How to Play Lead Alto Saxophone in a Big Band: Saxophone Book & CD

This book strips away the mystique around lead alto in big band settings. Rather than leaving players to figure out section balance, voicing choices, and stylistic conventions on their own, Ricker gives concrete guidance backed by recorded examples. The repertoire spans enough ground that you're not just learning one approach; you're learning how a lead alto player navigates Basie grooves, Latin feels, and modern ECM-influenced harmony.

Warm, assured, and conversational. You're not reading a theoretical treatise but rather getting insider knowledge from someone who has sat in the chair and knows what works. The CD lets you experience the sound in context before you have to produce it yourself.

This is for alto saxophonists ready to move beyond comping and solo work into the specific demands of leading a section. If you're sitting first chair in a jazz ensemble or stepping into that role, this book addresses the ensemble-specific skills that private lessons often skip over.

• Listen to the recorded accompaniment multiple times before playing through a tune. Identify how the section breathes as a unit, not how individual players solo.
• Study the examples that show voicing and articulation choices. Write them into your part if needed; internalizing the style is more important than reading perfectly on sight.
• Pay attention to how dynamics shift in different sections of each style. Lead alto carries the sound forward but never drowns out the melody or harmonic movement around you.

Assign sections of this book to your lead alto player during the year they take on the role. It works best when paired with the actual charts in your rehearsal rotation, so concepts stay connected to real performance. Use the recorded examples in sectional rehearsals to anchor discussions about articulation and balance.

• Lead alto voicing and register management in jazz ensemble contexts
• Stylistic articulation across Swing, Latin, and contemporary jazz idioms
• Section tone blending and dynamic balance
• Improvisation within ensemble constraints rather than as a solo vehicle
• Reading and interpreting big band lead alto parts with historical awareness