Top 14 Most Famous Female Saxophonists of All Time

The saxophone is one of the musical instruments used in many different musical styles, from classical to rock and roll. Today, you'll see many saxophonists touring concert halls around the world. However, one thing that not many people know is that the majority of saxophonists are female. In this article, we'll take a look at the most famous female saxophonists , including short biographies and the type of music they play.

Candy Duffer

Candy Dulfer is an outstanding jazz and pop saxophonist from the Netherlands. She was nominated for a Grammy for her album Saxuality at the age of 21, which was well received by critics as well as music lovers.

Like many successful musicians, Candy Dulfer was born into a musical family, her father being Hans Dulfer, a renowned jazz musician specializing in tenor saxophones. Every day, listening to the sound of her father's trumpet, little Dulfer fell in love with and started playing the saxophone at the age of 4, forming her first band called Funky Stuff at the age of 14.

Dulfer played with the likes of Madonna and Prince, and even Pink Floyd in 1990. She is active in the music industry and is considered one of the best female saxophonists to date.

Melissa Aldana

Melissa Aldana is a rising star in the global saxophone community, she was born in Chile and started playing the saxophone at the age of 6. She was tutored by professional saxophonist Marcos Aldana from an early age.
She started playing saxophone with alto sax, then she switched to tenor after hearing Sonny Rollins, a legendary jazz saxophonist from America. She attended the prestigious Berekely College of Music in Boston in 2009.

In 2010, Aldana released the album Inner Circle Music, which is considered her first album. Before winning the competition in 2013, she was signed to Universal Music's Concord Records, where she released an album of the same name titled Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. Currently, as a conductor of a quartet or quintet, she has released most of the albums and has been well received by the audience.

Vi Redd

Vi Redd is a famous legendary blues alto player . She is considered one of the most touring artists ever and is hailed as a pioneer for women in the blues mix.
Redd was born and raised in what is considered the cradle of jazz and blues - Los Angeles. She said that she was influenced by her father's playing style and his jazz club - the Clef club. During the 1950s, she was very popular and she only retired at the age of 93.

Amy Dickson

The first classical saxophonist on our list, Amy Dickson - she is a highly regarded musician from Sydney, Australia. She trained around the world and gave her first professional concert at the age of 16. In her youth, she played a few jazz pieces on the saxophone in her youth, but now, she has discovered I am absolutely passionate about playing classical music, and starting to play it has really helped her career flourish.
She has received many major awards, such as Youngest Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year….

Jess Gillam

Jess Gillam is one of the successful young musicians with the saxophone, she has received a lot of praise for her performance. One of her talents is the fact that she can use many different types of saxophones. Besides her main passion is playing the saxophone, she also takes on the role of host of Radio 3's show The Classical Life - which is also a program about classical music. It is known that she is the youngest radio presenter on BBC and also the first saxophonist ever signed to the record label Decca Classics.

Jane Ira Bloom

Jane Ira Bloom is a real musical talent. She was born in Boston in 1955, received a master's degree in music from Yale, and studied saxophone under the legendary Joseph Viola for more than ten years. In addition, she also studied piano and drums before switching to playing the saxophone.
She is the first artist ever invited to participate in NASA's art program, she has created three works that reflect the vastness of the universe.

Mindi Abair

Mindi Abair is an American jazz saxophonist. She is from Florida, a trustee of the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Country Music. She has many famous works, including two Grammy-nominated works.

Although considered a jazz saxophonist, she has also played with pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and even led and composed music for Mandy Moore's first band.
Most recently, she released a saxophone blues album that peaked at number three on the Billboard blues chart.

Ray Fuller

Tia Fuller is a saxophonist, born in 1976 into a jazz family in Aurora, Colorado. Her ability to play the saxophone is highly regarded. Fuller has played with musical legends early in her career, including Esperanza Spalding and even Ray Charles. Currently, she teaches at the Berkeley College of Music and was recently featured as the lead sax artist on the Pixar series Soul.

YolanDa Brown

YolanDa Brown, born Yolanda Faye Brown, is an extremely popular jazz fusion saxophonist from England.
Many people say that she played music with a combination of jazz, reggae and soul. The sound she produces is as beautiful as a dream and it brings out the most amazing things a saxophone can do. Brown has toured the world from Australia to Martinique and she has been a brand ambassador for Yamaha since 2011.

Jessy J

Jessy J is a highly regarded saxophonist who began her musical career very early as a pianist. When she transitioned to the saxophone in adulthood, she was recognized for her ability to play a variety of saxophone genres and styles, even dancing, singing, and acting in the process. She has toured with groups such as The Temptations, Seal and Michael Bolton, among others.

Kobayashi Kaori

Kaori Kobayashi is a Japanese saxophonist. Her playing style combines traditional jazz and pop and blues elements to create a unique sound. After releasing 13 solo albums, Kobayashi is considered one of the hardest working jazz artists today. She has also won many records and is recognized as a famous talented female saxophonist.

Matana Roberts

Matana Roberts is a member of the New York Jazz Saxophonist Association, and her compositions have received critical acclaim. Her Coin Coin project in 2011 is considered by all to be a masterpiece. She recently released part 4 of that project and continues to collaborate with famous artists in the music field.

Camille Thurman

Camille Thurman is an admirable saxophonist in the Jazz Orchestra at Lincoln Center. She started playing at an early age, learning piano, flute and singing before moving on to the tenor saxophone – the instrument she plays best. at the age of 15.

Thurman has released four albums for various record labels, all of which have performed well on the Billboard jazz charts. She earned her first recording contract when she was a finalist for the Sarah Vaughn International Vocal Competition in 2013.

Nubya García

Born in Camden Town, London, Nubya Garcia started playing saxophone at the age of 10, she was quickly recognized and accepted into prestigious music schools at an early age. In 2017, Garcia released her debut album Nubya's 5ive and has since released several albums and performed in numerous festivals across the UK and Europe.