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Comments

• [1] Joe sundwall from Bridgewater, NJ May 05, 2009 - 01:55PM

  25 years ago I was chatting with a friend of mine who brought to my attention that we were in the time of the tenor sax -- an LP of Michael Brecker was playing at that moment -- and I don't think we've moved out of the time of the tenor yet. When I'm listening to WBGO I'm just astonished and delighted that things have not changed.

  
  
• [2] Joe sundwall from Bridgewater, NJ May 05, 2009 - 01:58PM

  25 years ago I was listening to an LP of Michael Brecker with a friend of mine who brought to my attention that we were in the time of the tenor. And whenever I listen to WBGO I realize that times have not changed, THANK GOODNESS!

  
  
• [3] Gregory Cohen Frumin from Brooklyn, NY May 05, 2009 - 02:13PM

  In this contest, as it has been set up, the categorical winner is the trumpet, if only, quite simply, because the saxophone IS NOT A HORN! And if the stated battleground is Jazz, the trumpet as a pristinely simple instrument relying on the body of the player himself was the vehicle by which this movement of great American ingenuity came forth. Horns, real horns, 4eva.

  
  
• [4] kimberly ann from brooklyn, ny May 05, 2009 - 02:13PM

  I prefer the sound of the trumpet, especially when listening to jazz, so if I had to choose I will say the trumpet. Miles! Louis! Oh boy. I mean, but what about the Piano? Duke, Monk? I, however, don't think there's an appropriate winner here. Without the influence of the greats and their chosen talents, no matter which instrument, jazz would not have been the same.

  
  
• [5] john price from MD May 05, 2009 - 02:14PM

  I don't know who is more annoying.... a jazz snob like mr. marsalis or to have and pierre boulez.... boring!

  
  
• [6] Gene May 05, 2009 - 02:15PM

  Trumpet _players_ are really different. So funny to see the trumpet players in the back row in archival footage, chit-chatting away while the incredible Billie Holiday sings--and when time for them to come in, they were right there. Not always the case, they seem to worry band leaders, not without reason, from what I've seen.

  Also, I was talking with an older trumpet player, who'd just received an award at Howard U., on Amtrak. I told him I'd seen a sax player on tv saying, "I don't know what it is about trumpet players, but they always get the girls."

  The guy smiled broadly and said, "He was RIGHT!"

  
  
• [7] Jeffrey from upper west side May 05, 2009 - 02:16PM

  don't forget Sidney Bechet.

  
  
• [8] Robots Need 2 Part'ay from Brooklyn May 05, 2009 - 02:18PM

  I think if you asked a person to close their eyes and picture jazz most people would see a trumpet.

  
  
• [9] SuzanneNYC from Upper West Side May 05, 2009 - 02:19PM

  Pointless discussion. The true jazz instrument is the piano.

  
  
• [10] Peter from Brooklyn May 05, 2009 - 02:21PM

  Ornette Coleman - please! Just as Bird liberated jazz melodically, Ornette liberated the music harmonically. Both played alto sax - coincidence?

  
  
• [11] Gene May 05, 2009 - 02:22PM

  The sax wasn't just popular after the 60s. It was _wildly_ popular in the 20s (Rudy Valle played) and helped popularize jazz in the 20s ("The Jazz Age"), and became the very symbol of jazz--an iconic power which it retains today. Look at any jazz poster.

  PS: I _love_ the sound of the sax, in almost any kind of music.

  
  
• [12] Andrew Cousins from Peterborough, Ontario May 05, 2009 - 02:22PM

  What about Coleman Hawkins, Lester young, Chu Berry...etc etc etc...so many more

  
  
• [13] Greg Burrows from Bronx May 05, 2009 - 02:25PM

  To the esteemed Mssrs Marsalis, Layman and Schaefer: You needlessly debate the front-and-center status of which instrument leads/drives jazz when it is neither saxophone nor trumpet. It is the DRUMS. From Baby Dodds to Big Sid Catlett, Dave Tough, Buddy Rich, Papa Jo Jones on to the present w/ Brian Blade, The Drum has driven, powered and set the swing for sax, trumpet and all the other instruments. Period. Rim shot.

  
  
• [14] Chris Osmond from Chapel Hill NC May 05, 2009 - 02:34PM

  I am a reed player, but would love to hear someone comment on how the engineering of the two instruments (the straight up and down / octave key orientation of the sax vs. the intervals - fifths? - of the trumpet) influenced the ""architecture," as Mr. Layman astutely noted.

  Might this be time to refer to the great Dave Hickey essay on college vs. pro basketball ("The Heresy of Zone Defense")? He notes that one is the domain of the coaches (the "architects"), while the other is dominated by great individual players ("soloists") who improvise around - and despite - the architecture they learned at coach's knee, sometimes changing the way the game is played in the process. I prefer the college game personally (go Heels), so...advantage Layman.

  
  
• [15] Elektra from Manhattan May 05, 2009 - 03:12PM

  It's so ironic that this piece aired today, as I am an indie designer who just created a saxophone shirt this week. In fact, I have a trumpet player wearing one of the "sax" shirts in my online store: www.coup.etsy.com

  I didn't have wireless during the show, but I would love to give Marsalis and Schaffer each one of my jazz shirts. Please, put me in touch with them if you can.

  Thanks so much!

  
  
• [16] Bob D from New Jersey May 05, 2009 - 10:57PM

  Jazz isn't a contest to determine which instrument is most important to the genre. Jazz is a symbiotic, synergistic communication medium that expresses the mind, body, and spirit in music through all instruments.

  
  
• [17] Hamid from Tehran-Iran May 08, 2009 - 12:01PM

  Yet another great program from John Schaefer. Thanks.

  To me Saxophone has a more powerful mental Jazz image than Trumpet. I think it has something to do with the shape of the Saxophone & its sound(s). Also; I think the Saxophone is a Cinematic instrument. Just watch Glenn Garry Glenn Ross. What a film. What a story & what a soundtrack. Wayne Shorter is mind blowing.

  Live Long Jazz no matter the instruments.

  Cheers.

  Hamid.

  www.videopix.co.uk

  www.videopix.zenfolio.com

  www.flickr.com/videopix

  
  
• [18] Rob from Denver, CO July 10, 2009 - 11:03PM

  Trumpet brings such diversity to Jazz: Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie...then you got the incredible phenom, Maynard Ferguson. He blew everyone away with his range and technique so much that trumpet players forget what an incredible jazz soloist he was in the 50's and 60's.