What Is the Best Instrument To Solo With?

June 23, 2025 was a weird day. America just dropped bombs on an Iranian nuclear base the night before – almost leading the US into war until Trump called for a cease fire (we will see how that plays out). And, the Clipse held a listening party for their upcoming album where they played Kendrick Lamar’s verse from their unreleased (now released) song “Chains & Whips”. But, besides that, nothing crazy happened. So, me and my family went to dinner at a NOLA restaurant in Asbury Park called R Bar. Every Monday, this band called the Ocean Avenue Stompers play. Usually the performances are good (Like a 7-8/10) but nothing extraordinary. But that night – they were superb, playing classic covers from Marvin Gaye, Fred Westley, Curtis Mayfeild, the Beach Boys, and even a NOLA Jazz style version of “Happy Birthday” – not the Stevie Wonder version (it was the sax player’s birthday). And, after the guitar player went h.a.m. soloing on the Beach Boys track, it got me thinking: what is the best instrument to solo with? So, I rounded up all of the main instruments in a jazz band (with a few others) and ranked. So, without further ado, here’s my list:

#1 – Saxophone

We all saw this coming. A good sax solo in any genre can cure depression. The sax is just an instrument that can invoke different types of moods when you want it too. It can be reflective (Coltrane on “Blue & Green”), aggressive (Clarence Clemons on “Born to Run”), chill (Grover Washington on “Just the Two Of Us”), fast (Coltrane on “Giant Steps” or “Impressions”), or sensual (you know what song i’m talking about).

#2 – Electric Guitar

Like the sax, a guitar is also very versatile, but it only has two moods – soft and hard (pause). You either have a soft jazz song with a guitar solo (Grant Green on “Down Here on The Ground”) or a hard rock song with a guitar solo (Slash on “Sweet Child ‘O Mine”). But, the greatest guitar solo of all time is easily Prince on Purple Rain. It is just beautiful, it balances the soft edge of a jazz song with the heaviness of a rock track (While I am editing this I just now see a “Subway Takes” episode saying to bring back the sexyness of a guitar solo – saying that everyone stopped making it sexy because Prince perfected it). I didn’t even mention other iconic solos like Mike Dean on “Devil In A New Dress” or the outro on Emienem’s “Sing For The Moment”. 

#3 – Trumpet

This was always going to be in the top 3. When arguably the greatest musician of all time, Miles Davis, plays an instrument, it will be in the top 3 of anything. His solos on “So What” and “Straight, No Chaser” have become iconic. In my opinion, a trumpet is definitely an instrument that’s main purpose is in the Jazz setting – so it is not versatile in the slightest. But, when you do hear a trumpet solo, it is consistently good.

#4 – Trombone

What happens when you mix the abrasiveness/loudness of a trumpet with the flexibility of a saxophone? You get a trombone – an instrument packed with a lot of power but is surprisingly tender. I can’t give any famous examples – but when I see the Stompers and in my own jazz band, the trombone is a great instrument to solo with.

#5 – Piano

Two names for you: Thelonious Monk and Stevie Wonder, must see TV (R.I.P. Inside The NBA on TNT). On the Stevie side – we don’t hear him solo often, but when he does solo (like when he did his rendition of Chick Coreas’s “Spain”) – it reminds us as listeners how good he is at playing a piano (if that wasn’t apparent already). And on Monk’s side – I read a youtube comment that says “Monk plays the piano as if it were a percussion instrument”, and after watching the live performance for “Blue Monk” in Norway – I think the commenter was right on the dot with that statement. Also, Winard Harper loves to cover “Stuffy Turkey” – putting me onto an absolute classic that I would’ve never have heard before. (Last point, Piano is arguably not a top 5 instrument to solo with, but I play piano, and this is my list. So argue with a wall, Herbie Hancock and the dead body of Bill Evans & Dave Brubeck.)

#6 – Harmonica

I am a huge fan of both Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen, and their harmonica solos are undefeated. “Thunder Road” gives me chills, it feels like the perfect song to encapsulate the life of a rebel from Asbury Park, New Jersey, and the harmonica solo welcomes you into that life. Stevie Wonder’s harmonica solo on “Boogie On Reggae Woman” sends you into another realm of vibes. I don’t have that much to say here – just love the solos from those two artists.

#7 – Drums

A drum solo is different from the others. It usually comes at the last part of the solo section of a jazz song before the chorus, meaning that it is the last solo you hear, so it has to be good. If you screw it up, it leaves a bad taste in your, and the audience’s mouth (my drummer f**ked up his solo at one of our gigs and he went in the back room and cried – poor guy). But, when it is done right – it is great. My favorite drum solo I’ve ever heard was when I went to see the Roots play at the Blue Note (couldn’t find any footage, so here’s the Roots picnic version). And the way Questlove’s solo lead into “Lazy Afternoon” was beautiful (the tempo change was brilliant as well).

#8 – Bass

I f**king hate bass solos. 

It pisses me off that I have to change the volume of my instrument so people can hear a bass solo. Like at that point, just cut the solo. In every jazz song that I have ever listened to, the bass solo is unquestionably the worst part. The only exception is Charles Mingus’s “II B.S.” – where the bass solo is the best part (yes, it was also sampled for Jeru’s verse on “I’m The Man”). There is a reason why there are no bass solo’s in any other genre: they suck. By the way don’t get it twisted, I love the bass as an instrument. Bass lines can be my favorite parts of songs, like Sade’s “Paradise”, D’Angelo’s “Spanish Joint” or A Tribe Called Quest’s “Check The Rhime”. But bass solos on the other hand, are absolute f**king garbage.

And that is my ranking. Did I miss any key instruments? Let me know in the comments down below.