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.
Along with the previous Tune Up, this set (which has been reissued by Muse) is one of Sonny Stitt's greatest recordings. The bop master is stunning on most of the eight selections, particularly "Constellation," "Webb City," and "It's Magic," switching between alto and tenor and sounding quite creative. The rhythm section (pianist Barry Harris, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Roy Brooks) is outstanding and, whether it be the ballad "Ghost of a Chance," Tadd Dameron's "Casbah," or "Topsy," this set has more than its share of great moments.
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…
Deftly handling the alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone, bebop giant Sonny Stitt is heard to perfection here on a variety of early-'50s dates. Stitt not only shows off his patented speed throughout, but he goes a long way in dispelling criticisms of him being all fire and no grace. The 16-track disc kicks off with four tight, Latin-tinged swingers featuring an octet that includes trumpeter Joe Newman and timbales player Humberto Morales. Switching to piano quartet mode for the bulk of the disc, Stitt ranges effortlessly from frenetic blasts ("Cherokee") to golden-hued ballads ("Imagination"). Capping off the set with four bonus cuts featuring the likes of Gene Ammons and Junior Mance, Stitt delivers one of the top sets of performances from the late bebop era.
This session is a real rarity, for it teams Sonny Stitt (mostly playing tenor) and altoist Richie Cole (along with pianist Jack Wilson, bassist Ed Gaston, and drummer Allan Turnbull) for the first and only time. Stitt and Cole inspire each other on the seven boppish selections and, even if there aren't any surprises, the heated exchanges make this LP worth searching for.
Having appeared on over 100 albums as either leader or sideman, across a career spanning four decades, Sonny Stitt remains one of the best-documented musicians in all of jazz history. A master of the saxophone - primarily alto and tenor - Stitt s tireless dedication to recording, touring and the jazz genre in general was renowned, earning him the moniker lone wolf from acclaimed jazz critic Dan Morgenstern. With a plethora of classic records under both his own name and alongside other greats - including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and Gene Ammons - Stitt carved out a legacy as one of the foremost players to have worked in the bebop and hard bop idioms. This four disc collection, containing over five hours of music from eight original, remastered LPs, collates the very best of Sonny Stitt s extensive catalogue of albums released between 1957 and 1963. Featuring too appearances from a wide range of other jazz greats, and demonstrating Stitt s extraordinary skill on both the alto and tenor saxophones, this compilation serve as both a perfect introduction to this master musician, and as a welcome reminder of why, some 35 years after his passing in 1982, he retains such respect and acclaim among the jazz cognoscenti.
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…
At first glance, it's easy to see why this late-period Sonny Stitt date could have fallen through the cracks. Recorded at Bubba's Jazz Restaurant in Florida on November 11, 1981, one year before the tenor saxophonist passed away, the set list depends on several pleasant yet rudimentary standards that these musicians could play in their sleep. Fortunately, the majority of these cuts find Stitt with fellow tenor man Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, who more than hold their own with a combined spontaneity and playfulness that are anything but boring. These 11 tracks are spirited, straight-ahead bebop with excellent versions of "Oh, Lady Be Good," "What's New," "There Is No Greater Love," "Lester Leaps In," Stitt's original "Sonny's Blues," and the Miles Davis tune "Four." The first-rate rhythm section alongside Stitt, "Lockjaw," and "Sweets" consists of Eddie Higgins on piano, Donn Mast on bass, and Duffy Jackson on drums.
This encounter between tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt (who doubles on tenor and alto) is a true classic. Ammons and Stitt teamed together many times over a three-decade period, including co-leading a band during 1950-1952, but Boss Tenors is arguably their finest recording. Backed by pianist John Houston, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer George Brown, Ammons and Stitt battle it out on "There Is No Greater Love," Ammons' "The One Before This," "Autumn Leaves," "Blues Up and Down," and Stitt's "Counter Clockwise." This is competitive bebop at its best, with Stitt and Ammons proving to be equal matches. Essential music for all jazz collections.