The Love Universe The Archives of Nate Gass

13 Great Songs Featuring Saxophone

There's been an ongoing debate within certain GRTM circles centered around the legitimacy of saxophone use in popular music. It has been said among some of my peers that the saxophone is an instrument to be despised- that it cannot help but destroy every song it touches with its absurdity. Granted, I will admit that the saxophone is a tricky instrument to utilize effectively. Its a dangerous choice and not one to be taken lightly, but I do believe it can be done well. I'll even go so far as to say that a well executed saxophone solo can perfectly bring out whatever a song calls for in the moment, whether applied to smooth over a well laid groove or to add some abrasiveness to a loud tune.

What is it about the saxophone that is so divisive? We've all heard it thrown in unnecessarily (Sam Beam I'm looking your way) and if its recorded or mixed poorly it can be jarringly cheesy. But how could this instrument go from being one of the "coolest" instruments in music, at the center of the Beat Movement and an almost essential instrument in early rock and roll, to the symbol of all that is awful in soft rock and easy listening? Our debates have produced no answers to these lingering questions and these heated discussions have left both sides wondering if there can ever be a middle ground upon which the saxophone can ever toot freely again.

It would be convenient to blame it all on Kenny G or SNL's opening credits and be done with it, but its probably not that simple. I don't think it would do any good to even blame jazz. Anyone who's heard any Charlie Parker or Coltrane knows better. So instead of playing the blame game I've decided to look for examples that prove the naysayers wrong. I decided to see if I could come up with a playlist of rock/pop songs featuring saxophone that any reasonable fan of rock music could confidently stand behind.

Thanks to my years of playing sax in high school, there remains a special place in my heart for this oft-maligned woodwind. It was my first instrument, and I'd like to think of this playlist as my thank you letter to the reed instrument that started it all. I thought it was going to be hard to compile the list, but once I got started I was very surprised to find that I actually had to cut songs to keep the playlist at a manageable length. There were obvious omissions, but I suppose that's what the comments section is for.

So crank this one up and let these awesome sax performances honk their way into your ears and convince you that the saxophone can still kick ass.