Alto-sax legend Phil Woods came out of the bop school in the '50s, and though he could burn hard with the best of them, there was an almost romantic lyricism and lilt to his playing that set him apart. When he darted around the changes of a standard like "Slow Boat to China", he still managed to invest the tune with an air of longing, and his keening licks on ballads like "The Summer Knows" trickle with tenderness. He even found his way into pop history, blowing luxuriant lines on Billy Joel's blockbuster hit "Just the Way You Are".