Let's Ride Sonny Barger's

The focus of this exciting, if imperfect, CD is a 1973 reunion of Gene "Jug" Ammons and Sonny Stitt, who were responsible for some of the most famous tenor saxophone battles of the 1940s and early '50s. When the two locked horns, it was musical sportsmanship at its finest. Jug and Stitt had a mutual respect for one another, and their battles were the essence of friendly competition. Some die-hard beboppers might be disappointed to learn that God Bless Jug and Sonny (which was recorded live in Baltimore in 1973 but went unreleased until 2001) isn't all that competitive - the saxmen don't try to relive their legendary cutting contests of the 1940s and early '50s…

This recording is a dream come true for Sonny Rollins fans, as Rollins presents an entire program without accompaniment in what must have been the ideal setting of the Museum of Modern Art Sculpture Garden. As expected, Rollins drops allusions all over the place and spins core melodic ideas into extended variations. The real fun, though, is simply getting caught up in the inspired whirl of the Rollins imagination as it darts here and there, managing to be both coherent and unpredictable in a manner that has earned him recognition as the music's supreme improviser. The enthusiastic audience, delighted to be along for the ride, even gets into the act at the close of this colossal solo session.

This 1982 recording features saxophonist Sonny Simmons and drummer Billy Higgins and a smokin' pickup band that included bassist Herbie Lewis and pianist Joe Bonner, and a horn section that added Michael Marcus on baritone, Al Thomas on trombone, and Joe Hardin on trumpet. The opener is "Sparrow's Last Jump," a stomping hard bop workout that features Simmons in top lyrical form and Lewis bowing the entire tune, despite the fact that it's based on hard bop – hell, post-hard bop – changes and is played in 6/8 Mingus tempo! Of course, Higgins is dancing all over the kit and it's obvious that, in his solo, Simmons is reading that frenetic yet seamless dance because he goes over the time signature with his legato phrasing and cascades his arpeggios right through the middle of the intervals. It settles a bit on the title track, where the horns are left out so Simmons is sitting in only the rhythm section. Here, Higgins plays out a double-time rhythm on the ride cymbal before slowing it to four.