The saxophone is an iconic instrument, which is one of the reasons why we’re so passionate about it ourselves and feature a range of saxophone lessons on our own website.  While we have some of the hottest sax players of today featured in the lessons on our website, there have been dozens of sax players down the years that have become legends of the music industry.

In the interests of fairness, we haven’t included any of our own sax stars, looking elsewhere to assess the best sax players of all time.  Here’s who we’ve came up with.

John Coltrane

If the time spent practising an instrument is a measure of how great someone can become, it is no real surprise to learn that John Coltrane would play for up to 12 hours a day as he constantly sought to hone his genius with a sax in his hand.  Known for his prowess with the tenor and soprano versions of the sax, some of his albums will leave you in stunned awe, with Giant Steps often being cited as one of the best and most influential collections of saxophone music ever.

Even today, countless musicians cite Coltrane, who died in 1967, as a huge influence, even if sax isn’t their own instrument of choice.

Charles Parker

Charles Parker was from the same era as Coltrane, and like his counterpart he was instrumental in the development of the iconic bebop sound of the time and was widely seen as an icon for many, particularly within the hipster subculture that was developing in New York City in the 1940’s.

As a saxophonist, Parker was probably most famous for his ridiculously original and impulsive improvisation skills, particularly his ability to shift tones, sounds, and styles effortlessly within the same piece of music.

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins, who continues playing to live audiences and releasing music even at the age of 83, is often cited as the greatest living sax player.

From the same era as Parker and Coltrane, Rollins played on a regular basis with the former prior to his death in the 1950s, while also carving out his own distinct style under what would later become known as “hard bop.”

It is perhaps no coincidence that his most critically acclaimed album was titled Saxophone Colossus, as that is what Rollins is and remains to this day.

Lester Young

While Lester Young was of the generation before the three sax legends already mentioned, it wasn’t the case that he was unceremoniously shoved to one side when the next set of musicians came along.

Young was one of the few sax players of the time that remained committed to playing sax in what was then known as the traditional way.  An easy, relaxed style was widely shunned for the edgier, more aggressive style of the new musicians on the block, but Young was so good that he merely continued doing what he was good at, and was a huge success up to his death in 1959.