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sonny stitt and eddie lockjaw davis: tenor battle at birdland

By Daniel Robt Patten
May 1, 2001
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this great jam session was recorded in 1954. sonny stitt joined eddie"lockjaw"davis' organ trio for an afternoon at the famous birdland club. sonny and jaws took their turn romping through standards like don't blame me, i can't get started and all the things you are. both tenormen were in the prime of their great careers at this stage and the music is wonderful. doc bagby supplies the organ with charlie rice the drums. anyone seeking a great mainstream jazz jam will love this cd which up to recently has been hard to come by. the two giants have such different styles it is hard to beleive they can sound so great together. eddie came to fame as part of basie's band and also with his head to head battles with johnny griffin. stitt was probably most famous for his years of playing with life long associate gene ammons. these are two giants of the jazz world. like many, these men both died relatively young(stitt was 58 and davis 64.) most recordings for both are valuable this recording is a particularily rare and memorable item indeed.

Track Listing

1. S.O.S. 2. Jaws 3. Marchin' 4. I Can't Get Started 5. Roller Coaster 6. All the Things You Are 7. Whoops 8. Don't Blame Me

Personnel

Sonny Stitt

saxophone

eddie davis,sonny stitt,doc bagby,charlie rice

Album information

Title: tenor battle at birdland | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Fresno

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