Sonny Stitt - The Chronological Classics: 1951-1953 (2004)

06 Jun, 09:37
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Artist: Sonny Stitt
Title: The Chronological Classics: 1951-1953
Year Of Release: 2004
Label: Classics [1378]
Genre: Jazz, Bop
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue,log)
Total Time: 59:45
Total Size: 298 MB(+3%)
WebSite: Album Preview

Tracklist

01. I Cover the Waterfront (2:42)
02. Don't Worry 'Bout Me (2:47)
03. Down with It (2:34)
04. For the Fat Man (2:58)
05. Splinter (2:43)
06. Confessin' (2:39)
07. Cool Mambo (2:41)
08. Sonny Sounds (2:30)
09. Blue Mambo (2:26)
10. Stitt's It (2:37)
11. They Say It's Wonderful (2:13)
12. Why Do I Love You (2:48)
13. Symphony Hall Swing (2:31)
14. Sonny's Bunny (3:02)
15. Sancho Panza (2:59)
16. Sweet and Lovely (3:01)
17. If I Could Be with You One Hour Tonight (2:23)
18. Hooke's Tours (Stitt's Tune) (2:53)
19. Loose Walk (2:55)
20. Pink Satin (3:00)
21. Shine on Harvest Moon (2:36)
22. Opus 202 (2:47)

This third volume of Sonny Stitt's complete recorded works in chronological order is packed with positive vibrations. Between May 1951 and November 1953, three different record labels -- Chess, Prestige, and Roost -- presented the saxophonist in several deliciously varied musical contexts. The Chess studios employed smooth, dramatic production values, adding just enough reverb to transform Stitt's already handsome tonalities into stunning waves of larger-than-life masculinity, archetypically personified in the early '50s by the great Gene Ammons. The first of two Prestige dates, in fact, feels more than a little like an Ammons blowing session. Here Stitt used both alto and tenor saxophones, cooking splendidly. Six months later, Stitt waxed four exciting sides with a band including bassist Ernie Shepard and drummer Shadow Wilson. On two of the tracks -- a pair of wonderful mambos -- the quartet was fortified with three trumpeters and Puerto Rican percussionist Humberto Morales. Some jazz critics always seem to be whining about Caribbean percussion as though the inclusion of this vibrant component somehow detracts from the music to which it is added. Dizzy Gillespie, who did so much to circulate and popularize these rhythms and the instruments on which they are played, would surely disagree. (Naturally, what matters most is how the blending is done.) When Stitt crossed over to Roost Records in November 1952, he was inadvertently lining himself up with master drummer Jo Jones. This might have something to do with the general mood of the session, which feels at times like Lester Young on a really good day. "Symphony Hall Swing," a cousin to Al Haig's "Opus Caprice," is recognizable as Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning," a set of variations based in George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" and containing motifs traceable to both Mary Lou Williams and Charlie Christian. Stitt's next date with Roost used radically different instrumentation in the form of the Johnny Richards Orchestra. The lineup is wonderfully diverse: in front of Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, and Don Lamond, Don Elliott blows mellophone in tandem with Kai Winding's trombone, and Sid Cooper supplies interjections on the piccolo. Stitt sails through each selection sounding unwaveringly cool and in command. Eight months later a second Richards/Stitt session brought back Mingus and reinstated Jo Jones, who doubled on bongos in order to complement the fine conga drumming of Santa Miranda. A delightful surprise arrives in a sort of Cubano bop update of the old apple pie melody "Shine on Harvest Moon." Everything on this disc is excellent mid-20th century jazz, and none of it needs to be legitimized by critics or historians. It legitimates itself every time the recordings are played back. Just loosen up and enjoy.

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