Some Sonny Stitt (and three more)

For some reason I’ve been listening to a good bit of Sonny Stitt lately. I don’t know what has drawn me to his bluesy sound, but it has been a great companion for grading and the end of the semester transition from teaching to research and reading.

Sonny Stitt feels like one of those saxophone players who got eclipsed by Coltrane and his acolytes in the 60s and 70s and never managed to really escape from their shadow.

That said, he produce a ton of music during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and a lot of it is really good. Lately, I’ve been enjoying Stitt’s 1957 quartet date, Personal Appearance, with Bobby Timmons (on piano), Edgar Willis (bass), and Kenny Dennis (drums).  

I’ve also really enjoyed Stitt’s bluesy 1959 date, Blows the Blues with Lou Levy on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Mel Lewis on drums.  

Finally, I didn’t know much about Sonny Stitt’s 1970s output. So I was surprised to read rave reviews of his 1972 album Tune-Up! featuring Barry Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums. It came out on the Cobblestone label (which later effectively become Muse Records). I should do a little dive into Cobblestone at some point on the blog, but they produced a couple of my favorite 1970s albums including the Philly band Catalyst (who released the album of the same name and featured Odean Pope on sax) and the Hank Mobley/Cedar Walton album Breakthrough! (1972).

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention three other things this weekend. First, it is Toshiko Akiyoshi 95th birthday last week. I love her style of play and I am particular fond of the album United Notions from 1958. Since I can’t find that a version of that album that I can share, I’ll offer a live 1969 recording Toshiko at Top of the Gate with non other than Kenny Durham on trumpet.

It was also the 60th anniversary of the recording of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme which came out in 1965:

Finally, a hat tip to my buddy Kostis Kourelis for recommending Work Money Death, People of the Fast Flowing River (2024) to me. Check out this cut: