A dozen baritone bosses

1) Harry Carney. It couldn't be anyone else. He practically invented the instrument and no one had his sound or his breath control. He wasn't a bopper and maybe not a great improviser but what he brought to the Ellington orchestra with the depth he added to the sax section established his credentials without doubt.

2) Pepper Adams. It was only this year when my eyes/ears were opened to Adams. The recently discovered album with the Tommy Banks Trio made me aware that this was a guy who should have won every poll imaginable - a Grandmaster.

3) Cecil Payne. I'd heard Payne with both Basie and Herman - good, but no cigar. However, when I heard him on a recording of Freddie Redd's The Connection I was completely blown away. At that moment in time ('60s) I'd never heard bari playing like it. I loaned the album to a friend who subsequently died and, presumably, the album went with him.

4) Serge Chaloff. The fifth of Woody's Four Brothers, he anchored that famous sax section but came into his own on Blue Serge. An album that demonstrated that the instrument didn't have to have the bombast and bluster of the other heroes but could also be as subtle and as smooth as Getz's tenor.

5) Gerry Mulligan. After the success of his pianoless quartet with Chet Baker, Mulligan dominated the baritone section of the various polls. His dry sound and laid back solos personified jazz on the west coast.

6) Gary Smulyan. Of course all of the above are gone leaving the door open for the new breed and none more so than Smulyan who incorporates all of the attributes of the above with his own individuality.

Meanwhile, back here in the UK ...

1) John Surman. Surman may have now moved in different directions and not always have taken me with him but, when he emerged on the scene with the various Mike Westbrook outfits he blew all the other low reeds out of sight!

2) Alan Barnes. Baritone may not be his first call instrument but when the call comes he does the business. He plays hot, he plays cool and, on whatever instrument, he plays for keeps!

3) Joe Temperley. Not sure if Joe should be in the US or UK listings as he spent most of his playing career in the States, where he took over Carney's chair in the Ellington band and, latterly in Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. However, my most precious memory is of hearing him alongside Tony Coe and Jimmy Skidmore in Humph's first truly mainstream band.

4) Ronnie Ross. For many years the UK's number one. In the frontline of the post-war British modern jazz scene, his smooth delivery kept him up there in the MM polls.

5) Harry Klein. Another fine player operating in the mainstream to modern area. His broadcasts with Kenny Baker's Dozen were always good to hear on those Friday nights long, long ago.

6) Sue Ferris. I'll probably be accused of parochialism for including Sue but, in my (and her) defence, that memorable night at Ushaw College when she traded baritone choruses with Alan Barnes was the musical equivalent of 'The Thriller in Manila' and is already a part of north east jazz folklore. Lance