Personnel:
Sonny Stitt (as, ts), Barry Harris (p), William Austin (b), Frank Gant (d)
Reference: FSRCD 536
Bar code: 8427328605366
Sonny Stitt played alto sax in Charlie Parkers style, but with such personal conviction, such emotional sureness and without any hint of slickness, popularization, or stylistic immaturity, that he created a dilemma about originality or individuality in jazz. The picture was further complicated by the fact that his tenor style was quite different and yet played with equal individuality and feeling. And, of course, he knew that what Parker did was not run the changes but play melodic ideas.
In these recordings Stitt is all over both his horns, communicating directly and deeply. All the alto sax performances he plays tenor only on 5 tracks are full of fire and brimstone. The tunes are for the most part Stitts originals, plus two classic Bird pieces and seven standards, but they never sound tired, no matter how many times the'yve been heard before, when they are played with such intensity, vibrancy and imagination as here. Newly and carefully remastered.
—Jordi Pujol
-Sonny Stitt
"Sonny Stitt recorded extensively throughout his career, so frequently that he often could not remember his sessions a year later. This informal session, cut in Chicago in 1958, is one that Stitt apparently forgot about, which is why the personnel (probably a local rhythm section that might include pianist Barry Harris) has never been definitely identified. Stitt, doubling on alto and tenor, plays some songs with unfamiliar titles, but all of the chord changes of the originals (half of them blues) are fairly basic. He is in above-average form, making this set of interest to bebop collectors."
Scott Yanow -All Music Guide
