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Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (2001)

Posted By: Oceandrop
Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (2001)

Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (2001)
Jazz | EAC Rip | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG | mp3@320 | 416 MB. & 177 MB.
300dpi. Complete Scans (JPG) included | WinRar, 3% recovery
Audio CD (2001) | Label: Prestige | Catalog# 2521-83111-922 | 68:05 min.

Review by Alex Henderson ~allmusic
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. Nonetheless, there are many inspired moments, and they enjoy a strong rapport on exuberant performances of "Blue 'n' Boogie," "Stringin' the Jug," and "Bye Bye Blackbird" (all of which employ Cedar Walton on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums). Ammons and Stitt don't play together on all of the tunes; Stitt lays out on Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child," and Stitt is the only saxophonist on Vernon Duke's "Autumn in New York" (the only performance that finds Stitt on alto instead of tenor). And neither saxman is heard on Walton's "Ugetsu," a gem that lets the rhythm section shine by itself. When Ammons and Stitt play together, it's never hard to tell them apart. In contrast to the Charlie Parker-minded Stitt, Ammons had the sort of big, breathy, Coleman Hawkins-influenced tone you expected from a swing tenor (even though he was very much a bebopper/hard bopper). Unlike some of their 1940s/early '50s encounters, God Bless Jug and Sonny falls short of essential. But this 1973 reunion is still enjoyable and will interest the saxophonists' hardcore fans.
Tracklist:
01. Blue 'n' Boogie (16:36)
02. Stringin' the Jug (14:59)
03. God Bless the Child (5:48)
04. Autumn in New York (5:05)
05. Ugetsu (7:45)
06. Bye Bye Blackbird (17:52)

Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (2001)

Personnel:
Gene Ammons - tenor saxophone (on #1, 2, 3, 6)
Sonny Stitt - tenor saxohone (on #1, 2, 6); alto saxophone (on #4 only)
Cedar Walton - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

~allAboutJazz

Born: April 14, 1925 | Died: August 6, 1974 | Instrument: Tenor Saxophone

Eugene “Jug” Ammons (April 14, 1925 - August 6, 1974) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.

Ammons began to gain recognition when he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax band in 1943, at the age of 18. He became a member of the Billy Eckstine and Woody Herman bands in 1944 and 1949 respectively, and then in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt. His later career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession, the first from 1958 to 1960, the second from 1962 to 1969.

Ammons and Von Freeman were the founders of the Chicago School of tenor saxophone. His style of playing showed influences from Lester Young as well as Ben Webster. These artists had helped develop the sound of the tenor saxophone to higher levels of expressiveness. Ammons, together with Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, helped integrated their developments with the emerging “vernacular” of the bebop movement, and the chromaticism and rhythmic variety of Charlie Parker is evident in his playing.

While adept at the technical aspects of bebop, in particular its love of harmonic substitions, Ammons more than Young, Webster or Parker, stayed in touch with the commercial blues and R&B of his day. The “soul Jazz” movement of the mid-1950s, often using the combination of tenor saxophone and Hammond B3 electric organ, counts him as a founder. Often using a thinner, drier tone than Stitt or Gordon, Ammons could at will exploit a vast range of textures on the instrument, vocalizing it in ways that look forward to later artists like Stanley Turrentine, Houston Person, and remarkably Archie Shepp. Ammons showed little interest however in the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Joe Henderson or Wayne Shorter that was emerging at the same time.

Some fine ballad performances in his oeuvre are testament to an exceptional sense of intonation and melodic symmetry, powerful lyrical expressiveness, and mastery both of the blues and the bebop vernacular which can now be described as, in its own way, “classical.”

~allAboutJazz

Born: February 2, 1924 | Died: July 22, 1982 | Instrument: Saxophone

Edward “Sonny” Stitt (February 2, 1924–) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was a quintessential saxophonist of the bebop idiom. He was also one of the most prolific saxophonists, recording over 100 records in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the “Lone Wolf” by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, due to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz.

Stitt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. Stitt had a musical background; his father taught music, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher. His earliest recordings were from 1945, with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. He had also experienced playing in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands. Stitt featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties.

Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons from 1945 until 1949, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently. Later on, he notably played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948-49 on account of selling narcotics.

Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was apeing jazz genius Charlie Parker's style. When alto saxophonist Gene Quill was criticised for playing too similar to Parker once by a jazz writer he retorted, “You try imitating Charlie Parker!” Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor. He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded several albums for the burgeoning Prestige Records label as well as for Argo, Verve and Roost. Stitt's playing is said to be at its zenith on these now rare records. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones and Chick Corea for Latin versions of such standards as “Autumn Leaves.”

Stitt joined Miles Davis briefly in 1960, and his sole performance with the 1960 quintet is on the record Live at Stockholm, which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired him due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Stitt, later in the 1960s paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the seminal cut “Stitt Plays Bird”, which features Jim Hall on guitar. He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims & Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor great Booker Ervin in 1964 on the enjoyable Soul People album. Stitt would also record with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves during the 1960's.

In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output, though not by much and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone) in the late '60s. Because the device distorted Stitt's glorious, uncluttered, pure yet embodied sound, critics and Stitt followers were relieved when he eventually discarded the gratuitous gadget.

Stitt, to his credit, never slowed down, joining the Giants of Jazz (which included Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk) on some albums for the Mercury Records label, and recording sessions for Cobblestone and other labels. His last recordings were made in Japan. Sadly in 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22.

Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane. Stitt was especially effective with blues and with ballad pieces such as “Skylark”.

Recorded at the Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, MD on June 24, 1973; for "The Left Bank Society"
Recording Engineer: Vernon Welsh
CD Production: Eric Miller
Digital Editing and Transfers: Dave Luke (Fantasy Studios, Berkeley)
Mastering: Kirk Felton (Fantasy), 2001
Art Direction: Jamie Putnam
Photography: Tony Lane
Liner notes by Zan Stewart, April 2001


Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 7. October 2008, 22:55

Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt / God Bless Jug and Sonny

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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
Sample format : 44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo


TOC of the extracted CD

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Thanks to the original releaser.
Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (2001)

(all links are interchangeable)