Sonny Stitt
Encyclopedia
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz
saxophonist of the bebop
/hard bop
idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern
in tribute to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. He is considered the greatest disciple of Charlie Parker
. Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker
and Lester Young
, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane
. Stitt was especially effective with blues and with ballad pieces such as "Skylark
".
, Massachusetts and grew up in Saginaw
, Michigan. Stitt had a musical background; his father was a college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher.
In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker
, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic/less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz
and Dizzy Gillespie
. He had also experienced playing in some swing
bands, though he mainly played in bop
bands. Stitt featured in Tiny Bradshaw
's big band in the early forties. Stitt replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1945.
Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine
's big band
alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon
and Gene Ammons
from 1945 until 1956, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker emulator. Later on, he notably played with Gene Ammons
and Bud Powell
. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948–49 for selling narcotics.
Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Charlie Parker
's style, although it appears in the instance with Ammons above that the availability of the larger instrument was a factor. Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor. He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell
and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records
label as well as albums for Argo
, Verve
and Roost
. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz
in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones
and Chick Corea
for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves
."
Stitt joined Miles Davis
briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane
) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon
), all of which featured Wynton Kelly
, Jimmy Cobb
and Paul Chambers
. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley
. Stitt, later in the 1960s, paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall
on guitar and at Newport
in 1964 with other bebop players including J.J. Johnson
.
He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons
, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims
and Al Cohn
, and Johnny Griffin
with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz
, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin
in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington
alumnus Paul Gonsalves
in 1963 for Impulse!
on the Salt And Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he also appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott
, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin
and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey
. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone), as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-A-Stitt in 1967.
, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. He also recorded another album with Varitone
, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank in 1971 which was released in 2000.
Stitt joined the all-star group Giants of Jazz
, which also featured Art Blakey
, Dizzy Gillespie
, Thelonious Monk
, Kai Winding
and bassist Al McKibbon
) and made albums for Atlantic Records
, Concord Records
and Emarcy Records
. His last recordings were made in Japan. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22.
With Art Blakey
With Milt Jackson
With Zimbo Trio
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist of the bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
/hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern
Dan Morgenstern
Dan Morgenstern is a jazz critic and librarian.Morgenstern moved to the United States in 1947, and attended Brandeis University from 1953-1956. He wrote for jazz publication Jazz Journal from 1958–1961, and following this edited several jazz magazines: Metronome in 1961, Jazz from 1962–1963, and...
in tribute to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. He is considered the greatest disciple of Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
. Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
. Stitt was especially effective with blues and with ballad pieces such as "Skylark
Skylark (song)
"Skylark" is an American popular song with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Hoagy Carmichael, published in 1941. Mercer said that he struggled for a year after he got the music from Carmichael before he could get the lyrics right....
".
Early life
Stitt was born in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts and grew up in Saginaw
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, Michigan. Stitt had a musical background; his father was a college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher.
In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic/less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
. He had also experienced playing in some swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
bands, though he mainly played in bop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
bands. Stitt featured in Tiny Bradshaw
Tiny Bradshaw
Myron C. Bradshaw was an American jazz and rhythm and blues bandleader, singer, composer, pianist, and drummer from Youngstown, Ohio.-Early years:...
's big band in the early forties. Stitt replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1945.
Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
's big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
and Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
from 1945 until 1956, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker emulator. Later on, he notably played with Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
and Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948–49 for selling narcotics.
Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
's style, although it appears in the instance with Ammons above that the availability of the larger instrument was a factor. Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor. He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell
Bud Powell
Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
label as well as albums for Argo
Argo Records
Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo.Initially, Argo offered a...
, Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
and Roost
Roost Records
Roost Records was a record label established in 1949, primarily to record jazz, taking its secondary name from the New York club with which it was associated...
. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz
Afro-Cuban jazz
Afro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable...
in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
and Chick Corea
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...
for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves
Autumn Leaves (song)
"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song "Les Feuilles mortes" with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. Yves Montand introduced "Les feuilles mortes" in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit...
."
Stitt joined Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon
Dragon Records
Dragon Records is a Swedish Jazz record label which was founded by the journalist Lars Westin in 1975. Westin was then the editor of OJ ; Westin now runs the company with Leif Collin .-History:...
), all of which featured Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly was a Jamaican-born jazz pianist, who spent his career in the United States. He is perhaps best known for working with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1959-1962.-Biography:...
, Jimmy Cobb
Jimmy Cobb
-External links:* - includes full discography* * * * * * *...
and Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers
Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers, Jr. was a jazz bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, his importance in the development of jazz bass can be measured not only by the length and breadth of his work in this short period but also his impeccable time, intonation, and virtuosic...
. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley
Hank Mobley
Henry Mobley was an American hard bop and soul jazz tenor saxophonist and composer. Mobley was described by Leonard Feather as the "middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone", a metaphor used to describe his tone that was neither as aggressive as John Coltrane nor as mellow as Stan Getz...
. Stitt, later in the 1960s, paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
on guitar and at Newport
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
in 1964 with other bebop players including J.J. Johnson
J.J. Johnson
J. J. Johnson was a United States jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. He was sometimes credited as Jay Jay Johnson....
.
He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
and Al Cohn
Al Cohn
Al Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger and composer.-Biography:Alvin Gilbert Cohn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was initially known in the 1940s for playing in Woody Herman's Second Herd as one of the Four Brothers, along with Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Serge Chaloff...
, and Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III was an American bop and hard bop tenor saxophonist.- Early life and career :Griffin studied music at DuSable High School in Chicago under Walter Dyett, starting out on clarinet before moving on to oboe and then alto sax...
with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz
Soul jazz
Soul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...
, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin
Booker Ervin
Booker Telleferro Ervin II was an American tenor saxophone player. He was perhaps best known for his association with bassist Charles Mingus....
in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
alumnus Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"...
in 1963 for Impulse!
Impulse! Records
Impulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
on the Salt And Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he also appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey
Dick Morrissey
Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone), as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-A-Stitt in 1967.
Later life
In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output slightly, and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. He also recorded another album with Varitone
Varitone
The Varitone is an amplified saxophone that the Selmer Company introduced in 1965. The Varitone included a small microphone mounted on the saxophone neck, a set of controls attached to the saxophone's body, and an amplifier and loudspeaker mounted inside a cabinet. The Varitone's effects included...
, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank in 1971 which was released in 2000.
Stitt joined the all-star group Giants of Jazz
Giants of Jazz
The Giants of Jazz was a jazz all-star group of the 1970s which featured Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Al McKibbon, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Stitt, and Kai Winding. They recorded albums for Atlantic Records, Concord Records. and Emarcy Records....
, which also featured Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Kai Winding
Kai Winding
Kai Chresten Winding was a popular Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.-Biography:...
and bassist Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon was an American jazz double bassist, known for his work in bop, hard bop, and Latin jazz.In 1947, after working with Lucky Millinder, Tab Smith, J. C. Heard, and Coleman Hawkins, he replaced Ray Brown in Dizzy Gillespie's band, in which he played until 1950...
) and made albums for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
and Emarcy Records
EmArcy Records
EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Mercury Records, and today a European jazz label owned by Universal Music Group. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company....
. His last recordings were made in Japan. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22.
As leader
- 1952: Kaleidoscope (Prestige)
- 1955:Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements by Quincy Jones (Roost, RST 2204)
- 1956: Sonny Stitt (Roost, RST 2208)
- 1956: For Musicians OnlyFor Musicians OnlyFor Musicians Only is a 1958 jazz album by Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and Sonny Stitt incorporating bebop influences.-Track listing:#"Bebop" - 12:48#"Dark Eyes" - 12:10#"Wee " - 8:28...
(Verve) - 1957: Sonny Side UpSonny Side UpSonny Side Up is an album by Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins, recorded and released in 1957 on the Verve label.Pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Tommy Bryant, and drummer Charlie Persip provide the rhythm section.-Track listing:...
(Verve) - 1957: Only the BluesOnly the BluesOnly the Blues is a 1957 album by Sonny Stitt, accompanied by Roy Eldridge and Oscar Peterson. -Track listing:# "The String" – 10:01# "Cleveland Blues" – 12:02# "B.W...
(Verve) - 1958: Sonny Stitt (Argo/MCA)
- 1958: Burnin'Burnin' (Sonny Stitt album)Burnin' is an album by American saxophonist Sonny Stitt, recorded in 1958 but not released on Argo until 1960. It hasn't been released singularly on CD yet, but it can be found on the twofer Burnin issued by Fresh Sounds Spain in 2009.-Track listing:...
(Argo) - 1959: Sonny Stitt Sits In with the Oscar Peterson TrioSonny Stitt Sits In with the Oscar Peterson TrioSonny Stitt Sits In with the Oscar Peterson Trio is a 1957 album by Sonny Stitt, accompanied by the Oscar Peterson trio. -Track listing:# "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" – 4:05# "Au Privave" – 3:59...
(Verve) - 1962: Stitt Meets Brother Jack (Prestige)
- 1962: Boss Tenors in Orbit (Verve)
- 1963: Move on Over (Argo)
- 1963: Salt And Pepper (Impulse)
- 1963: Now!Now! (Sonny Stitt album)Now! is a 1963 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt, his first and next-to-last for Impulse! Records.-Track listing:#"Surfin'" - 4:12#"Lester Leaps In" - 6:23#"Estralita" - 3:17...
(Impulse) - 1963: Stitt Plays BirdStitt Plays BirdStitt Plays Bird is an album by American saxophonist Sonny Stitt, recorded in 1963 and issued on Atlantic Records in 1966. As the titles suggests, it was recorded as a homage to legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker.-Track listing:...
(Atlantic) - 1963: Soul ShackSoul ShackSoul Shack is an album by American saxophonist Sonny Stitt and organist Brother Jack McDuff, recorded in 1963 and issued on Prestige. If Primitivo Soul!, recorded in December of the same year, features mostly Latin-influenced jazz, Soul Shack features strong blues influences.-Track...
(Prestige) - 1964: Primitivo Soul!Primitivo Soul!Primitivo Soul is an album by American saxophonist Sonny Stitt, recorded in 1963 and issued on Prestige Records in 1964. It has never been released on CD...
(Prestige) - 1964: Soul PeopleSoul PeopleSoul People is an album by American saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Booker Ervin, and organist Don Patterson. Just like his previous Soul Shack, Soul People features heavily blues-drenched jazz. The original album was recorded in 1964 and issued on Prestige in early 1965...
(Prestige) - 1965: The Complete Roost Sonny Stitt Studio Sessions
- 1965: Live at Ronnie Scott'sSonny Stitt / Live at Ronnie Scott'sSonny Stitt / Live at Ronnie Scott's is the fifth Dick Morrissey Quartet recording. It comprises a jam session with Sonny Stittrecorded live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London in 1965...
- 1966: What's New (Roulette)
- 1967: Parallel-A-Stitt (Roulette)
- 1969: Night Letter (Prestige)
- 1971: Turn it On! (Prestige)
- 1971: Just the Way It Was, Hyena, Recorded live at The Famous Ballroom, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, (with Don PattersonDon Patterson (organist)Don Patterson was an American jazz organist.Patterson played piano from childhood and was heavily influenced by Erroll Garner in his youth. In 1956, he switched to organ after hearing Jimmy Smith play the instrument...
- organ; Billy James - drums) - 1972: Tune-Up!, Muse (with Barry HarrisBarry HarrisBarry Doyle Harris is an American bebop jazz pianist and educator.-Biography:Harris left Detroit for New York City in 1960...
, Sam JonesSamuel Jones (musician)Samuel Jones was a jazz bassist, cellist, and composer.Sam Jones was born in Jacksonville, FL and moved to New York city in 1955. There, Jones played with Bobby Timmons, Tiny Bradshaw, Les Jazz Modes, Kenny Dorham, Illinois Jacquet, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk...
, Allan Dawson) - 1972: Constellation
- 1972: Sonny Stitt/12!, Muse
- 1974: The ChampThe Champ (Sonny Stitt album)-Side 1:# "The Champ" – 8:48# "Sweet and Lovely" – 7:11# "The Midgets" – 5:36-Side 2:# "The Eternal Triangle" – 5:21# "All the Things You Are" – 4:32# "Walkin'" – 9:43...
- 1980: Sonny's Back, Muse
- 1981: Sonny, Sweets and Jaws- Live at Bubbas, Whos Who in Jazz (with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis)
- 1982: Last Stitt Sessions, Muse
As sideman
With Gene AmmonsGene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
- Boss Tenors, 1961, Verve
With Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
- A Jazz MessageA Jazz MessageA Jazz Message is a jazz album released by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1964. The album is Blakey's second and last album for Impulse! Records and is one of the only known collaborations between him and McCoy Tyner.-Track listing:...
(1963) Impulse! RecordsImpulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City... - In Walked SonnyIn Walked SonnyIn Walked Sonny is an album by American jazz musicians Sonny Stitt and Art Blakey with his Jazz Messengers. It was released in 1975 on the small independent label Sonet Records and is amongst the most obscure recordings made by the musicians involved in the project.-Track listing:#"Blues March" -...
(1975)
With Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
Milton "Bags" Jackson was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms...
- Loose Walk (Palcoscenico RecordsPalcoscenico Records-Discography:*15001: Gaetano Liguori - Terzo Mondo*15002: George Adams & Don Pullen- All That Funk *15003: George Adams & Don Pullen - More Funk...
)
With Zimbo Trio
Zimbo Trio
The Zimbo Trio is a Brazilian instrumental ensemble, established in 1964 in São Paulo, and originally comprising Amilton Godoy , Luís Chaves and Rubinho Barsotti...
- Zimbo Trio invites Sonny Stitt, (1979) Clam/Continental