Tenor saxophonist David S. Ware died in October 18, just a couple weeks shy of his sixty-third birthday. He suffered from kidney disease and came close to dying three years ago, but was rescued by a transplant. He was one of the most impressive tenors of the last few decades, and his long-running quartet -- with Matthew Shipp, William Parker, and a platoon of drummers -- produced more exceptional records than any other, John Coltrane's included.

I'm not up for writing a fresh piece at the time, but it occurs to me that it might be useful to collect and organize what I have written about Ware over the years: in Jazz Consumer Guide, and before that in a huge guide to his Quartet stars Parker and Shipp, Bass Fiddles and Nu Bop (filling in some missing records with database grades):

David S. Ware Quartet: Flight of I (1991 [1992], DIW): Like Gayle, Ware is a staunch free saxophonist, but he seems to be more rounded, capable of finesse as well as fierceness. Having worked with Cecil Taylor and Andrew Cyrille, he formed a trio in 1988 with Parker and Marc Edwards (drums), and added Shipp in 1990. He's stuck with the quartet format ever since, with Parker and Shipp (and a series of drummers) as one of the longest running, most fruitful partnerships in jazz history. This album is an early peak, with Shipp exceptionally prominent, and Ware more often in pursuit of his collaborators rather than out on a limb. A-

David S. Ware Quartet: Third Ear Recitation (1992 [1993], DIW): A-

David S. Ware Quartet: Earthquation (1994, DIW): B+

David S. Ware Quartet: Dao (1995 [1996], Homestead): B+

David S. Ware Quartet: Godspelized (1996 [1997], DIW): Ware's sequence of '90s albums (Third Ear Recitation, Earthquation, and Dao with Whit Dickey on drums; this one and Go See the World with Susie Ibarra replacing Dickey) are pretty much of a piece: one long, articulate argument for the saxophone colossus as the voice which cuts through the darkness of the world. Or if that seems too melodramatic, it is also an argument for the community of mutual support provided by one of the longest-running, most intense collaborations in jazz history. What lets Ware project such power and majesty is the solid foundation of Parker and Shipp. Ibarra, too, makes an immediate impact, so if this isn't the peak of the series, it is certainly a majestic rise. A-

David S. Ware: Go See the World (1997 [1998], Columbia): Omitting "Quartet" from the artist attribution seems to have been Columbia's idea -- a concession to mammon that is in no way reflected in the music here, ineluctably the work of a very tight group. Ware's part is much in line with his other albums in this series, but I want to spotlight the stretch in "Logistic" where he lays out, because the remaining trio work belongs on a hypothetical Very Best of Matthew Shipp compilation. And a similar stretch on "The Way We Were" is equally powerful, and very different. But of course Ware is still the dominant voice here -- when he blows, heads turn. A-

David S. Ware Quartet: Surrendered (1999 [2000], Columbia): A-

David S. Ware: BalladWare (1999 [2006], Thirsty Ear): A-

David S. Ware Quartet: Corridors & Parallels (2001, AUM Fidelity): Shipp switches to synth here, trading in his stark piano chords for a smorgasbord of noodling effects, but this works both as backdrop and as counterpoint to Ware, who is challenged to blow some of his most expressive sax. And when the beat goes synthetic on tracks like "Sound-a-Bye" Ware just kicks it up a notch. The more regular beats go a long ways toward making this Ware's most accessible album, without in any way diminishing the power or the glory (cf. "Mother May You Rest in Bliss") of Ware's sax. A

David S. Ware Quartet: Freedom Suite (2002, AUM Fidelity): When the bebop movement flourished, much was made of the virtuosity of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, how their speed and improvisational skills stacked up against their antecedents, but the bebop pianists always had an insurmountable predecessor, namely Art Tatum. Like Tatum in the bebop era, Sonny Rollins stands outside and in many ways above and beyond the Ayler-Dolphy-Coltrane mainstream of avant saxophone. This is one of the few avant efforts both to pay tribute to Rollins and to try to make something new of his legacy, and it succeeds on virtually every level. In part, this is possible because Rollins' 1958 original was little more than a sketch with some improvisation. But mostly it's because the Ware Quartet works more on fleshing out the sketch than on competing with the improvisation, and because they bring group strength to the fore, whereas Rollins always seemed like he'd rather just do it all by himself. Ware's tone is heavier and more muscular, Parker is more active, and Shipp adds immensely to the mix. A-

The David S. Ware String Ensemble: Threads (2003, Thirsty Ear): I knew we were in trouble when the publicist started talking about how beautiful the new Ware + strings album is; then come the notes where Ware concedes that "there are enough records with me blowing my brains out." But this only adds two strings -- Matt Maneri on viola, and Daniel Bernard Roumain on violin -- to Ware's usual quartet, with the oomph still coming from Parker's bass and Shipp's synth. The idea is to focus on the Berklee-trained Ware as a composer, and to this end he lays out on three tracks, and lays back on the other three. But without his roiling sax the compositional ideas are primitive: the title cut rolls gently between paired notes for 13 minutes, the strings adding rich harmonic texture; "Ananda Rotation" is little more than a sheet of background synth, lightly etched with Ware riffs; "Carousel of Lightness" is merely a lazy river of tone; the two "Weave" pieces are drum improvs around sax backbones; and "Sufic Passages" rides its intro bass vamp into a plethora of variations. The latter is the best thing here: it reminds me a bit of Eno's Another Green World, but lushly overgrown. B+

I also wrote a longer piece on Ware's strings album, here. Also, from Jazz Consumer Guide (or, again, the database):

David S. Ware Quartet: Live in the World (1998-2003 [2005], Thirsty Ear, 3CD): A-

David S. Ware Quartet: Renunciation (2006 [2007], AUM Fidelity): Reportedly the finale of the most formidable quartet since Coltrane's, with stars William Parker and Matthew Shipp and a series of drummers marking epochs within the era. One more live shot to go with Live in the World. A-

David S. Ware: Shakti (2008 [2009], AUM Fidelity): A new quartet, with guitarist Joe Morris the second seed. The Indian motifs are part of Ware's spiritual quest, but when he plays it's hard to escape the here and now. While most tenor saxophonists have tried to sound like John Coltrane, Ware simply lived the life, finding his own unique way, elevating everyone around him. A-

David S. Ware: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones, Volume 1) (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): The inevitable solo tenor sax-stritch-saxello album, practice as slow-motion performance. B+

David S. Ware: Onecept (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): His life saved by a kidney transplant, the avant saxophonist's rehab continues: first the solo Saturnian improv with stritch and manzello for variety, now he adds bass and drums -- old hands William Parker and Warren Smith, who can follow him anywhere. He works up subtle schemata, but the main thing you hear is his towering sound. A-

David S. Ware/Cooper-Moore/William Parker/Muhammad Ali: Planetary Unknown (2010 [2011], AUM Fidelity): More progress: a new quartet with older players than the old quartet, the old fire too. A-

Albums I missed:

• Passage to Music (1988, Silkheart)
• Great Bliss, Vol. 1 (1990 [1991], Silkheart)
• Great Bliss, Vol. 2 (1990 [1994], Silkheart)
• Cryptology (1994 [1995], Homestead)
• Oblations and Blessings (1995 [1996], Silkheart)
• Live in the Netherlands (2001, Splasc(H))
• Organica: Solo Saxophones, Vol. 2 (2011, AUM Fidelity)
• Live at Jazzfestival Saalfelden 2011 (2011 [2012], AUM Fidelity)

Ware didn't appear on many albums under other names: two early records for Andrew Cyrille, at least one album with Cecil Taylor, not sure what else. Only one I've heard is a session with William Parker recently released on the Centering box set: very impressive, but I'm not done with the box yet.