Famous Saxophone Solos: from R&B, Pop and Smooth Jazz

The title of this book accurately describes the genre of the solo transcriptions as R&B, Pop, and Smooth Jazz. There is a limited amount of publications that outline saxophone solos in popular music, so this book gets a star just because it exists. The arrangements are written for the instrument that was on the original recordings, so if it was played on a Tenor Saxophone (Bb Instrument) and you play an Alto Saxophone (Eb Instrument) then you will have to transpose the transcriptions in order to be able to play it in the correct key. The author is accurate in transcribing the solos, but they are not always written in their entirety. This issue is especially evident on the instrumental arrangements. It seems the author arbitrarily decided to mark the beginning and end of the "solo" (considering basically the entire arrangement is a solo)..... Maybe he did this to save space and/or time? The book does not come with a Play Along CD. Instead, the author suggests that you create one (or find the original recordings). The recordings are sometimes difficult to find (Brandon Fields - I Heard it Through the Grapevine *not Marvin Gaye's version) and they are often not the most common version of the song (Phil Collins - Against All Odds *live from "A Hot Night in Paris"). With that said, the book is still worth purchasing, if you're looking to collect every book in existence that is written for playing popular music on a saxophone.

Would have been much much better if they'd have included both an alto and tenor version of the solo. The song choices are also kind of dubious. "Famous" sax solos? Too few songs in here. If you really are predominantly an alto or tenor player, this book will not satisfy you. The only person enjoying this book are sax players who spend equal time on alto and tenor. The author justifies by saying, take a few licks and transpose in multiple keys. That's a good use of the book too, but the author has chosen songs which don't have very memorable licks, so that's out... not a fan of this one.

Poor cut of Saxophone Solos.

is Good

This book goes a long way in filling a void. There are far too few published saxophone transcriptions in pop, smooth jazz and R&B styles. The book has a large variety of transcriptions in various R&B styles and periods. The improvised solos are transcribed in their entirety (contrary one of the other reviews) and are extremely accurate. Great selection of killer solos! Contrary to another review, there is NO text on the backgrounds of the players, only music. Further, all but two of the solos are from the original hit recordings. For the other two solos (Brandon Fields and Gerald Albright) there was no sax solo on the original hit.