Su Terry

“Listen, if you're ready for 63 minutes of solo saxophone, you're not going to find any CD better than this. Su Terry does everything with the solo sax (alto and soprano) that can be done, and then some. This incredible artist wails out her soul to any and all who would hear -- as in, you know, really listen. This is playing where the music breathes as alive with breath as any vocalist can give you, even the best of them. And you get the privilege of writing the lyrics for yourself. OK, so Su Terry is one of the best sax players on earth. What's likewise drop-dead impressive is that Terry is the composer of all this music, so rich and wild, yet built like a truck, and just as formidable. You could call this CD the prelude and fugue of sax. Dues paid. Send in the agents.” - Michael Redmond

“This is a very engrossing CD. I play it over and over in my basement while editing poetry manuscripts for Exit 13 magazine. It doesn't make the bad poems better, but it sure adds dimension when the poems are good. I certainly want to hear more from Sweet Su. Thank you.” - Tom Plante, Exit 13 Magazine

“The solo saxophone recital has seldom been the medium of choice for mainstream players, but then again Su Terry has never been your typical jazz saxophonist. A protege of Jackie McLean who was subsequently mentored by the late great tenor sax giants Clifford Jordan and Junior Cook and living legend Barry Harris, Terry is one of the very few female horn players to achieve acceptance on the tough New York hard bop scene in the '80s. Sweet Su, as she's been dubbed by her mentors, does bring a certain special sensibility to her instrument, but is more attributable to her philosophy of life than her gender. A practitioner of the ancient arts of Qigong and Taiji Quan, Terry's adherence to the Taoist principles of life so permeates her holistic approach to creating music that her solo performances can be heard more as duets between her horn and the sounds of silence. Pink Slimy Worm (the title comes from a famous classical composer's derogatory description of the saxophone) combines composed and improvised pieces for alto and soprano that manage to be musical in a variety of ways, at times recalling the solo works of Lee Konitz, Oliver Lake, Bobby Watson and Paul Horn. Terry's tone, personal and classic at the same time, is at the heart of the date's attractiveness; her broad sound can be both smooth and sweet or dark and gritty and she fluidly modulates her tonality, often in call and response patterns, to avoid monotony. Drawing from a wealth of experience--jazz, classical, new age, avant garde, rhythm and blues, Eastern, Afro-Cuban and new music--the date's fifteen tracks, variably programmatic and impressionistic, come together as a thoroughly honest vision of the world she lives in--one in which music exists as a powerful healing force, from the ancient to the future.” - Russ Musto

“When the saxophone was invented, many scoffed at the instrument. Little did they know that one day Su Terry would grace the instrument with her consummate musicianship and finest tone this author has ever heard emanate from a saxophone. I have heard her many times. Her approach is truly innovative.” - Wayne V. Smith