Jazz Articles about Sonny Stitt

Sonny Stitt: It's Magic

by Paul Olson
May 4, 2005

It isn't, though. Magic, that is. While jazz fans may perennially debate saxophonist Sonny Stitt's status as a bebop innovator (ie, how much of its vocabulary did he learn from Charlie Parker, and how much did he develop independently), no one is in disagreement about his being one of the most over-recorded of jazz players. Stitt recorded for everyone, everywhere, and his discography--and reputation--have suffered accordingly. It's Magic is a hitherto unreleased 1969 Chicago Stitt session with organist Don Patterson ...

Sonny Stitt: Personal Appearance

by David Rickert
September 14, 2004

Few artists recorded as prolifically as Sonny Stitt; over the course over 100+ albums, he seemed to play with anybody willing to pick up an instrument and join him in the studio. Inevitably, there was a lot of mediocre material released, and it can be a little tricky finding Stitt's best stuff.

Personal Appearance is one of the better ones, an outing which finds the saxophonist playing in a Parker-influenced style over a selection of bebop favorites like ...

Hard Bop Extravaganza

by David Rickert
September 13, 2004

Personal Appearance Sonny Stitt 1957 Few artists recorded as prolifically as Stitt; over the course over 100+ albums, he seemed to play with anybody willing to pick up an instrument and join him in the studio. Inevitably, there was a lot of mediocre material released, and it can be a little tricky finding Stitt's best stuff. Personal Appearance is one of the better ones, an outing which finds the saxophonist playing ...

Sonny Stitt: Sax O'Bebop

by AAJ Staff
April 22, 2004

This recent four-disc set covers the period 1946-1952, during which Sonny Stitt made the transition from promising young bebopper to jazz master. It is typical of the British Proper boxes; it's affordable, the sound ranges from so-so to fairly good, and the music is often wonderful. In the case of Sax O'Bebop, there are a few alternate takes, some acknowledged masterpieces, and some rare sessions.

Disc one starts with Dizzy Gillespie's classic 1946 sextet session, featuring Stitt on ...

Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt: Jazz Time: Olympia

by Samuel Chell
April 9, 2004

On page 249 of his autobiography, Miles Davis recounts driving around Philly with Jimmy Heath, recalling that he “probably was complaining to him about Sonny Stitt playing the wrong [stuff] on 'So What,' because he would always [mess] up on that tune."The marvel is that Miles called on Stitt to replace Coltrane in the first place. But Wayne Shorter wanted to stay on with Art Blakey, so the most complete and polished bebop player of them all, a ...

Sonny Stitt: Goin

by C. Michael Bailey
April 9, 2003

Goin’ Down Slow was recorded during the same period as Bobby Timmons’ Orchestra and Trio, both recordings made in the 1970s to appeal to '70s sensibilities. That it is unfair to compare these recordings by today’s or today’s retro-sensibilities goes without saying. But nothing takes the grease out of hard bop faster than strings and other ornamentations, particularly on a blues. This certainly almost destroyed the spirit of Timmons, and it has the same hard swing at Sonny Stitt on ...

Sonny Stitt: Just the Way It Was: Live at the Left Bank

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2003

To inaugurate his latest musical milestone--the starting of Label M--one of jazz’s most underrated production legends, Joel Dorn, has taken a set by his musical counterpart, the electrifying saxophonist Sonny Stitt, from the vaults of the Left Bank Jazz Society and put it back on vinyl (er- plastic). In doing so, he helps sustain the Society’s mission of keeping a jazzy light in the window for new and future generations.

From a sobbing rendition of "Cry Me ...