Results for "Sonny Stitt"

Sonny Stitt

Edward "Sonny" Stitt was a quintessential saxophonist of the bebop idiom. He was also one of the most prolific saxophonists, recording over 100 records in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, due to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. Stitt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. Stitt had a musical background; his father taught music, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher. His earliest recordings were from 1945, with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. He had also experienced playing in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands

Sonny's Crib

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

From the outset, pianist Sonny Clark's sophomore effort as a leader is crisp, white-hot hard bop. Leading a standard bop trumpet-tenor saxophone quintet (Donald Byrd, John Coltrane), supplemented with trombone (Curtis Fuller), Clark and his most reliable rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor carve five dictionary examples (with alternate takes on the ...

New Faces - New Sounds

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

In the early 1950s, Blue Note Records introduced new artists in the label's series New Faces -New Sounds. It highlighted such young artists as Horace Silver (1952); Lou Donaldson (1952); Elmo Hope (1953); and Frank Foster (1954). All of these recordings were released as part of Blue Note Record's 5000 Modern Jazz Series, all on 10-inch ...

George Garzone: Sax In The City

By JIM WORSLEY

George Garzone is not the mayor of the city of Boston. If he was appointed to a position it would more likely be king. He is, at the very least, the toast of the town. This isn't news. King George has reigned with a firm grasp of his mighty tenor saxophone for close to half a ...

A Jazz Immuno-Booster: Part 2

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

Our sequestration continues. But so does this mix-tape series featuring music selected by jazz musicians to whom we have asked to share one song they rely on when they need to be uplifted, or soothed, and to make us fly beyond the walls that keep us protected from the greatest pandemic of our generation.

Two Twin-Tenor Duos

By JEROME WILSON

The idea of two tenor saxophonists playing together has a long, storied history in jazz through pairings like Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, and Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. Such duos have become harder to find in recent years but here are two newer examples. Jeff Rupert / ...

The Hall Overton Centennial & More

By MARC COHN

February birthdays on Gift & Messages with the Hall Overton centennial. We feature his arrangement of “Little Rootie Tootie" for the Thelonious Monk Orchestra, where Hall takes the piano solo from the Monk's first trio recording and orchestrates it for the entire big band! You'll hear both back-to-back. Stunning, for the arrangement and the playing, is ...

Camilla George: Warrior Charge

By CHRIS MAY

In 2017, alto saxophonist and composer Camilla George's band was the support act for a Dee Dee Bridgewater gig at the London Jazz Festival. After George had finished her set, Bridgewater, who had been listening in the wings, came onstage, took the mike, and announced: “The world is safe because we have Camilla." Others in Cadogan ...

Vic Juris: Tension and Release

By VICTOR L. SCHERMER

This article was first published at All About Jazz on July 28, 2009. Vic Juris is one of the premier jazz guitarists in the business today. Perhaps less known than some of his peers, he is nevertheless admired by all of them and has accumulated, since his emergence on the scene in the 1970s, ...

2019 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival

By MACKENZIE HORNE

Gary Bartz Liberty Avenue Stage Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival Pittsburgh, PA June 23, 2010 The 2019 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival featured a heavyweight lineup of world-renowned saxophone players, including Charles Lloyd, Nubya Garcia, and Gary Bartz. Bartz was scheduled to perform selections from Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way ...