1959 · Album
Very Saxy
Recorded 1959 · Prestige · Produced by Not specified in verified sources
Four Tenors Trading Fire in 1959
A historic and hard-swinging jam session where four tenors battle it out with quite exciting results.
Very Saxy arrived in 1959 as a straightforward proposition: four of the best tenor saxophonists alive in one room, playing together. It wasn't a landmark release that changed jazz overnight. Instead, it built its reputation quietly over decades. The Penguin Guide to Jazz eventually selected it for the Core Collection, and AllMusic awarded it four stars, calling it a historic and hard-swinging jam session where the four tenors battle it out with quite exciting results. That steady recognition speaks to what actually happens on the record — this isn't a conceptual album or a studio experiment. It's a working session, Prestige label bread-and-butter work from 1959, the kind of blowing date that happened regularly but rarely made lasting impressions unless the players were exceptional and the energy was right. Here, both conditions held. Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Buddy Tate, Coleman Hawkins, and Arnett Cobb were all seasoned players with their own careers and reputations. The point wasn't innovation; it was watching masters do what they'd spent decades perfecting. For anyone interested in tenor saxophone in this era, or in how session work could still produce something genuinely compelling, the album rewards repeated listening.
Who's playing
George Duvivierdouble bass
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davistenor saxophone
Shirley ScottHammond organ
Arthur Edgehilldrums
