moment of clarity: essential listening for the tenor saxophonist

Once upon a time, I tried to be a tenor saxophone player. I didn't get very far, but along the way I met a very nice bassist by the name of Greg Ryan. I asked him, "How do you learn to play jazz?" He said, "By listening"--and wrote out a list of essential albums.

I've held on to the handwritten list for over ten years, growing my library piece by piece, and by now I've been able to listen to most of the albums on it. It's by no means comprehensive (there's no Lester Young or Dexter Gordon, for starters) or authoritative (there are many other essential jazz recordings by these artists and others), but it's a very good list.

If you are interested in jazz, I highly recommend checking these out. Incidentally, Greg Ryan is the person who first told me about the great hard bop pianist Andrew Hill. Check out "Black Fire" and "Grass Roots."

Greg's list, presented in no particular order:

Miles Davis