Jazz Musician's Sonic Signature


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There are some jazz musicians, even if you've never heard the album or song before, you know who the musician is...even if he's playing as a sideman. For me, this is because I have lots of recordings by these guys and I've gotten used to their subtle nuances.

1. Stanley Turrentine
2. Hank Crawford
3. Kenny Barron
4. Miles Davis
5. Hubert Laws
6. Horace Silver
7. Dexter Gordon
8. Freddie Hubbard
9. Wes Montgomery

Whose playing do you instantly recognize?
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128x128mitch4t
Most of your list, plus John Coltrane, Jackie McLean, Mcoy Tyner, Red Garland, Keith Jarrett (but from his vocal distraction more so than his playing), Grant Green.
This is true for all jazz musicians; in fact, all musicians, period. Just depends on how well you know their playing.

But I'll play along...

McCoy Tyner
Keith Jarrett
Brad Mehldau
John Handy
Joe Henderson
Elvin Jones
Jaco Pastorius
Pat Matheny
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Drubin, I see Elvin Jones in your list. Of the many great jazz drummers throughout history, I haven't listened close enough to any drummers to identify a signature. 99.9% of all of my jazz recordings include drums, but for the life of me, I cannot identify a drummer on any of them.

I cannot say that I can instantly identify any bass players either. Drums and bass don't usually call attention to themselves, therefore, it is more difficult to distinguish unless you are really listening for it.
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I'll know in any band and in any poor sounding system for sure:
John Scoffield,
Adrean Belew,
McCoy Tyner,
Chick Corea,
Bill Frisell,
Ginger Baker,
Jaco Pastorius,
Miroslav Vitous,
Nills Petter Molvaer,
Chris Botti,
Roy Hargrove,
Dizzy Gillaspie,
Bireli Lagrene