Overlooked Altos

[Ted O'Reilly]

Jerry Toth.

Wow, that was nice, Ted. Thanks for posting. Jerry was such a lovely player. Puts me in a Paul Desmond frame of mind.

Couple of questions - did you take those pics? I'm sure you were at the session. Anyway, it's a wonderful collage and great to see all the guys from some 30 years ago.

Also I know Jerry was sadly afflicted with Alzheimer's and went to live in a nursing home. Has he passed away?

And speaking of alto players, Boss Brass and Woods (made shortly after this recording) is one of the best big band albums ever recorded. Ever. Period. (IMHO, of course). . But seriously.

Sad to say, Jerry Toth passed away in March 1999. There's a Wikipedia page about him...

I think I took some of the pictures there, of the producer Fernando Gelbard at 0:37, and 0:54. That's me at 1:13, in my smoking days (and Tennessee Tuxedo).

And speaking of alto players, the guy who sat beside Jerry Toth was a pretty good bop alto, Moe Koffman. This live performance also has some hot Sam Noto trumpet, too.

Gee, You Tube has my old theme song, also. Rob wrote T.O. for me, and later, T.O.2 as a closing theme...

[John L]

Sonny Cox

Sonny Criss is not always overlooked, but he is still overlooked too often.

Julius Hemphill too.

[tomatamot]

ERNIE HENRY!!!!

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ERNIE HENRY!!!!

[Head Man]

Has Jemeel Moondoc been mentioned yet? I've been playing "Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys" today and he really is very good!

[sgcim]

Jerry Toth.

Wow, that was nice, Ted. Thanks for posting. Jerry was such a lovely player. Puts me in a Paul Desmond frame of mind.

Couple of questions - did you take those pics? I'm sure you were at the session. Anyway, it's a wonderful collage and great to see all the guys from some 30 years ago.

Also I know Jerry was sadly afflicted with Alzheimer's and went to live in a nursing home. Has he passed away?

And speaking of alto players, Boss Brass and Woods (made shortly after this recording) is one of the best big band albums ever recorded. Ever. Period. (IMHO, of course). . But seriously.

Sad to say, Jerry Toth passed away in March 1999. There's a Wikipedia page about him...

I think I took some of the pictures there, of the producer Fernando Gelbard at 0:37, and 0:54. That's me at 1:13, in my smoking days (and Tennessee Tuxedo).

And speaking of alto players, the guy who sat beside Jerry Toth was a pretty good bop alto, Moe Koffman. This live performance also has some hot Sam Noto trumpet, too.

Gee, You Tube has my old theme song, also. Rob wrote T.O. for me, and later, T.O.2 as a closing theme...

Speaking of Koffman, I recently learned his son made a movie about him entitled "Jazzman". Anyone from the Great White North ever see it?

[clifford_thornton]

Has Jemeel Moondoc been mentioned yet? I've been playing "Revolt of the Negro Lawn Jockeys" today and he really is very good!

I think he's great, too. Can't mention him too many times...

[Steve Reynolds]

Thomas Chapin is still seriously undervalued despite his absolute brilliance on the alto saxophone

[ValerieB]

if not mentioned before, CHARLES McPHERSON!!!

[Head Man]

Thomas Chapin is still seriously undervalued despite his absolute brilliance on the alto saxophone

Yes....how did I forget him...?

[Clunky]

Thomas Chapin is still seriously undervalued despite his absolute brilliance on the alto saxophone

Agreed . See my long standing avatar for details

[Justin V]

ROB BROWN: I like Rob quite a bit yet even overlooked him, so I think he qualifies. A fixture of the Downtown scene, focused, disciplined, with a good sense of ensemble. Hard to see him though, since he appears to tour very little. I've seen him a fair number of times, but only in NYC, and mostly in connection with the Vision Festival.

(Strictly speaking, a Matt Shipp disc)

I was going to mention Rob Brown as well, but I've never heard any of his leader dates. All four of those look interesting.

I'd also say Steve Wilson and Greg Abate. I wish that I would've caught Wilson playing in a duo with Lewis Nash in March. I always try to catch Abate when he's in the area, which often seems to be in two-alto groups (Bobby Watson, Phil Woods and Richie Cole).

[BillF]

ROB BROWN: I like Rob quite a bit yet even overlooked him, so I think he qualifies. A fixture of the Downtown scene, focused, disciplined, with a good sense of ensemble. Hard to see him though, since he appears to tour very little. I've seen him a fair number of times, but only in NYC, and mostly in connection with the Vision Festival.

(Strictly speaking, a Matt Shipp disc)

I was going to mention Rob Brown as well, but I've never heard any of his leader dates. All four of those look interesting.

I'd also say Steve Wilson and Greg Abate. I wish that I would've caught Wilson playing in a duo with Lewis Nash in March. I always try to catch Abate when he's in the area, which often seems to be in two-alto groups (Bobby Watson, Phil Woods and Richie Cole).

Yes, he does his two alto thing on his visits to the UK, too:

[clifford_thornton]

John Park (if anyone wants to sell me that If Winter Comes LP...)

Marco Eneidi

Alan Braufman (stay tuned for an interview)

Trevor Watts

Piet Noordijk

Theo Loevendie (also ss, bcl, pno)

Akira Sakata

Kazutoki "Kappo" Umezu

[Justin V]

ROB BROWN: I like Rob quite a bit yet even overlooked him, so I think he qualifies. A fixture of the Downtown scene, focused, disciplined, with a good sense of ensemble. Hard to see him though, since he appears to tour very little. I've seen him a fair number of times, but only in NYC, and mostly in connection with the Vision Festival.

(Strictly speaking, a Matt Shipp disc)

I was going to mention Rob Brown as well, but I've never heard any of his leader dates. All four of those look interesting.

I'd also say Steve Wilson and Greg Abate. I wish that I would've caught Wilson playing in a duo with Lewis Nash in March. I always try to catch Abate when he's in the area, which often seems to be in two-alto groups (Bobby Watson, Phil Woods and Richie Cole).

Yes, he does his two alto thing on his visits to the UK, too:

I bought Birds of a Feather after he did an octet gig here. I chose that one over some others after seeing that John Donaldson and Spike Wells were on it. They both impressed me on Brighton saxophonist Joe Robinson's While I'm Waiting:

[Steve Reynolds]

And unless he was mentioned earlier, the late, great Mike Osbourne

[clifford_thornton]

I think he was mentioned, but hey, no harm in mentioning him again! What a great player he was.

[xybert]

I've been hesitant to post his name here, i guess out of some not-based-in-reality desire to not paint him with the 'overlooked' brush, but man i feel like Jim Hobbs gets a bit overlooked. God i love his playing.

[Larry Kart]

Billy Drewes, Steve Slagle

[Peter Friedman]

British alto player Geoff Simkins impressed me very much on these two CDs on the Spotlite label

The Dave Cliff / Geoff Simkins 5 Play The Music Of Tadd Dameron

Dave Cliff Duo & Quartet - Sipping At Bells

And by the way, Dave Cliff is a damn fine guitar player.

[clifford_thornton]

I've been hesitant to post his name here, i guess out of some not-based-in-reality desire to not paint him with the 'overlooked' brush, but man i feel like Jim Hobbs gets a bit overlooked. God i love his playing.

He's certainly not well known enough - great player.

[mrjazzman]

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

[mrjazzman]

Sonny Stitt

C'mon man, we're talking about overlooked people, are you folks joking around???

[AllenLowe]

I like Steve Slagle, too; and if my new release ever gets out, even I might make the list -

btw, did anyone mention Coltrane on alto?

Edited December 5, 2013 by AllenLowe

[Chuck Nessa]

Virgil Pumphrey.

[danasgoodstuff]

I like Steve Slagle, too; and if my new release ever gets out, even I might make the list -

btw, did anyone mention Coltrane on alto?

Yes, but it's worth mentioning again...

Sonny Stitt

C'mon man, we're talking about overlooked people, are you folks joking around???

I think he's overlooked in some circles and overrated in others...no joke.

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson

Yeah, him!