Phil Woods: Two Historic Saxophone Solos

Perhaps his best known recorded work as a sideman is a pop piece, his alto sax solo on Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are." He also played the alto sax solo on Steely Dan's "Doctor Wu," from their critically acclaimed 1975 album Katy Lied.

Philip Wells Woods (born November 2, 1931 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.
Woods studied music with Lennie Tristano, who influenced him greatly, at the Manhattan School of Music and at The Juilliard School. His friend, Joe Lopes, coached him on clarinet as there was no saxophone major at Juilliard at the time. Once graduated, he quickly acquired a reputation as the pre-eminent bop saxophonist of the day; although he did not copy Charlie "Bird" Parker, bop's greatest saxophonist, he was known as the New Bird, a label which was also attached to other alto players such as Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley at one time or another in their careers.
Since 1955 Woods has worked mainly with groups he has led, but he has also worked for or with Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Raney, George Wallington, Gene Quill, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Quincy Jones, Benny Goodman, Sonny Rollins, Benny Carter, Thelonious Monk, Tito Puente, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Stephane Grappelli, Louis Bellson, Steely Dan and Michel Legrand.Woods' recordings have been nominated for seven Grammy awards and have won four.