Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews We listen to the lousy records so you won't have to.

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Horn Session Players

Horn players on this page:

Byron Berline - The Brecker Brothers - Mel Collins - Chuck Findley - Jerry Hey - Jim Horn - Bobby Keys - Lenny Pickett - David Sanborn - Tom Scott - Ernie Watts - Larry Williams

There are an awful lot of successful musicians out there who aren't substantial songwriters, don't produce, don't perform in public much, and never formally join a band - namely, session players. There are so many of them it's hard to keep track, but we thought we would document the careers of at least a few top-notch session musicians with a set of cool cross-references to their guest appearances on records we've reviewed. There undoubtedly are many other such appearances we simply don't know about, but it's a start... and the biggest session player of them all? Paulinho Da Costa, of course. (JA)

Byron Berline

The premiere Nashville fiddler, summoned by rock stars whenever a country fiddle is needed. (JA)

The Brecker Brothers

The brothers - Michael and Randy - have made all sorts of connections, from jazz fusion to soft rock to funk. They often appear buried in larger horn sections, so keep a careful lookout. And wouldn't you know it, there's a Michael Brecker page. (JA)

Mel Collins

British saxophonist who joined King Crimson in 1969 and then cut a series of high-powered rock sessions, at least through the early 80s. (JA)

Chuck Findley

A very successful trumpeter who also plays trombone and flugelhorn. (JA)

Jerry Hey

Hey's not only a trumpet and sax player, he also usually arranges the horn sections he plays in, and lately he's been doing a lot of string arranging as well. (DBW)

Jim Horn

Well, yes, he plays horns. Sax and flute, to be specific. This guy may be the biggest session sax player of them all, rivalled by Bobby Keys in star value but not in terms of breadth or depth of connections - he's certainly played with a much more diverse group of musicians. (JA)

Bobby Keys (a.k.a. "Keyes")

Keys was a successful Muscle Shoals session saxophonist long before he met the Stones, but once he did back in '69, he quickly became the R & B sax player every British rock act wanted to have on its records. He's still around and still shows up on Stones records every once in a while. On most (but not all) of his late 60s/early 70s appearances he's teamed with trumpet player Jim Price. (JA)

Lenny Pickett

Saxophonist; leader of the Borneo Horns and the Saturday Night Live band, and member of the Tower of Power from about 1973 through 1980. (JA)

David Sanborn

Sanborn's gotten to be a big name; he's a staple on "cool jazz" radio. But he started out as a humble session sax player. (DBW)
And there is a David Sanborn page. (JA)

Tom Scott

Scott plays all manner of wind instruments; he was the leader of the LA Express, and has gone on to fame as a Cool Jazz meister. (DBW)

Ernie Watts

Sax. (DBW)

Larry Williams

Williams plays sax and keyboards, mostly on R&B and pop dates. (DBW)

It's only rock 'n' roll...

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