saxophone

Jazz Album of the Week: Cory Weeds Looks To The Old Country for Inspiration on O Sole Mio!

By • Jan 28, 2021

January 25, 2021. The most recognizable tunes on saxophonist Cory Weeds latest, O Sole Mio! Music from the Motherland, are synonymous with the great Italian tenors of the 20th century. Which is ostensibly curious. Weeds isn’t an opera star; he’s a saxophonist. And most of the time his go-to instrument isn’t even the tenor but the alto.

Jazz Philadelphia's Hometown Heroes: Spotlight on Saxophonist Sam Reed

By Jack McCarthy • Oct 12, 2020
Courtesy of the Philadelphia Jazz Project

Few Philadelphia musicians have had careers as rich and varied as saxophonist and bandleader Sam Reed. Born in South Carolina in 1935, Sam was six when came to live in the Point Breeze neighborhood of South Philadelphia, then home to a vibrant Black community with an active music scene.

Jazz Philadelphia's Hometown Heroes: Spotlight on Saxophonist Olivia Hughart

By A.D. Amorosi • Sep 21, 2020
Manasa Gudavalli

Jazz is many things to many people. To 19-year-old, Lower Merion, PA native saxophonist-composer Olivia Hughart—renowned for starting the female-focused Key of She Jazz organization and conference— jazz means pancakes. Jazz means family.Jazz means something loved and in close proximity.

WRTI Celebrates 100 Years of Charlie Parker

By • Aug 24, 2020
Wikipedia Commons, William P. Gottlieb

The Birth Of Bird: Young Charlie Parker Found Focus, Faith In Music

By • Aug 23, 2020

Charlie "Bird" Parker was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. In his brief life, Parker created a new sound on the alto saxophone and spearheaded a revolution in harmony and improvisation that pushed popular music from the swing era to bebop and modern jazz.

Steve Grossman, Saxophonist And Post-Coltrane Leading Light, Dead At 69

By • Aug 17, 2020

Steve Grossman, a saxophonist whose lunging projection, sure rhythmic footing and clarity of attack helped propel him into the spotlight in the 1970s, notably in bands led by Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, died on Aug. 13 at Glen Cove Hospital in Glen Cove, N.Y. He was 69. The cause was cardiac arrest after a long illness, his brother Myles Grossman confirmed to NPR.

WRTI's NPR Live Sessions Video of the Week: Saxophonist Alex LoRe and His Band Play "Southbound"

By • Jun 22, 2020

Saxophonist Jimmy Heath Takes An Elegant Victory Lap On His Posthumous 'Love Letter'

By • Jun 11, 2020

Jimmy Heath made one of his first appearances on record as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band, late in 1949. Released on Capitol under the title Dizzy Gillespie And His Orchestra, it featured Heath on alto saxophone alongside his fellow Philadelphian, an up-and-comer named John Coltrane.

Bootsie Barnes, Saxophonist and Cornerstone of Philadelphia Jazz, Dies of COVID-19 at 82

By • Apr 24, 2020

Bootsie Barnes, a tenor saxophonist and bandleader who set a rigorous standard for hard bop, presiding as a master and mentor in his hometown of Philadelphia, died on Wednesday at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pa. He was 82.

Remembering Philly Sax Legend Bootsie Barnes: "The Man With The Tenor Touch" Has Passed At Age 82

By • Apr 22, 2020

We are so sad to report that Philadelphia jazz legend, Robert "Bootsie" Barnes—tenor sax player extraordinaire—passed this morning of COVID-19 at age 82. "The man with the tenor touch," he was beloved by so many in our jazz community and beyond. Read obituary here.

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