Personal Sonny Stitt

Arguably never quite in the top league alongside the likes of Charlie Parker (his great influence), Lester Young, Benny Carter, Ben Webster and John Coltrane, nevertheless the great alto saxophonist Sonny Stitt is a welcome addition to our “classic album” series. Across four wonderfully diverse albums we find Sonny amongst four jazz quartets all discovering something new about each other along their musical journey. “Saxophone Supremacy” finds Sonny alongside Lou Levy on piano, Leroy Vinegar on bass and Mel Lewis on drums. For “Personal Appearance” he is joined by Bobby Timmins on piano, Edgar Willis on bass and Kenny Dennis on drums. “The Battle Of Birdland” recorded one Sunday night at New York’s famed Birdland club, Sonny teams up with fellow sax titan Eddie Davis for a supercharged blowing session alongside Doc Bagby and Charlie Rice…

By this point in his career, Sonny hardly needed a tune up in his style - but the album's a great one from his post-Prestige years, and a real back-to-basics effort that recalls the genius of his work on Roost! The format is straight and simple - Stitt's tenor and alto fronting a quartet that includes Barry Harris, Sam Jones, and Alan Dawson - all playing in a way that puts Sonny in command on all tracks, blowing with an amazing tone that makes us want to throw away all his funk, organ, and electric outings, and just concentrate on these straight acoustic sides. Stitt has a way of blowing the reed like he's got his whole mouth moving into the sax - an earthy, human, and personal feel that first came out strongly in his work during the late 50s, but which has grown even more by this point - even if you couldn't hear the development on other sets.

Sonny Stitt - Personal Appearance (1957) {Verve B0002028-02 rel 2004}
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© 1957, 2004 Verve / Universal | B0002028-02 / MG V-8324
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

While the comparisons to Charlie Parker were inevitable throughout a good part of his career, Sonny Stitt was very much his own man. He is in top form throughout this 1957 session made for Verve, featuring a very young Bobby Timmons on piano, bassist Edgar Willis, and drummer Kenny Dennis. Alternating between alto and tenor saxophone in a program consisting mostly of standards, Stitt is equally at home on each horn.

Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson - Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson (1950) {Prestige Japan Mini LP VICJ-4175 rel 2006}
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© 1950, 2006 Prestige / Victor Japan | VICJ-41757 | MONO | 20bit K2 Remaster
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt (2006 Japanese exclusive limited edition 17-track 'K2 High Definition Coding' CD album, originally released in 1956, also featuring Bud Powell & J.J. Johnson with THREE BONUS TRACKS, presented in mini LP-style cardsleeve reproducing the original album artwork with 'Jazz' obi-strip.) Three classic Sonny Stitt sessions from 1949-50 are heard here in full. Stitt, who had been out of action due to his "personal problems," not only made a full-fledged comeback on these dates but debuted on (and stuck exclusively to) tenor rather than playing alto, where he was being assailed as a Charlie Parker imitator.

Sonny Stitt - At The Hi-Hat, Volume 2 (1954) {Roulette Official Digital Download rel 2002}
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© 1954, 2002 Roulette Jazz / Parlophone UK / EMI Digital | 0724383720057
Jazz / Bop / Bebop / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt spent most of his career touring as a single, picking up rhythm sections wherever he appeared. On February 11, 1954, he was booked at the Hi-Hat in Boston and the local sidemen he came up with (pianist Dean Earl, bassist Bernie Griggs, and drummer Marquis Foster) were competent but undistinguished. That didn't matter much, though, because they were able to state basic chord changes, allowing Stitt to stretch out on standards and his riffing originals. Most unusual about this typical bebop jam is that in addition to his alto and tenor, Stitt triples on baritone (an instrument he otherwise only utilized on two songs for a Prestige date during this period).

The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records is a four-disc set, compiled and annotated by author Ashley Kahn who wrote the book of the same name being published concurrently with its release. Impulse's great run was between 1961 and 1976 – a period of 15 years that ushered in more changes in jazz than at any other point in the music's history. Impulse began recording in the last weeks of 1960, with Ray Charles, Kai Windig /J.J. Johnson, and Gil Evans. While Impulse experimented with 45s 33 1/3 EPs, cassettes, and reel to reel tapes later in its existence, it was–and this set focuses on– it was the music on its LPs (with distinct orange and black packaging in gatefold sleeves containing copious notes) that helped to set them apart.

Hank Mobley - Eight Classic Albums (2013) {4CD Set Real Gone Jazz RGJCD262 rec 1955-1960}
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© 1955-60, 2013 Real Gone Jazz | RGJCD262 | Digitally Remastered & Enhanced
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

Four CD set containing eight albums from the Jazz legend. Includes the albums Hank Mobley Quartet, Tenor Conclave, Hank Mobley All Stars, Hank, Hank Mobley Quintet, Hank Mobley Sextet, Soul Station and Roll Call. With no disrespect toward Hawk, Bean, Prez, Trane, Rollins, Getz, Shorter, Henderson, Dexter and Brecker, Hank Mobley is the tenor player I listen to more than any other (were Sonny Stitt exclusively a tenor player, his recordings would be a close second, with Harold Land, Charlie Rouse, Oliver Nelson and Paul Gonsalves in the 3rd spot). Mobley doesn't so much "impress" as "seduce" the listener with ceaselessly melodic, lyrical, soulful inventions each time out. He was no "innovator" or trailblazer. Nor, like so many "showier" tenors, did he introduce "artifacts" into his sound–wobbles, growls, squeals and screeches, etc., approaches as common during the '30s and '40s as in the adventurous experimentation of modal and free players in the '60s and beyond.

Teodross Avery - My Generation (1996) {Impulse! IMPD-181}
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© 1996 Impulse! / GRP records | IMPD-181
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz / Saxophone

Young saxophonist Teodross Avery's recording covers a lot of ground, from explorative improvisations that sound as if they really belong on Impulse to selections that use a funky (and even a light hip-hop) rhythm and a straightforward ("Mr. Wonsey") boppish blues. Avery has strong technique and his sound, particularly on tenor (where he hints at Stanley Turrentine, and to a lesser extent, Sonny Stitt), is gradually becoming personal. He is joined by bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Greg Hutchinson on every selection along with either John Scofield, Mark Whitfield, or Peter Bernstein on guitar or pianist Charles Craig.