, Hard Bop, Modal Music, Post-Bop, Crossover Jazz, Global Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Progressive Jazz, Saxophone Jazz
Julius Hemphill 1960s - 1990s Avant-Garde Jazz, Experimental Big Band, Free Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Modern Creative, Saxophone Jazz
Jerome Richardson 1940s - 2000s Cool, Hard Bop
Oliver Lake 1970s - 2020s Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz, Chamber Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz
Archie Shepp 1960s - 2020s Film Score, Free Jazz, Hard Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Progressive Jazz, Standards, Poetry, Spoken Word
Johnny Hodges 1920s - 1970s Swing, Mainstream Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz, Early R&B
George Probert 1990s Dixieland, Early Jazz
Gary Bartz 1960s - 2020s Post-Bop, Fusion, Modern Creative, Free Funk, Jazz Instrument, Saxophone Jazz
Steve Lacy 1950s - 2000s Free Jazz, Hard Bop, Modern Creative, Post-Bop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Progressive Jazz, Saxophone Jazz, Dixieland
Jan Garbarek 1960s - 2020s Post-Bop, Chamber Music, Global Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Modern Creative, Progressive Jazz, Saxophone Jazz
Woody Herman 1930s - 1980s Big Band, Cool, Swing, Concerto, Orchestral, Show/Musical