female sax players
My favorite saxophonists are Coleman Hawkins, Ornette Coleman, Nobuya Sugawa, Eric Marienthal, and a whole lot more, It's like an endless list. It wasn't until recently that I realized there aren't any women on this list, in fact I did't know very many female saxophone players at all, I think I've met four in total. Also whenever I see a video online of a woman playing the saxophone, the critique is always much heavier in the comment section, so I thought I would share my three favorite female saxophone players.
Jess Gillam is a British saxophonist, she started playing saxophone at seven, and has said in an interview that she would not conform to the classical saxophone expectations. This is her recording of Pequena Czarda by Peter Iturralde and when listening to her play it versus a ride or die classical player play it, you'd hear a heavier articulation, and a brighter sound, which may not win you a saxophone competition but it sound really nice. Theres a section about her playing style in the bettersax interview linked above I recommend you watch it.
This is Vi Redd, an American saxophonist, and here she is singing and soloing on Stormy Monday with the Count Basie orchestra in Paris which is a really big deal. I don't have a whole lot to say about her except that this recording goes hard.
This is Grace Kelly, she plays sax with house sax player Leo P. and has fronted for the Boston Pops and played with Jon Batiste among countless other high profile performances. I really enjoy listening to saxophonists who can play most styles because you can hear it in their playing an I think she is a great example of that.
The gender norm I seem to have found through my experience is that the saxophone is a dude bro instrument and that there aren't many great female players, but that's not right, it just takes a little extra searching because styles where the saxophone prospered, like jazz, have been male dominated for a really long time. In fact I remember when I was in high school I sent a recording of the saxophone quartet I was in to my grandparents and they were very surprised to see that our tenor sax player was a girl. So while it may be uncommon to be recommended a female saxophonist, they are out there and do exist.
Bonus feature!
This is Staff Sgt. Rachel Perry playing the Claude Smith Fantasia I've been working on.
This was a very interesting read!! I haven't been in band since middle school and half of our saxophonists were actually girls so I wasn't really too aware of the stereotype that the saxophone is a "guy instrument". I've never really noticed but it is cool to hear a different perspective. My favorite song from your blog is Stormy Monday. It does go hard.
ReplyDeleteI think there's definitely a trend of the saxophone being a male dominated instrument. Makes me wish that I stuck with it through high school. I've noticed a similar trend in jazz with the piano and other brass instruments as well. Women in jazz tend to be vocalists. Thanks for sharing your favorite female sax players though, they're super cool!
ReplyDeleteI surprised with the low amount of female sax players there are or that you saxophone player have seen. But seeing these wonderful videos on your post has brought me joy
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you in thinking that the saxophone is a male-dominated instrument. Personally, I've not seen many female sax players live, especially with jazz ensembles where I've only seen male sax players, but it is cool to see that there are female sax players out there. Also, Fish & Chips goes crazyyy.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear you put a lot of effort into finding these wonderful musicians and although I may be biased I love the bonus feature. I can't wait to hear you play the fantasia.
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