<Li> Piano Concerto--Aaron Copland </Li> <Li> Turandot--Giacomo Puccini </Li> <P> Saxophones are also commonly used in jazz music, where it is one of the signature sounds, as well as an iconic image used to denote the style . Beginning in the early 20th century, saxophones became popular in dance orchestras, which were not jazz ensembles but influenced the format of the big swing era bands that were soon to follow . The arrival of the saxophone as a jazz instrument is attributed to tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins' stint with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra starting in 1923 . The saxophone was soon embraced by Chicago - style musicians who added it, along with chordal instruments such as pianos, banjos, and guitars, to the trumpet - clarinet - trombone - bass - drums ensemble format inherited from New Orleans jazz . </P> <P> The Duke Ellington Orchestra of the late 1920s featured saxophone - based ensemble sounds and solos by saxophonists Otto Hardwick, Johnny Hodges, and Harry Carney . The swing bands of the 1930s utilized arrangements of saxophone and brass sections playing off each other in call - response patterns . The influence of tenor saxophonist Lester Young with the Count Basie Orchestra in the late 1930s and the tremendous popularity of Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of "Body and Soul" marked the saxophone as an influence on jazz equal to that of the trumpet, which had been the defining instrument of jazz since its beginnings in New Orleans . But the greatest influence of the saxophone on jazz was to occur a few years later, as alto saxophonist Charlie Parker became an icon of the bebop revolution that influenced generations of jazz musicians . The small - group format of bebop and post-bebop jazz ensembles, typically with one to three lead instruments, usually including a saxophone, a chordal instrument, bass, and drums, gained ascendancy in the 1940s as musicians emphasized extended exploration utilizing the new harmonic and melodic freedoms that Charlie Parker and a few others, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Bud Powell pioneered . </P>

When was the saxophone first used in jazz