Blues Saxophone - An In-Depth Look at the Styles of the Masters Book/Online Audio

I love the blues, and as a saxophone player I was happy to get this book. What the book has is transcriptios of about 15 solos in styles ranging from the roughest Chicago blues to Sonny Rollins sophisticated chord changes.There is a CD where the author plays those solos accompanied by his band.before every solo there is one page, half of which is a short history of the stylist whose solo is transcribed, and half which is a theoretical reference.The solos are good to learn, and may provide a good exercise for playing blues. But the theoretical explanation is lacking and is certainly not IN DEPTH.I do recommand the book as it has some good blues ideas, and shows respect for some of the underrated blues stylists.

I was anticipating a more of a collection of straight blues. This book encompasses a wider range of genres. Maybe OK, but not what I was looking for. Give me the I to the IV to the I and a turnaround or substitutions with explanation. I was disappointed.

The history of the saxophone comes alive in Dennis Taylor's Blues Saxophone. Unlike any resource that has existed before, this work combines photographs, biographies, instrumental transcriptions, and discographies. It even includes a CD-ROM to demonstrate the style of 16 sax masters, ranging from the well known to relatively obscure. This is an important and valuable resource for students and professional musicians alike.The book starts with straight-ahead Chicago blues players, and advances through blues rooted jazz to modern jazz masters. Each successive player is stylistically more progressive and complicated.Each master is given a short biography, then his playing is put into musical context. Carefully selected photographs bring the words to life. Then a typical solo is explained and transcribed for readers to play themselves. Taylor puts the solo into context, with an incisive description of the techniques used. On the enclosed CD, Taylor demonstrates the transcribed solo. Cleverly, the saxophone and rest of the band are on separate channels, so that the student can mute Taylor's saxophone and play along with the band.Blues Saxophone is the work of a professional musician and scholar who brings decades of research and passion to this project. His commentary alone is worth the price of the book. This book is a must have for anyone interested in the saxophone. We can only hope that it inspires a whole new genre of similar products for other instruments and musical styles.

As a guitarist and pianist, I'm using this book/CD to get some ideas (and also to improve my music reading in those "wind keys" as Ab or F#!). I love it. Of course, there are some more "in-depth" studies on Lester, Rollins and such out there, but I think this is one-of-a-kind related to real blues and R&B tenor sax players, and it covers almost any corner of the subject. Actually, I only missed some example of J.T. Brown's playing, but I guess it's no so hard to work on that just by ear. Very recommended... to any musician, not just sax players.

I was hoping for a detailed looked at the blues masters of the sax. The book presents a good selection of players, including the names you would expect and some I'd never heard of, with nice photos, a potted history and a short description of their individual styles. I would not call it in-depth. A very short discography is also included and one tune is then presented, in the style of the player, with an accompanying CD, so that you can listen to it. What really lets this book down is that the tunes are not original recordings with transcriptions, but Dennis Taylor playing in the style of each master. Dennis Taylor is a great saxophonist and he can play blues, but you don't get the hear the sounds of the greats, just Dennis' interpretation of them. A real disappointment! If you want a list of a selection of blues saxophonists, with a short history and a couple of records listed, then this book will do. There are also better blues play-along CD sets and if you want to hear the blues masters, then go elsewhere.

I use this book everyday> (I am an English teacher and sneak off to the music department practice rooms every day with this book.)The book has a range of different solos in the style of different saxophonists. You can play them through using the cd to help you. There is a good series of photographs and biographical sketches of each saxophonist in turn. When I look at these I have a burning urge to own a good pair of Ray Bans and a King Super 20 sax. You pick up lots of different styles and nuances for your own playing, which-I guess- is the idea. EAch track is a kind of paintbox for you to use for your own solos.. Each track is about a couple of minutes long, and the sax solo is all in one speaker on the cd player, so you can get rid of it using the balance control and play along without their sickeningly talented player. It's also cheap, looking at this page you can get one for around 7 quid. Well worth it.

Hard to get hold of music and info. about 50s/60s sax players and their music. Almost like a playalong book