jamrock

tenor saw mix

steven

25 Sep 2022 — 2 min read

In the summer of 1989 I moved to Northern California to build staircases. A few weeks before I had just discovered Tenor Saw for the first time from a long-haired pack of Ohioans living in Colorado. The first song that really caught my attention was Lots of Sign and I was hooked.

While in Northern California I discovered a guy at the Ashby Bart station flea market who sold bootleg reggae mixes and I would go one weekend with a request and come back the next for a tape. The first one was a Tenor Saw mix. When I returened he gave me the tape and told me it was everything Tenor Saw ever recorded.

Through my own obsessiveness I can now verify that this wasn't true, but for the time he was impressively close to getting a lot of it on there. Years later, I decided to make my own attempt, though I kept it more to my favorites than trying to include all of it.

Tenor Saw lived for a short time, dying at only 21 under suspicious circumstances in Houston, Texas. In such a short time he recorded a lot of amazing music.

All photos by Beth Lesser. If you can find any of her books, buy them!

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