There is a world of fabulous and interesting soprano saxophonists, and it is always a good idea to “open your ears” to as many as you can. It’s not about “liking” or “not liking” the music; it is about considering a different sound, a different approach, a different aesthetic. It’s also about being open to change. Music is a river. You can jump into the water anyplace you like and you can swim upstream or downstream; you can listens to what is brand new or what has come a long time ago. You can always swim right back to where you started, but….. you never know. With that in mind, I offer some names and some recordings. Some are very well known; some may be very obscure. Some will be quite foreign to what you may listen to now. That’s the point.

Sam Rivers, John Coltrane, Paul McCandless , Evan Parker, Roberto Ottaviano , Jane Bunnett, Steve Wilson, Zoot Sims, Sidney Bechet, Grover Washington, Gianni Mimmo, Philip Poussard, Olivier Franc, Jane Ira Bloom, Bob Wilbur, John Surman, Jan Garbarek, Elton Dean, Steve Lacy, Urs Leimgruber, Dave Koz, Joe McPhee, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Lol Coxhill, Roscoe Mitchell, Stan Getz, Gary Bartz, Sam Newsome, Paul Winter …..

And Michel Doneda, Louis Belogenis, Euge Groove, John Dikeman, Dave Liebman, Vinny Golia, Steve Adams, John Butcher………..

Here’s a gorgeous sound on soprano from Kari Heinila, a major player from Finland.  I’ve always loved that stark, crystalline  Scandinavian sound and Kari has it abundance. Enjoy the soprano sound of Kari Heinila.