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48 albums · 1950–2026

The saxophone, Adolphe Sax's instrument from Dinant to the world

· 1 min read · by 1001 Albums

A nineteenth-century studio portrait of Adolphe Sax standing beside a table
Three giant painted saxophones on a square in DinantA tenor saxophone player on stage
Adolphe Sax, photographed by Ferdinand Mulnier in Paris. Photo: Ferdinand Mulnier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. · Painted saxophones on a square in Dinant, Sax's birthplace. Photo: Ymnes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. · A tenor saxophone on stage. Photo: PiRGoif, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The saxophone was invented around 1840 by Adolphe Sax of Dinant, in Belgium, and patented in Paris in 1846: a brass body with a single-reed mouthpiece. Military bands took it up first, and jazz made it a voice of its own.

The list has two strands. One is Belgium's players: Bobby Jaspar, Jacques Pelzer, Steve Houben, Fabrizio Cassol of Aka Moon, Robin Verheyen and Manuel Hermia. The other is the records the instrument is known by: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, Jan Garbarek and Kamasi Washington, with Marcel Mule and Claude Delangle on the concert saxophone.

The list has 48 records from 1950 to 2026. Hundreds of other players would belong here. About 45 hours of music, 5 days of a few records each.

By genre

Jazz 51%World 44%Classical 3%Other 2%
  • Jazz 51%
  • World 44%
  • Classical 3%
  • Other 2%

The genres named most: saxophone, jazz, classical, hard bop, spiritual jazz, cool jazz.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 5 countries: Belgium 23, United States 21, France 2, Canada 1, Norway 1. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

The 1950s

The 1960s

The 1970s

The 1980s

The 1990s

The 2000s

The 2010s

The 2020s

More lists

Lists of Instruments first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.

29 albums · 1976–2024

The kora of Mali, the harp-lute of the jeli

· 1 min read

The kora is the harp-lute of the jeli, the griots of Mali, Guinea, Senegal and the Gambia: 21 strings over a large calabash covered in cowhide, played with the thumbs and forefingers of both hands.

World 89%Blues 3%Classical 3%Other 5%
  • World 89%
  • Blues 3%
  • Classical 3%
  • Other 5%

Read and see the list