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"Inside/Outside" Saxophonists


relyles

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The David Murray thread got a little sidetracked with the compilation of a list of saxophonists who occupy a realm that is both "inside" and "outside". Since I love these edgy musicians who push at the boundaries without necessarily going completely out, I thought a more detailed discussion of the topic would be interesting while I wait for my Buell Neidlinger disc with Marty Krystall to arrive.

So who are some of your favorite inside/outside saxophonists and why? What recordings would you recommend? Ideas on how we define an "inside/outside" musician might be just as interesting as a discussion on the actual artists. Any thoughts on that issue?

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So who are some of your favorite inside/outside saxophonists and why?  What recordings would you recommend?  Ideas on how we define an "inside/outside" musician might be just as interesting as a discussion on the actual artists.  Any thoughts on that issue?

Most of my favorite saxophonists fit into this category... Trane, Wayne, Jackie Mac, Eric Dolphy, Sam Rivers, Joe H, Charles Lloyd.

Guy

Edited by Guy Berger
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Any impressions on John Stubblefield? He is one of my favorite saxophonists, but in comparison to others his discography (especially as a leader) is slim. I caught him live once and he was great. I own his three recordings on Enja and another one on Soul Note. I also have a few unissued radio braodcasts of live performances featuring Stubblefield. While I enjoy them all, I am not sure that any of them really captures Stubblefield's best. Anyone have any recommendations on the definitive Stubblefield performance?

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Stubblefied is great but his own recordings don't show make the same impact as he does live.

Maybe he just makes such a great impression live, that his recording pale some in the light of day.

Suggestions are welcome!

I first saw him play with Thad & Mel's band. Wow!

Here is a link to a interview with him:Link

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I disagree about Anthony Braxton

Inside/Outside Saxophonists:

Chris Potter

Chris Cheek

Chris Speed

George Garzone

Walt Weiskopf

Michael Brecker

Branford Marsalis

Steve Wilson

Jimmy Greene

James Carter

Eric Alexander (yes he goes outside - not like Murray but he goes outside)

Marcus Strickland

Joe Farrell

Joe Lovano

Frank Catalano

Von Freeman

Yes, Yes, Yes - Joe Henderson

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elton_dean.jpg

Elton Dean - I've enjoyed his playing since the Soft Machine days. He can move from providing interest in a jazz-rock context through relatively structured jazz compositions all the way to the totally free. And all points in between.

I'm currently enjoying a disc by the Anglo-Italian Quartet with Harry Beckett, Enrico Fazio and Fiorenzo Sordini that works on the cusp between the latter two areas, more in than out.

Edited by Bev Stapleton
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Stubblefied is great but his own recordings don't show make the same impact as he does live.

Maybe he just makes such a great impression live, that his recording pale some in the light of day.

Suggestions are welcome!

I first saw him play with Thad & Mel's band. Wow!

Here is a link to a interview with him:Link

Thanks for the link to the interview. There was also a very informative multi part feature in Coda last year that is worth reading.

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What exactly is inside/outside playing? Inside the chords versus playing, in some sense, independent of what the chordal and rhythm instruments are doing? Some of the saxophonists listed (McLean, Billy Harper, Joe Henderson, Weiskopf etc. ) I really dig and others...well, the less said, the better. I'm having trouble finding a connective thread. Could even someone like Lester Young be considered 'out' in the way that he floated above the rhythm section sometimes?

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Does it mean someone who is highly proficient in the jazz tradition (Behop and hard bop) and in 1960s and beyond avant garde jazz, and who integrates the two traditions into a single style?

If so, my own favorites among saxophonists fitting this description are George Adams, Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Harper, David Murray, and Eric Dolphy.

On piano, my favorite inside/outside players are Jaki Byard and Don Pullen.

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I would say that inside-outside players tend to play notes both inside and outside of the standard harmony; unlike "inside" players who do this, they are willing to use an "outside" phrase as a point of tonal resolution instead of as a passing tone or group of tones - or as a passing chord - now, if we use this definition I would say that the first person to do this in jazz was likely Lenny Tristano who, as early as 1946, was willing to end a phrase with unresolved tension (eg; what is this thing called love, solo, I blieve has a phrase that ends on a flat ninth). Bird was a genius at constructing odd-ball and distant harmonic approaches to triadic harmony - but always (or almost always) resolved these phrases. And maybe we shouldn't just do saxophonists but all good inside-ouside players - in which case let's not forget one of the best, Paul Bley -

Edited by AllenLowe
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Inside the chords versus playing, in some sense, independent of what the chordal and rhythm instruments are doing?

Yes, I think that description will do!

Cannbal-addict -

Nice list!

I forgot about Chris Cheek; he holds his own on the Paul Motion record playing Monk and Powell with Chris Potter.

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Add John Gilmore as an insider / outsider. Also Arthur Blythe.

As for an example of someone who is exclusively "outside"... that's kind of tricky, but I'm tempted to say Charles Gayle. Or maybe Joe Maneri, who I'm sure could play "inside" but elects not to.

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