At one time, the tenor sax was the “guitar” of today’s modern music. It was the “gun” that most slingers played in order to show who was the cock of the walk. Sometime in the early 60s, the electric guitar took over, with today’s heroes in both jazz and rock/blues being six stringers.
Still, there’s a certain aura and allure to the tenor sax; maybe it’s because it is so close to the human voice and that the sound that comes out of it is such a personal thing. You can even hear the breath of the player, something rare in almost any other instrument.
If you don’t know anything about the tenor sax, or your life began with John Coltrane and ended with Chris Potter, I’ve put together a list of the most important tenors saxist in its history since Adolphe Sax welded his first piece of brass together. After each artist, I’ve added a selection or two to get started. Some of these are going to be “no brainer” but others may be obscurities to you, which is why I’m writing this article!
It shouldn’t need to be said, but because most of these recordings are before the 1960s, don’t get hung up on the lack of stereo sound. There’s more fidelity in these songs than in 10,000 modern mp3s
Coleman Hawkins: This guy may not have been the first to play the tenor sax, but he was the first to make it a real musical instrument, swinging it with an authority that started in pre-swing Fletcher Henderson, defining the swing era with him and on his own, and then even being on arguably the first bebop recordings. His lion-like roar has a power not unlike a Beethoven symphony. Hollywood Stampede, Body and Soul, Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
Lester Young: The yin to Hawkins’ yang. Unlike Hawkins’ macho, staccato and up and down chordal approach to the sax, Lester Young went the opposite way with a light, airy legato tone and oozed lyricism. He literally defined the “cool” sound of the tenor. The Lester Young Trio, The Lester Young Kansas City Sessions, The Complete Count Basie on Decca/Columbia
Ben Webster: the third part of the Tenor Sax Trilogy, Webster is known for his big, foggy and breathy tone that roared like a cougar in his early years and rolled in like nimbus cloud in his later career. His sound is probably the most personal and passionate in jazz’s history. Duke Ellington’s Webster/Blanton Band, Art Tatum meets Ben Webster, Ben Webster and Associates- Don Byas: His career is not well known because he spent most of his time in France and The Netherlands. His
sophisticated harmonies were light years ahead if its time. Don Byas in Paris, 1944-45, 1945, Don Byas Meets Ben Webster 
Illinois Jacquet: Best known for his legendary solo for Lionel Hampton’s “Flying Home,” and his own composition “Robbins Nest”, Jacquet was the first and quintessential “Texas Tenor” meaning he had a big beefy tone that swung like a tetherball. HE was also the first guy to hit the high pitched altissimo level, setting the stage for John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. Jazz at the Philharmonic-The First Concert, Swing’s the Thing
Dexter Gordon: essentially the first tenor saxist to be a pure bebopper, Long Tall Dexter had one of the biggest sounds around. A movie was made of his career that he actually starred in, Round Midnight. I was at a bar in New Orleans and the bar tender told me that if I do nothing else, to buy Dexter Gordon’s Go album. Good call! Go, Dexter Calling, Doin’ Allright, The Other Side of Round Midnight- Sonny Rollins: essentially the first shoot off from Gordon, Rollins was on some of the first bebop albums as well, playing on the classic Blue Note Bud
Powell sessions. He didn’t come into his own until Dexter dropped out during the 50s and got so popular that he himself dropped out to re-evaluate not only his music, but his life direction. Not only that, but the cover for his Way Out West lp set the standard for gunslinging pictures. Saxophone Colossus, Way Out West, The Bridge, A Night At The Village Vanguard
- Stan Getz: even John Coltrane admitted that “everyone wants to sound like Stan Getz”. He had the most mellifluous tone, sighing
with a lyricism that was able to be adapted into swing, bop and defining the samba sensation. His last duo with Kenny Barron are viscerally gripping. Getz/Gilberto, Captain Marvel, The Complete Roost Recordings, Woody Herman’s Second Herd - John Coltrane: The amazing thing about John Coltrane is that his recording output as a leader was less than 10 years long. Like Sandy Koufax, the intrigue about him is that it took him awhile to reach his zenith, and just as he got there he was taken away from us. Still, the albums of his (pun intended) ascension are just as thrilling as his time at the top of the mountain. The Complete Miles
Davis Prestige Recordings, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Giant Steps, Africa/Brass, A Love Supreme, John Coltrane and Kenny Burrell, Blue Train - Warne Marsh: probably the most overlooked of all the tenor saxists, but he’s definitely the last one to be a major influence. He was a disciple of Lennie Tristano, which meant his sound and solos were icy hot, serpentine and always intriguing. I saw him perform at a biker’s bar just a week before he died
in 1987 and it was one of the most amazing display of modern jazz I had ever seen. Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh, Ne Plus Ultra, Intuition, Art Pepper with Warne Marsh