Sonny Terry Folkway

Inspired by Charlie Parker and then Jackie McLean, the widely experienced, Detroit-born altoist Sonny Red, nee Sylvester Kyner (1932-1980) was an archetypal Motor City bopper, who, like many of his confreres there, also absorbed the blues-drenched lines of pianist Bud Powell. Forthright, direct, unpretentious, a skilled soloist with a strong feeling for the blues, he played and recorded with some of the finest jazzmen around. The presence here of such luminous talents as, most notably, pianist Barry Harris, along with fellow pianist Tommy Flanagan, trumpeter Blue Mitchell, saxophonists Clifford Jordan and Yusef Lateef, and guitarist Grant Green left no doubt about his stature among them…

Mid 50s genius from Sonny Rollins - 5 albums in a single set, all presented in LP-styled sleeves. Includes 'Worktime' (1956), 'With The Modern Jazz Quartet' (1956), 'Tenor Madness' (1956), 'Moving Out' (1956) and 'Saxaphone Colossus' (1957).
Worktime is a record that perfectly illustrates why Rollins was one of the greatest players on his horn for many decades running! There's a depth of tone on the record that rivals Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young - but a quickness of pace and imagination that shows a clear influence from Charlie Parker, and a deftness that few were bringing to the tenor at the time. The rhythm section here is super tight - and features Ray Bryant on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Max Roach on drums…

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…

Rice Miller (or Alec or Aleck Miller – everything about this blues great is somewhat of a mystery) probably didn't need to take the name of the original Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) to get noticed, since in many ways he was the better musician, but Miller seemed to revel in confusion, at least when it came to biographical facts, so for whatever reason, blues history has two Sonny Boy Williamsons. Like the first Williamson, Miller was a harmonica player, but he really sounded nothing like his adopted namesake, favoring a light, soaring, almost horn-like sound on the instrument…

In another of those two-fers that are going to tangle discographies for some time to come, this bears the title of a Don Patterson album, The Boss Men, and includes all of the material from that LP. However, this CD, though it's also called The Boss Men, is billed to both Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson, and combines the original Patterson The Boss Men LP with another album cut in 1965, Night Crawler, that was billed to Sonny Stitt, although it featured the exact same lineup (Stitt on alto sax, Patterson on organ, Billy James on drums) as The Boss Men. Not only that, the CD adds two cuts from a Patterson 1964 LP, Patterson's People, also featuring the Stitt-Patterson-James trio. As for the original The Boss Men, it's a respectable straight-ahead jazz-with-organ session…

A heck of a great little record - one that shouldn't work so well, but it does! For the set, Sonny Stitt's blowing in front of a larger brass section - and while the prospect of a Sonny Stitt big band record might not sound that great at first, this one really kicks, largely because of Sonny's great solo work! Stitt's in perfect form by this point - blowing freely above a core brass group that features Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Cleveland, and Willie Ruff - arranged tightly by Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy, yet still given enough room to swing with a heck of a lot of soul! Also quite nice is the organ work on the set by the obscure female player Perri Lee - a great little groover with a lean sound that cuts through the arrangements and really makes them sparkle!

Sonny Rollins, one of jazz's great tenors, is heard here at his peak with a pair of piano-less trios (either Wilbur Ware or Donald Bailey on bass and Elvin Jones or Pete La Roca on drums) stretching out on particularly creative versions of "Old Devil Moon," "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise," "Sonnymoon for Two," and "A Night in Tunisia," among others. Not only did Rollins have a very distinctive sound but his use of time, his sly wit, and his boppish but unpredictable style were completely his own by 1957. Truly magical.

A heck of a great little record - one that shouldn't work so well, but it does! For the set, Sonny Stitt's blowing in front of a larger brass section - and while the prospect of a Sonny Stitt big band record might not sound that great at first, this one really kicks, largely because of Sonny's great solo work! Stitt's in perfect form by this point - blowing freely above a core brass group that features Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Cleveland, and Willie Ruff - arranged tightly by Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy, yet still given enough room to swing with a heck of a lot of soul! Also quite nice is the organ work on the set by the obscure female player Perri Lee - a great little groover with a lean sound that cuts through the arrangements and really makes them sparkle!

In another of those two-fers that are going to tangle discographies for some time to come, this bears the title of a Don Patterson album, The Boss Men, and includes all of the material from that LP. However, this CD, though it's also called The Boss Men, is billed to both Sonny Stitt and Don Patterson, and combines the original Patterson The Boss Men LP with another album cut in 1965, Night Crawler, that was billed to Sonny Stitt, although it featured the exact same lineup (Stitt on alto sax, Patterson on organ, Billy James on drums) as The Boss Men. Not only that, the CD adds two cuts from a Patterson 1964 LP, Patterson's People, also featuring the Stitt-Patterson-James trio. As for the original The Boss Men, it's a respectable straight-ahead jazz-with-organ session…

Imagine, you’re 15 years old living in Memphis, suddenly you move to L.A. and within 4 years you are playing alto sax in the Howard McGhee band with no less a jazz legend than Charlie Parker! Of course, Sonny was heavily influenced by “Bird” but that did not stop him from developing his own bluesy style of playing. It also did not stop him from drifting around the country playing in various R’n’B and jazz bands led by the likes of Johnny Otis, Stan Kenton and Billy Eckstine. Finally signed to R’n’B label Imperial in 1956, Sonny’s first album (and our first selection) Jazz U.S.A was considered “ a true underground classic of the hard bop era”. Musicians joining Sonny on our four selections include, Kenny Drew, Barney Kessel, Sonny Clark, Leroy Vinnegar and Wynton Kelly. Not a bad line up!