Dimenuendo and Crescendo in BlueGreatest sax solo of all time. Conveniently, also one of THE greatest jazz performances ever.
The Duke Ellington orchestra's performance of Dimenuendo and Crescendo in Blue from the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. The audience (mostly stolid East Coast sophisticates) got so fired up they nearly RIOTED. Especially after a platinum blonde jumped up and started dancing (and nearly got even WORSE when the showrunners tried to pull the band off the stage two songs later, much to the audience's displeasure).
Funky BluesI've always loved this recording. An unprecedented collection of saxophonists: Johnny Hodges, Charlie Parker, Benny Carter, Ben Webster and Flip Phillips. Hodges and Parker both playing on one track alone makes the whole 13-minute run time worthwhile (and the other soloists are great, too!).
April in ParisBird at it again, from one of the best jazz albums ever recorded: Charlie Parker with Strings. Parker is at his best, and the album in general highlights his pure musical and improvisational genius.
Prelude to a KissBack to Hodges. I don't think there's ever been a saxophonist who could milk a ballad for all its worth like Rab. So, SO many to choose from (Star-Crossed Lovers, I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) being among my favorites). But I especially love the lick on this one at about 3:20-3:27 as the crescendo builds.
CaravanReally not much needs to be said about anything Maynard Ferguson ever recorded.
