Sonny Stitt

Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - Boss Tenors in Orbit! (1962) {2002 Verve Remaster}
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© 2002 UMG / Verve | 314 549 371-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz

Though Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt were the premier twin towers of jazz tenor sax bar none, they also had great mutual respect for their distinctly different styles. The soulful Ammons and the bop-oriented Stitt meshed well whether playing standards, jamming on familiar melodies, or in ballad form. This recording sees them a bit restrained, teamed with the brilliant organist Don Patterson, the totally obscure guitarist Paul Weeden, and the great drummer Billy James. There's a schism in terms of the stereo separation as each saxophonist gets his own channel, but on occasion they do play together, just not all that much. Some longer cuts allow Patterson to loosen up and take charge, but he is in the main an accompanist on this date from 1962.

Sonny Stitt was so closely identified with Charlie Parker on the alto that even when he played tenor, his style was of the quicker-than-lightning variety with all the notes he could pack in a phrase in his soloing. Which makes listening to him, for all but the most ardent bebop fans, an endurance contest no matter how agile he was. Here, in a 1956 session with Ray Brown and Jo and Jimmy Jones backing him, there is some tempering of the maelstrom that Stitt conjured up on every bandstand. Half the program is ballads, including "The Stars Fell on Alabama," a gorgeous "Body & Soul," and "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea"…

Although Joel Dorn's 32 Jazz label mostly concentrates on repackaging reissues from the Muse catalog, there have been some important discoveries. This 1998 CD has a previously unreleased Sonny Stitt club appearance that took place in San Francisco's Keystone Korner in September 1981. It is a special all-star concert in which Stitt splits his time between tenor and alto and is joined by pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Herbie Lewis, drummer Billy Higgins, and (on a few numbers) vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Richie Cole, and John Handy on alto and tenor. Stitt, a master of the bebop vocabulary, was not an innovator, but he was a fiery competitor who could blow most musicians off the stand when he chose to. In this case, he had a lot of respect for Cole and Handy, but still played at his best, just in case…

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.

Sonny Stitt - Stitt Plays Bird (1963) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27024}
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© 1963, 2012 Atlantic / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-27024
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt forged his own approach to playing bebop out of the sound and style of Charlie Parker, so this tribute album was a very logical project. With fine support from guitarist Jim Hall, pianist John Lewis, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Connie Kay, Stitt performs ten Parker compositions, plus Jay McShann's "Hootie Blues"; these renditions of "Now's the Time" and "Yardbird Suite" were previously unreleased. Stitt, who mastered bebop and could play hot licks in his sleep, is in top form on such numbers as "Constellation," "Confirmation," and "Ko-Ko," making this an essential item for straight-ahead jazz fans (although the prolific altoist would record eight other albums in 1963 alone).

Sonny Stitt & Bennie Green - My Main Man (1964) {2004 Universal Japan-Argo MiniLP UCCC-9077}
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© 1964, 2004 Argo / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCC-9077
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone / Trombone

Bennie Green was no where near the technician Stitt was. In fact, his trombone vocabulary precedes J. J. Johnson's and the bebop revolution of Bird and Diz. Nevertheless, Sonny and Bennie sounded like soul mates on the two occasions I caught them together at McKee's Show Lounge 63rd and Cottage in Chicago. Their meetings didn't produce the sparks of Stitt and Jug (Gene Ammons) but a spirit of rare camaraderie (Stitt could be an ornery loner).

Sonny Stitt & Don Patterson - Brothers-4 (1969) {2001 Prestige Remastering}
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© 2001 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-24261-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Groove / Boogaloo / Organ / Saxophone

Two organ/sax cookers back to back – both featuring Don Patterson and Sonny Stitt! First up is the wonderful album Brothers 4 – a mighty pairing of organist Patterson and saxman Stitt – one of Don's grooviest late 60s outings, thanks to an excellent sound from all players involved! Stitt plays Varitone sax on the date, which gives his horn a cool electric feel that really sounds wonderful next to Don's work on Hammond – and Grant Green's also in the group, serving up some great single-line solos that are almost more in his early 60s style than his Blue Note work from this same period. The group's rounded out by Don's regular drummer Billy James – a wonderful player with a great ear for unusual rhythms!

Sonny Stitt and Paul Gonsalves - Salt And Pepper (1963) {1997 Impulse! Remaster}
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© 1997 Impulse! / MCA / GRP | IMPD-210 | 20-bit Remaster
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

This 72-minute CD starts off with one of the underrated gems of the 1960s, an exciting matchup by tenors Sonny Stitt and Paul Gonsalves. Other than the brief throwaway "Theme from Lord of the Flies" (producer Bob Thiele's idea), this is very much a jam session set, with "Salt and Pepper" being a heated medium-tempo blues and the two competitive tenors stretching out on "S'posin'" and a lengthy "Perdido." Actually, the most memorable selection from the date is the one on which Stitt switches to alto, "Stardust."

Sonny Stitt (who sticks reissue to tenor here) meets up with organist Brother Jack McDuff (along with guitarist Eddie Diehl, drummer Art Taylor, and Ray Barretto on congas) for a spirited outing. Two standards - "All of Me" and "Time After Time") - are performed with a variety of blues-based originals and the music always swings in a soulful, boppish way.