Your List of Most Underated Tenor Players

[Bluebrew]

Mine are:

Harold Land
Hank Mobley
Jerome Richardson
Charlie Rouse
Gil Bernal
Jackie Kelso

[bigtiny]

Charlie Rouse
Sam Rivers
Bennie Wallace
Joe Farrell

bigtiny

[Pete C]

Mobley was good, but I'd hardly call him underrated. If anything, he's been deified in recent years far beyond his relative talents. Bernal and Kelso are underrated enough that I've never heard of them in 35 years of heavy jazz listening. Who are they?

[Jesse]

John Gilmore
Charles Brackeen

[Uli]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Bernal and Kelso are underrated enough that I've never heard of them in 35 years of heavy jazz listening. Who are they?

ditto.

Eddie Harris and Ed Wilkerson.

[Bill Barton]

Originally Posted by Pete C

...Bernal and Kelso are underrated enough that I've never heard of them in 35 years of heavy jazz listening. Who are they?

Jackie Kelso: http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/...ckie_kelso.htm
I seem to vaguely recall that he's also made some jazz-oriented recordings but couldn't find any mention online.

Gil Bernal:
http://www.gilbernalmusic.com/index.html

Originally Posted by Jesse

John Gilmore
Charles Brackeen

They'd definitely be on my list too. A guy who's been out there for quite some time whom I just "discovered" is Ras Moshe. He has a very personal and rather unusual sound.

I'd add:
John Tchicai
George Garzone
Booker Ervin
George Coleman
Paul Gonsalves

...

[bernard lyons]

I dont know if they are underrated or just not heard enough but, off the top of my head, I would add Paul Dunmall,Simon Picard and Andrew Lamb.

[Ron Thorne]

I'll list three, while adding one (at the top), which will come as absolutely no surprise to longtime JC posters.

Jim Pepper
Eddie Harris
Booker Ervin

My wife and I also feel very privileged to have counted the first two names among our friends for many years.

[Bluebrew]

Both Kelso and Bernal were heavies on the Central Avenue scene in the late 40's and early 50's. After Central Avenue ran out of gas they turned to studio work but until at least the middle 60's they could be found all over LA blowing a lot of more well known names off the stand. Especially at the California Club.

Many fine saxophonists took commercial routes to make a living but that did not diminish¡h their ability to play jazz. Two who were greatly respected by jazz musicians when I was growing up were Big Jay McNeely and Earl Bostic who LA jazz educator William Green often said knew the saxophone better than anyone on the scene then.

[Jesse]

I haven't asked in what sense underated is being used here; given that, I'd add Dewey Redman and Gerd Dudek.

I was, btw, a huge Fringe fan (Garzone's trio) in the 80's; I saw him at a mediocre George Russell gig in 1983.

The Raging Bulls on Ap-Gu-Ga records blew the roof off the motherfucker.

[Jazzooo]

I love the way George Young plays.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Tony Malaby
George Adams

and seconds for most of the others listed above.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Bluebrew

Big Jay McNeely and Earl Bostic who LA jazz educator William Green often said knew the saxophone better than anyone on the scene then.

Bostic especially was amazing, IMO, and Coltrane gave him due credit for his influence on his own technical growth when he was a Bostic band member.

For me Booker Ervin may be the #1 underrated tenor.

[gonzo]

jerry bergonzi
steve grossman
gary thomas
azar lawrence

[ericdevin]

Kidd Jordan- he brings it hard every time he plays live, and is woefully under-recorded.

Frank Wright

Glenn Spearman

Joe Rigby - Check out Dan Warburton's article on him here:
http://www.paristransatlantic.com/ma...9sep_text.html

David Boykin- Chicago musician, also known for his work with (wife?) Nicole Mitchell, nothing recent as a leader as far as I can tell, but his older stuff kills.

I also second the following:
Booker Ervin
Ed Wilkerson
Hank Mobley

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by gonzo

azar lawrence

Great player who should have gone places, but if he's underrated or unknown it's largely because, for whatever reasons, he disappeared from the jazz scene. He was a "young lion" a decade before it became a marketing term. I think he was about 20 when he recorded on McCoy Tyner's Enlightenment.

[Paul B]

He also did some strong dates with Woody Shaw, I believe. Never understood why he faded from the scene.

My vote for most underrated tenor is Ricky Ford. A remarkable talent.

[rollhead]

Earl Bostic would have been at the top of my list, but he played alto, not tenor.

A lot of the folks mentioned here already, namely:

Gary Thomas
George Garzone
Eddie Harris
Jerry Bergonzi
George Adams

The ones I'd add:

Warne Marsh
Lucky Thompson
Michael Blake

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Paul B

Ricky Ford. A remarkable talent.

Indeed. I saw him with Mingus (his first major gig) as well as with Byard, Hinton & Riley. As a player who works in the whole history of the tenor he ranks with David Murray, IMO.

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Indeed. I saw him with Mingus (his first major gig) as well as with Byard, Hinton & Riley. As a player who works in the whole history of the tenor he ranks with David Murray, IMO.

Thanks for the tip on him, guys. I just ordered his "Manhattan Blues" CD used for $1.59. That's one of the benefits of discovering "underrated" talents.

[clinthopson]

Harold Land would top my list along with Teddy Edwards, Lucky Thompson, Jose "Chombo" Silva and if you Appleites get a chance, catch Meliana Gillard.

[gonzo]

a couple of months ago there was a real nice article on azar in jazz times under the heading of overdue ovation. it seems he was very active in the R&B scene for awhile with early EWF and others before succumbing to drug related problems. is now playing alot of jazz gigs in L.A. area. http://www.azarlawrence.com

[Root Doctor]

Although he also played alto, I have a real fondness for Shafi Hadi.

[Derek Taylor]

Top of my list:

Stephen Riley

also:

Buddy Tate
Lenny Popkin
Teo Macero
Jimmy Halperin
Rich Halley
Charlie Kohlhase
Louie Belogenis
Seamus Blake
Harold Ashby
Richie Kamuca
Sal Nistico
Pete Christlieb
Fred Hess
Don Menza
Ernie Krivda
Seth Meicht
Stephen Gauci

And, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis… I guess he can’t really be considered “underrated” in the same sense as many of the others mentioned, but I do feel like a lot of folks don’t rate him nearly high enough.

[clinthopson]

Derek,

Thanks for mentioning my friend Pete Christlieb.

I'm not sure he's underrated, though. He's pretty well known and respected plus being a very funny guy.

[Derek Taylor]

Clint,

He’s had some high profile gigs, but like Sal Nistico (who had a similar career trajectory, iirc, though cut short), I don’t hear his name mentioned all that often when it come to top flight tenormen. I’m probably just not lookin’ in the right places or movin’ in the right circles. His two volume set w/ Warne Marsh on Criss Cross is one return to on a regular basis.

Hey, here's three more:

Allen Eager
Brew Moore
Ed Petersen

[JaSt]

Booker T
Arthur Rhames
Arthur Doyle
Abdelhai Bennani
Dave Rempis
Zane Massey
Fredrik Ljungqvist

[Dick Bowman]

Originally Posted by ericdevin

[... deleted ...]
David Boykin- Chicago musician, also known for his work with (wife?) Nicole Mitchell, nothing recent as a leader as far as I can tell, but his older stuff kills.
[... deleted ...]

David Boykin seems to be releasing on his own Sonic Healing Ministries label (worth checking Dusty Groove for these, although I think they're mostly out of print at the moment).

What I find frustrating is that having heard him in full flow a number of times live he seems reluctant to commit that side of his playing (at length) to disc. "Galaxophone" gets closest, and is pretty arresting toward the end.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by gonzo

a couple of months ago there was a real nice article on azar in jazz times under the heading of overdue ovation. it seems he was very active in the R&B scene for awhile with early EWF and others before succumbing to drug related problems. is now playing alot of jazz gigs in L.A. area. http://www.azarlawrence.com

Damn, I wish I had known about this:
Friday, February 29, 2008
8-10pm

Winston Auditorium
235 W. 23rd St
Between 7th & 8th
New York, NY

Azar Lawrence Sax
Greg Bandy Drums
Andy McLeod Piano
Marvin Horn Bass

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Bostic especially was amazing, IMO, and Coltrane gave him due credit for his influence on his own technical growth when he was a Bostic band member.

For me Booker Ervin may be the #1 underrated tenor.

(I'm just busting your chops here, but.....)
How can you remind us that there's no such thing as "The Greatest" on one thread and declare someone else as #1 in another catagory?