Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues

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Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues
Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues.jpg
Studio album by Sonny Stitt
Released 1960
Recorded December 21 & 22, 1959
Los Angeles, California
Genre Jazz
Length36:41
Label Verve
MG V-8374
Sonny Stitt chronology
Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio
(1959) Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio1959		Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues
(1959)		 Saxophone Supremacy
(1959) Saxophone Supremacy1959
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in late 1959 and released on the Verve label. [2]

Sonny Stitt American jazz saxophonist

Edward Hammond Boatner Jr., known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording more than 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern because of his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Stitt was sometimes viewed as a Charlie Parker mimic, especially earlier in his career, but gradually came to develop his own sound and style, particularly when performing on tenor sax.

Verve Records American record label

Verve Records, also known as The Verve Music Group, founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue and includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Stan Getz and Billie Holiday, among others. It absorbed the catalogues of Granz's earlier labels, Clef Records, founded in 1946, Norgran Records, founded in 1953, and material previously licensed to Mercury Records.

Contents

Reception

The Allmusic site awarded the album 4 stars stating "Sonny Stitt led a number of excellent record dates in 1959, especially at the end of the year... Playing alto sax throughout this album, Stitt hardly sounds like a Charlie Parker clone, something that unfortunately was a frequent claim by tin-eared critics throughout a fair portion of his career". [1]

Charlie Parker American jazz saxophonist and composer

Charles Parker Jr., also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Stitt except as indicated

  1. "Blue Devil Blues" - 4:28
  2. "Home Free Blues" - 4:23
  3. "Blue Prelude" - 3:07
  4. "Frankie and Johnny" (Hughie Cannon) - 5:31
  5. "The Birth of the Blues" (Ray Henderson, Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown) - 5:57
  6. "A Blues Offering" - 4:06
  7. "Hymnal Blues" - 6:10
  8. "Morning After Blues" - 2:59

Personnel

Alto saxophone type of saxophone

The alto saxophone, also referred to as the alto sax, is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, and patented in 1846. It is pitched in E♭, and is smaller than the tenor, but larger than the soprano. The alto sax is the most common saxophone and is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, and jazz. The fingerings of the different saxophones are all the same so a saxophone player can play any type of saxophone.

Lou Levy (pianist) American pianist and jazz musician

Louis A. "Lou" Levy was an American jazz pianist

Piano musical instrument

The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings.

Related Research Articles

<i>Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio is a 1959 album by Sonny Stitt, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio.

<i>Sonny Side Up</i> album by Dizzy Gillespie

Sonny Side Up is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and the tenor saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins, recorded in December 1957 in New York City. It was released in 1959 on producer Norman Granz's newly launched Verve label.

<i>New York Jazz</i> album by Sonny Stitt

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<i>Duets</i> (Dizzy Gillespie album) album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie featuring Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt recorded in 1957

Duets is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie featuring Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt recorded in 1957 and released on the Verve label. The recordings on this album are from the same sessions and with the same personnel that produced the earlier released Sonny Side Up album which had Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins playing simultaneously with Dizzy Gillespie. On the Duets album, as the name implies, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins played separately with Dizzy Gillespie.

<i>The Bop Session</i> album by Dizzy Gillespie

The Bop Session is an album by jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, John Lewis, Hank Jones, Percy Heath and Max Roach recorded in 1975 and released on the Swedish Sonet label.

<i>Boss Tenors</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Boss Tenors is an album by saxophonists Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt recorded in Chicago in 1961 and originally released on the Verve label.

<i>God Bless Jug and Sonny</i> live album by Sonny Stitt

God Bless Jug and Sonny is a live album by saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons recorded in Baltimore in 1973 and released on the Prestige label in 2001.

<i>Left Bank Encores</i> live album by Sonny Stitt

Left Bank Encores is a live album by saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons recorded in Baltimore in 1973 and released on the Prestige label in 2002. The album was recorded at the same concert that produced God Bless Jug and Sonny.

<i>Kaleidoscope</i> (Sonny Stitt album) album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt

Kaleidoscope is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt compiling tracks recorded in 1950-52 and released on the Prestige label in 1957. The 1991 CD reissue added four bonus tracks to the original LP.

<i>Sonny Stitt</i> (album) album by Sonny Stitt

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<i>The Hard Swing</i> album by Sonny Stitt

The Hard Swing is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt's Quartet recorded in 1959 and released on the Verve label.

<i>Sonny Stitt Swings the Most</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt Swings the Most is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1959 and released on the Verve label.

<i>Saxophone Supremacy</i> 1961 album

Saxophone Supremacy is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1959 and released on the Verve label.

<i>Sonny Stitt at the D. J. Lounge</i> 1961 live album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt at the D. J. Lounge is a live album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in Chicago in 1961 and released on the Argo label.

<i>Previously Unreleased Recordings</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Previously Unreleased Recordings is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt featuring compositions associated with Duke Ellington which was originally recorded in 1960 and released on the Verve label in 1973. Norman Granz probably didn't want it released during Johnny Hodges's lifetime and even here it is not billed as a Ellington tribute. On CD it can be found on Import as part of Rearin' Back / Tribute To Duke Ellington

<i>Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1962 and released on the Atlantic label.

<i>Sonny Stitt Plays</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt Plays is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1955 and originally released on the Roost label.

<i>Stitt in Orbit</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Stitt in Orbit is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1960 and 1962 and originally released on the Roost label.

<i>Deuces Wild</i> (Sonny Stitt album) album by Sonny Stitt

Deuces Wild is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1966 and released on the Atlantic label. The album featured Robin Kenyatta's recording debut. The 4 Stitt organ trio tracks can be found as bonus tracks to the My Mother's Eye's CD

<i>Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements</i> album by Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt performing music arranged by Jimmy Giuffre recorded in 1959 and originally released on the Verve label.

References

  1. 1 2 Dryden, K. Allmusic Review accessed December 21, 2012
  2. ↑ Verve Records Discography, accessed December 21, 2012
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