The winter season at the Jazz Showcase got off to an encouraging start Thursday evening, with one of Chicago’s more magisterial tenor saxophonists reminding listeners of the plush beauty of his work.

When jazz fans talk about the Texas Tenor saxophone sound, they're talking about a sound which is very robust, sometimes raw, and which mixes the musical vocabularies of swing, bebop, blues and R&B.

The saxophone continues to be one of the cornerstone instruments of jazz. Here are three recent recordings that demonstrate different approaches to the use of saxophones in the music. Berkman wrote ...

When jazz fans talk about the Texas Tenor saxophone sound, they're talking about a sound which is very robust, sometimes raw, and which mixes the musical vocabularies of swing, bebop, blues and R&B.

These saxophonists have a robust, sometimes raw sound that mixes swing, bebop, blues and soul. Illinois Jacquet. Image: William Gottlieb/Library of Congress via Flickr Five Titans Of Texas Tenor Sax ...