Possibly, more than any other instrument, the saxophone defines the sound of jazz. Most jazz combos have at least one saxophonist on the front—and when you see that saxophone, you know it's going to ...

“There are more people playing jazz music at a higher level than ever before in the history of jazz.” That’s Ian Buss’s answer when I ask him about choosing a career playing straight-ahead jazz music ...

For his opening piece, Richard McGhee drew rich, long tones from his sax, reveling in the natural reverb of Whole G Café. The audience, which packed the house and had still more people standing near ...

There’s a move perfected by middle school orchestra members — mainly clarinet players, in my experience — that emerges directly after a musician makes a jarring mistake during a performance. The ...

The Encore Saxophone Quartet brought some great music to the great outdoors on Sunday. The quartet performed on a warm summer evening as part of the Garden Concert series at St. Luke’s Presbyterian ...

The Chronicle's weekly "Sound Scene" lets you see -- and hear -- the city's sights and sounds. Staff photographer Jim Merithew shoots the sights, and staff photo editor Kathleen Hennessy captures ...

In the middle of their set at the Paramount a couple weekends ago, surrounded by windmilling guitarists and kit-smashing drummers, one of Modest Mouse's new members pulled out a trumpet. A couple ...