LP-697

Gene Ammons / Sonny Stitt – Dig Him!

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Sonny Stitt, alto saxophone, tenor saxoiphone; Gene Ammons, tenor saxophone; John Houston, piano; Buster Williams, bass; George Brown, drums
Chicago, August 26 1961

11183 A mess
11184 New blues up and down
11185 Time on my hands
11186 We'll be together again
11187 My foolish heart
11188 Red sails in the sunset
11189 Headin' west [Water Jug]
11190 A pair of red pants
11191 Autumn leaves
11192 But not for me

Track Listing

Red Sails In The Sunset	Kennedy, Williams	August 26 1961
But Not For Me	Gershwin	August 26 1961
A Pair Of Red Boots	Stitt	August 26 1961
We'll Be Together Again	Fisher, Laine	August 26 1961
A Mess	Stitt	August 26 1961
New Blues Up And Down	Ammons, Stitt	August 26 1961
My Foolish Heart	Young, Washington	August 26 1961
Headin' West	Ammons	August 26 1961
Autumn Leaves	Mercer, Prevert, Kpzma	August 26 1961
Time On My Hands	Adamson, Youmans, Gordon	August 26 1961

Liner Notes

ANYONE who's been around jazz for awhile can tell you that this is certainly not the first time Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt have played together. And after hearing this album, even those relative newcomers to the music would be able to tell that these two men know each other's music so well and complement each other so perfectly, that at times it's hard to tell when one horn stops and the other begins.

Strangely enough, even though Ammons and Stitt have been around now for quite awhile, and would definitely have to be included on anybody's list of important saxophone players of the last decade and a half, they have both not really been given their due by critics, writers and the other marginalia of jazz. But other musicians have always known iust how important Sonny and "Jug" have been, and have never ceased to sing their praises. Many people who haven't really listened closely to Ammons in years think that the only thing Gene can do is play the loud part in wild saxophone duels. People who think like this perhaps have never heard the Ammons who is playing the opening bars of My Foolish Heart or We'll Be Together Again, two very beautiful ballads, on this album; or Gene's incredibly sophisticated solo on Autumn Leaves. Also, people who associate "Jug" solely with the honk cannot know how deeply he has influenced many of the young "far out" players like Rollins or Coltrane. In fact the Ammons influence is even a very heavy feature in the styles of young "avant garde" players like Archie Shepp of the Cecil Taylor group, who seem to have listened to "Jug" for a long time, and to have benefted by it immensely. But listen to New Blues Up And Down (a direct descendant of the old Blues Up And Down which, along with Stringin' The Jug, was one of the biggest Ammons-Stitt record hits during the old duel days) Time On My Hands or Headin' West as examples of how fluid and vital Gene's line is even at the quickest tempos. He never has to rely on the overly obvious phrase or the well worn cliché; he can always come up with the freshly turned note, the unusual phrase, no matter how old the tune might be. I mean who ever thought they'd hear Red Sails In The Suuset played like this? From Jug's first introductory funky-calypso phrase he invites you to a very singular rehearing of this veteran of the schmaltz circuit.

Sonny Stitt has been characterized too many times, by those people who seem always to be characterizing jazz performers on the basis of one small facet of their styles, as "a disciple of Charlie Parker." I think it would be safe to say that almost any saxophonist who has heard "Bird" can be called a disciple. But Stitt, along with Dexter Gordon, was one of the first people around to transfer what Parker was doing to the tenor saxophone. Although Stitt on tenor sounds nothing like Bird on tenor. But foc any saxophonist walking around today to be completely uninfluenced by Parker would be like a Christian not knowing who his religion was named after. It just hardly seems possible.

The terrible thing, it seems to me, is that too many people have heard that Sonny's been influenced by Bird, without understanding that Stitt is one of the few people who've been able to take so strong an influence and put it to such an admirably personal use. Stitt is first of all Stitt; and a mighty ubiquitous influence in his own right. There are many, many young tenor men around now whose connection to some of the Parker magic was gotten through Stitt's brilliant appropriation of it. Sonny's lovely solo on My Foolish should be enough to convince even the hardest head that Stitt is, and has been for a long time now, an individual voice, and one of the most exciting expressive voices we have. His line, even when he is playing a ballad, soars, and is multi-noted and fluid, without being thin or underweight. Sonny always gets enough meat into his solos, no matter how fast his fingers are moving.

The Stitt-Ammons combination works so well for several reasons, for one, both these players know their instruments as well as they know their own voices; probably better. They know their instruemnts so well that they know they don't constantly have to play meaningless sprays of notes just to show that they've had saxophone lessons. And though each man's style is very separate and singular, their overall approaches complement each other extraordinarily. Ammons is one of those rare saxophonists who was able to put Hawkins and Young together and still come out on top, with a style that is completely his own.

Sometimes Jug's attack is direct, in a manner vaguely reminiscent of Hawkins, but again sometimes it is subtle and graceful in that manner that Pres could have patented. Stitt on the other hand, got all his Pres training via Parker, but his long staggering multi-noted line is still softened and gracious. The Stitt and Ammons methods make for great contrast, but it is a contrast that is so compatible that sometimes it seems that there is only one very, very chameleon like saxophonist working. Their unison sound, e.g.. on New Blues or Headin' West, an Ammons' original is really a marvelous invention, like an organ made out of saxophones. And either soloist can come off this heavy driving duet line, and play a solo of such tenderness and subtlety, one wouldn't think it possible. Again, Autumn Leaves will convince you.

For some indication of how beautifully these musicians are able to extend each other's statements, Time On My Hands is suggested. On the opening phrases of the tune the line is played by Ammons with Stitt just behind him embellishing and commenting on the mam statement. Then Stitt takes the line, and Ammons is content to comment. The piece is resolved with one of the most elegant saxophone duets I've heard in some time, re-emphasizing the taste and musicianship with which these two players approach their work.

Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons separately can about anything on the saxophone anyone can think of; together, as they have proven so often before, they are completely out of sight.

—LeRoi Jones