Gene Ammons Late Hour Special (1962) [remastered 2000]

Gene Ammons - Late Hour Special (1962) {Prestige OJCCD-942-2 rel 1997}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 222 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 7 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-62, 1997 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-942-2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Very nice album by Jug that often gets overlooked because it's comprised of 2 different sessions, and can't get the "historical" writeup of being a single significant moment in the studio. Some tracks – including "Lascivious" and "Soft Winds" – are with a tight quartet that features the very soulful piano of Patti Brown. The others are with a larger group that has a whole horn section backing Jug up. The sound's a bit unusual for his records of the time, but it also gives him a great platform to work from, and he wails out of the group on his solos.

This was Ammons' final recording before "being made an example of" and getting a lengthy jail sentence for possession of heroin; his next record would be cut over seven years later. The music is surprisingly upbeat, with Ammons joined by two guitars (Bucky Pizzarelli and Kenny Burrell), a fine rhythm section (pianist Hank Jones, bassist Norman Edge, and drummer Oliver Jackson), and the bongos of Al Hayes for a set of Latin-flavored jazz that was masquerading as bossa nova.

Music from two different occasions are combined on this CD reissue. The four songs from 1960 match the great tenor Gene Ammons with Frank Wess (doubling on flute and tenor), organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor. Wess, one of jazz's great flutists, battles Ammons on tenor to a draw on "Water Jug," while the leader takes "Angel Eyes" as his memorable feature. In addition, Ammons is heard in 1962 with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Ed Thigpen playing with great warmth on the ballads "You Go to My Head" and "It's the Talk of the Town." The latter set was one of Ammons' final ones before serving a long prison sentence (drug-related), yet his interpretations are full of optimism.

Music from two different occasions are combined on this CD reissue. The four songs from 1960 match the great tenor Gene Ammons with Frank Wess (doubling on flute and tenor), organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor. Wess, one of jazz's great flutists, battles Ammons on tenor to a draw on "Water Jug," while the leader takes "Angel Eyes" as his memorable feature. In addition, Ammons is heard in 1962 with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Ed Thigpen playing with great warmth on the ballads "You Go to My Head" and "It's the Talk of the Town." The latter set was one of Ammons' final ones before serving a long prison sentence (drug-related), yet his interpretations are full of optimism.

Music from two different occasions are combined on this CD reissue. The four songs from 1960 match the great tenor Gene Ammons with Frank Wess (doubling on flute and tenor), organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Art Taylor. Wess, one of jazz's great flutists, battles Ammons on tenor to a draw on "Water Jug," while the leader takes "Angel Eyes" as his memorable feature. In addition, Ammons is heard in 1962 with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Ed Thigpen playing with great warmth on the ballads "You Go to My Head" and "It's the Talk of the Town." The latter set was one of Ammons' final ones before serving a long prison sentence (drug-related), yet his interpretations are full of optimism.

As is often the case in this CD reissue series, the music has little to do with acid jazz, but it does feature a few organists. Tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons is heard on music that formerly comprised two complete LPs from 1970-1971 (The Black Cat and As You Talk That Talk), plus a pair of titles from a 1962 date only previously out on a sampler. The Black Cat is an interesting if erratic set that finds Ammons (along with guitarist George Freeman, Harold Mabern on electric piano, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Idris Muhammad) playing everything from the pop tune "Long Long Time" and George Harrison's "Something" (both of those tunes have unimaginative strings) to "Jug Eyes" and the boppish blues "Hi Ruth." As You Talk That Talk is a reunion with fellow tenor Sonny Stitt…

The executives at Prestige must have been felt ecstatic when they heard Gene Ammons first play after his release from a very severe seven-year jail sentence. The great tenor proved to still be in his prime, his huge sound was unchanged and he was hungry to make new music. This CD, which completely reissues the first two LPs Ammons cut after his return (The Boss Is Back! and Brother Jug!) rewards repeated listenings. The first date (in an acoustic quintet with pianist Junior Mance) hints at his earlier bop-based music while the numbers from the following day (with organist Sonny Phillips) find Ammons playing over a couple of boogaloo vamps very much of the period. Actually it is his ballad statements (particularly "Here's That Rainy Day," "Feeling Good" and even "Didn't We") that really make this CD memorable, although on "He's a Real Gone Guy" Ammons shows that he had not forgotten how to jam the blues either.

Tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt co-led a small group in 1950, and this follow-up, taped in the studio in 1961, finds the two picking up where they left off. The highlight of the date is the jointly written "Blues up and Down," a classic jam which has since inspired a number of other tenor match ups to record it, especially Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin. Ammons' repetitious one-note melody within "The One Before This," like Duke Ellington's deceptively simple two-note theme "C Jam Blues," leads to some inspired improvising by both men. Stitt switches to alto sax for a loping take of "There Is No Greater Love," during which Ammons' tenor provides the perfect foil. The rhythm section includes bassist Buster Williams, along with the somewhat obscure pianist John Houston and drummer George Brown.