Steve Maddock:

This week's category: Top 5 all-time greatest tenor saxophone solos...

1. Joe Henderson - Pfrancing (from the album "So Near, So Far - Musings For Miles")

This solo is indicative of a virtuoso tenor man at the height of his artistry! The way Joe takes a tiny nugget of an idea and develops it, chorus after mind-blowing chorus, is...well...words can't really describe it.

2. Lester Young - Fine And Mellow (from the "Ken Burns Jazz - Billie Holiday" compilation)

It's only 12 measures long - so simple, yet one of the most emotional solos I've ever heard. Lester died very soon after recording it, which only adds to the impact and historic significance of this moment in time.

3. Joe Henderson - Blues On The Corner (from McCoy Tyner's "The Real McCoy")

A perfect example of how high art should reflect life. This solo, from it's initial phrase, is all about pain, anger, frustration - things we feel in our everyday lives. Everytime I hear this solo, a part of me wants to go out and get into a fight with someone...that's the power of good music, I suppose...

4. Dexter Gordon - Body And Soul (from the "Round Midnight" soundtrack)

While not anywhere near his prime when this was recorded, Dexter's solo is dripping with pain, loss, frailty - all the things that tend to creep up on us as we age. Gordon allows himself to be so vulnerable while playing this tune, and the result is a jazz masterpiece!

5. John Coltrane - Blues By Five (from "Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet")

The thing I love about this solo is how delightfully raw it is. Five guys who basically lived in the studio for the better part of two days, literally cranking out cut after cut after cut. Not the best recipe for high art, I suppose, but there are moments where these guys capture lightening in a bottle - this solo is one of those moments.