TV REVIEWS : A Parade of Tenor Sax Titans on Bravo

With its rich assemblage of clips (mostly black-and-white), “Tenor Titans”--the second part of a “history of jazz” series hosted by Branford Marsalis--presents footage of almost every significant figure in the evolution of the tenor sex. There are 26 in all, ending with Marsalis himself playing an affecting, unaccompanied blues. (The program airs at 7 p.m. and midnight tonight on Bravo cable.)

The most famous tenor solo of all time, Coleman Hawkins’ “Body and Soul,” is heard only partially, and not on camera. When we see “Body and Soul” played later, the artist is Georgie Auld. But Hawkins is at his pioneering best on “Indian Summer,” as are Lester Young in a famous clip from “The Sound of Jazz,” and Ben Webster in “Cotton Tail” with Duke Ellington. There are typical examples of Stan Getz, John Coltrane and the acrobatic David Murray.

Marsalis makes a major mistake in claiming that Bud Freeman, at one time Hawkins’ only prominent contemporary, sounded so much like him that they were often mistaken for each other. Nothing could be further from the truth: Freeman, like Hawkins, was a complete original, as the clip makes clear.

Some soloists, mainly those with the Bassie band, are drowned out by the orchestra. Others suffer from poor sound--the Zoot Sims sample is so inadequate that it should have been dropped.

As for men like Warne Marsh and Sam Taylor, their inclusion as “titans” (men of gigantic power or stature) is highly dubious. Marsalis might have been well advised to spend more time with the handful of genuine titans.