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Saturday, July 29, 2017

Sonny Stitt (1924-1982): Legendary and iconic musician, composer, ensemble leader, producer, and teacher


SOUND PROJECTIONS
   
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
    
EDITOR:  KOFI NATAMBU
    
SUMMER, 2017

VOLUME FOUR         NUMBER TWO  
 
JOHN COLTRANE  



Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:

EARTH WIND AND FIRE
(May 20-May 26)

JACK DEJOHNETTE
(May 27-June 2)

ALBERT AYLER
(June 3-June 9)

VI REDD
(June 10-June 16)

LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
(June 17-June 23)

JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY
(June 24-June 30)

JAMES NEWTON
(July 1-July 7)

ART TATUM
(July 8-July 14)

SONNY CLARK
(July 15-July 21)

JASON MORAN
(July 22-July 28)

SONNY STITT
(July 29-August 4)

BUD POWELL
(August 5-August 11)





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. Stitt featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties.

Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons from 1945 until 1949, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently. Later on, he notably played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948-49 on account of selling narcotics.

Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was apeing jazz genius Charlie Parker's style. When alto saxophonist Gene Quill was criticised for playing too similar to Parker once by a jazz writer he retorted, “You try imitating Charlie Parker!” 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 several albums for the burgeoning Prestige Records label as well as for Argo, Verve and Roost. Stitt's playing is said to be at its zenith on these now rare records. 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 his sole performance with the 1960 quintet is on the record Live at Stockholm, which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired him 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 seminal cut “Stitt Plays Bird”, which features Jim Hall on guitar. He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons. 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 of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims & Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor great Booker Ervin in 1964 on the enjoyable Soul People album. Stitt would also record with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves during the 1960's.

In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output, though not by much and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone) in the late '60s. Because the device distorted Stitt's glorious, uncluttered, pure yet embodied sound, critics and Stitt followers were relieved when he eventually discarded the gratuitous gadget.

Stitt, to his credit, never slowed down, joining the Giants of Jazz (which included Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk) on some albums for the Mercury Records label, and recording sessions for Cobblestone and other labels. His last recordings were made in Japan. Sadly in 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22.

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”.


 http://www.sonnystitt.com/biography/



Biography


Sonny Stitt  (tenor and alto saxophonist) was  born Edward Boatner Jr. on February 2, in 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background; his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher. Boatner was soon adopted by another family, the Stitts, who gave him his new surname. He later began calling himself “Sonny”.

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 played in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands. Stitt was 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 imitator. Later on, he 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.


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 Yanow, 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 in Washington, D.C.

 

Edward "Sonny" Stitt

(1924-1982)

Artist Biography by

Stitt Plays Bird

Charlie Parker has had many admirers and his influence can be detected in numerous styles, but few have been as avid a disciple as Sonny Stitt. There was almost note-for-note imitation in several early Stitt solos, and the closeness remained until Stitt began de-emphasizing the alto in favor of the tenor, on which he artfully combined the influences of Parker and Lester Young. Stitt gradually developed his own sound and style, though he was never far from Parker on any alto solo. A wonderful blues and ballad player whose approach influenced John Coltrane, Stitt could rip through an up-tempo bebop stanza, then turn around and play a shivering, captivating ballad. He was an alto saxophonist in Tiny Bradshaw's band during the early '40s, then joined Billy Eckstine's seminal big band in 1945, playing alongside other emerging bebop stars like Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon. Stitt later played in Dizzy Gillespie's big band and sextet. He began on tenor and baritone in 1949, and at times was in a two-tenor unit with Ammons. He recorded with Bud Powell and J.J. Johnson for Prestige in 1949, then did several albums on Prestige, Argo, and Verve in the '50s and '60s. Stitt led many combos in the '50s, and re-joined Gillespie for a short period in the late '50s. After a brief stint with Miles Davis in 1960, he reunited with Ammons and for a while was in a three-tenor lineup with James Moody. During the '60s, Stitt also recorded for Atlantic, cutting the transcendent Stitt Plays Bird, which finally addressed the Parker question in epic fashion. He continued heading bands, though he joined the Giants of Jazz in the early '70s. This group included Gillespie, Art Blakey, Kai Winding, Thelonious Monk, and Al McKibbon. Stitt did more sessions in the '70s for Cobblestone, Muse, and others, among them another definitive date, Tune Up. He continued playing and recording in the early '80s, recording for Muse, Sonet, and Who's Who in Jazz. He suffered a heart attack and died in 1982.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/24/obituaries/sonny-stitt-saxophonist-is-dead-style-likened-to-charlie-parker-s.html


SONNY STITT, SAXOPHONIST, IS DEAD; STYLE LIKENED TO CHARLIE PARKER'S 

by JOHN S. WILSON 

July 24, 1982
New York Times

Sonny Stitt, the alto saxophonist who was regarded by Charlie Parker as the inheritor of Mr. Parker's style and stature in jazz, died of cancer Thursday night at the Washington Hospital Center. He was 58 years old.

Mr. Stitt was supported and pursued throughout his career by his seeming similarity to Mr. Parker. According to Mr. Stitt, he developed his style independently of Parker.

''When I was 19, playing with Tiny Bradshaw,'' Mr. Stitt told Robert George Reisner, author of ''Bird,'' a book about Parker, ''I heard the records he had done with Jay McShann and I was anxious to meet him. So when we hit Kansas City, I rushed to 18th and Vine, and there, coming out of a drug store, was a man carrying an alto, wearing a blue overcoat with six white buttons and dark glasses.

''I rushed over and said belligerently, 'Are you Charlie Parker?' He said he was and invited me right then and there to go and jam with him at a place called Chauncey Owenman's. We played for an hour till the owner came in, and then Bird signaled to me with a little flurry of notes to cease so no words would ensue. He said, 'You sure sound like me.' '' Replacement in Gillespie Group

Mr. Stitt sounded so much like Parker in the mid-40's, in the view of Dizzy Gillespie, Parker's close colleague at the time, that when Parker became ill in 1945 while he was playing in Mr. Gillespie's group in California, Mr. Gillespie took Mr. Stitt from New York as a replacement.

Shortly after this, Mr. Stitt shifted to tenor saxophone from his original instrument, alto, which was also Parker's principal instrument. It was widely assumed that Mr. Stitt had made the change in part to try to get away from comparisons with Parker. Even on tenor, however, he could not avoid some suggestions of Parker's style.

Parker continued to hear himself in Mr. Stitt's playing, and when Mr. Stitt ran into Parker on the street shortly before Parker's death in 1955, he said, according to Mr. Stitt, ''Man, I'm handing you the keys to the kingdom.''

Despite the similarity in style and sound, however, there were those who felt that Mr. Stitt did not measure up to the totality of Mr. Parker. Nat Hentoff, the jazz critic and historian, has said that, ''Sonny, though technically fluent and certainly a steady swinger, had shown little of Bird's careening imagination or his ability to hurl an audience into new dimensions of feeling time and musical space.''
Son of Music Professor

Mr. Stitt, a tall, thin, wiry man whose given name was Edward, was born Feb. 2, 1924 in Boston. His father was a college music professor, and Mr. Stitt grew up in Saganaw, Mich., where his father was teaching. He became part of the unusually fruitful jazz development in Detroit in the 40's, although he began going on the road with bands when he was only 17.

After working with Mr. Gillespie's group in the mid-40's, he became co-leader of a group with Gene Ammons, a tenor saxophonist. The ''battle of tenors'' between the two leaders became the high point of the group's work and developed Mr. Stitt's reputation as a hard-battling jam-session practitioner.

In the 50's, he toured with Norman Granz's ''Jazz at the Philharmonic'' troupe and led his own groups before rejoining Mr. Gillespie briefly in 1958. Although he played with Miles Davis's group for almost a year and formed brief alliances with Zoot Sims, Clark Terry and J.J. Johnson, Mr. Stitt spent most of the last three decades of his career touring as a single, picking up accompanists wherever he played. Growth of Individual Style

As the years passed, the style and technique that at once seemed a derivation of Parker took on an individuality that was his own. His speed, stamina, polish, finesse and swinging attack were remarkably consistent.

''He has at his fingertips every lick and trick in the book,'' Dan Morgenstern, head of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, said of his work. ''If he wants it that way, he can just coast along on his experience and get away with it every time. But when Stitt is inspired and means business, he is awesome.''

Mr. Stitt, who lived in Chillum, Md., is survived by his wife, Pamela. There will be a funeral Tuesday at the 19th Street Baptist Church in Washington. A memorial will be given Thursday in New York at St. Peter's Church, East 54th Street and Lexington Avenue, at 8 P.M.


http://www.sonnystitt.com/


Sonny Stitt made more records as a leader than any other jazz instrumentatlist. Although eclipsed in his era by the extraordinary attention focused on Charlie Parker, Stitt was highly admired by both fans and musicians. Equipped with magnificent technique and iron chops, and gifted with an innate ability swing, he could turn on the music seemingly at will.

 Stitt could rip through an up-tempo bebop stanza, then turn around and play a shivering, captivating ballad. Stitt was a virtuoso on the horn and relished competition on the bandstand. Stitt had the qualities essential to a tenor battler; he was implacable, indefatigable and inventive. 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.

 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.

 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. Sonny Stitt recorded extensively throughout his career, so frequently that he often could not remember his sessions a year later. The Sonny Stitt Biography is a great example that when a dude is posessed with the “jazz mojo” you just can’t stop him from playing!  Sonny Stitt was that kind of cat!

 http://wrti.org/post/bob-perkins-jazz-library-story-sonny-stitt

Bob Perkins' Jazz Library: The Story of Sonny Stitt

by  
September 1, 2016
WRTI.org

  • Sonny Stitt, 1971 Credit: JPRoche 
Some folks choose their parents well—and if they are products of outstanding parents, the offspring may follow in their footsteps and duplicate their success. A fellow named Edward “Sonny” Stitt was blessed with relatives steeped in music; he followed their lead and became a legendary jazz musician.

 In 1957, "People Will Say We're In Love" from Sonny Stitt with The New Yorkers:

 Stitt’s father was a singer, composer and college professor, and his mother and brother were pianists. He was seemingly set up to be a musician. But Stitt must have inherited his talent from his family members through osmosis, and did so early on.

 For whatever reason, he was given up for adoption soon after being born to the Boatner family in Boston, and adopted and raised by the Stitt family in Saginaw, Michigan. The Boatner talent, however, was in the genes, as Stitt began piano lessons at age seven. He later took to the clarinet, and finally made the alto saxophone his favorite.

He needed little encouragement to practice and become the caliber of musician he became. He was known among his peers for a strong work ethic, a man who worked tirelessly at his craft and was a strong jazz advocate. Over his career, he recorded scores of albums under his own name, to say nothing of those in which he served as sideman.

 Stitt adopted the name “Sonny” and while in school, turned professional and played in a local swing band. A few years later at age 19, he landed a job with Tiny Bradshaw’s band. During the band’s engagement in Kansas City, Stitt met his saxophone idol, Charlie Parker, who invited him to sit in on a jam session to which Parker was headed. After hearing Stitt play for a while, Parker turned to him and said, “You sound like me.”

 As Parker became world famous, almost every jazz alto saxophonist was branded by critics and writers with the Parker sound-alike stamp. Stitt suffered under the association for some years, but still managing to carve out a magnificent career playing both alto and tenor saxophone. His frequent use of the larger horn did much to make the critics finally observe that he was master of both horns, was mostly Sonny Stitt and very little Charlie Parker. But Stitt revered Parker, and had been quoted more than once saying, “There was never anyone like Charlie Parker, and would never be another like him.”

Much like Parker, Stitt could run in a flurry of notes, stop on a dime if he chose, and then massage the heart with a tender ballad. His up-tempo work was not just fast, it was meaningful, and his ballads beautiful.

 Over the years, Stitt made music with a great number of jazz greats, and when he became a jazz titan, some of the jazz greats with whom he’d performed, must have been heard to say, they had shared the stage with Sonny Stitt.
During the last several decades of his career, Stitt traveled pretty much without a rhythm section, preferring to pick up sidemen in the various cities he played. Jazz critic Dan Morganstern dubbed him the “Lone Wolf,” because he toured alone, and for his dedication to jazz.

 Many Philadelphians who were around in the middle of the last century and into jazz, surely must recall Stitt and Gene Ammons bringing “Battles of the Saxes” to the old Showboat at Broad and Lombard Streets. These were knock down, drag out sessions with both men pulling out all the stops, in friendly and entertaining sax duels as cheering patrons egged them on.

 Both Stitt and Ammons suffered addiction to heroin. Stitt also began to drink heavily, but he successfully kicked both habits after suffering seizures. He remained clean after “coming back from the dead,” as he once put it.
Edward “Sonny” Stitt was born February 2, 1924 in Boston Massachusetts, and passed away July 22, 1982 at age 57 in Washington, D.C. He was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989.

This article is from the August 2016 edition of ICON Magazine, the only publication in the Greater Delaware Valley and beyond solely devoted to coverage of music, fine and performing arts, pop culture, and entertainment.

 http://www.sonnystitt.com/biography/stitt-article/



Sonny Strikes Back: In 1963 music critic Steve Race accused Sonny Stitt of copying Charlie Parker as hard as he could, and of having “given up all pretense of individuality”. Steve also offered Sonny a piece of advice: “I think it’s time he stopped playing Parker and went back to playing Stitt”. The following statements made to me by Sonny shortly afterwards include his answer to this criticism.

Les Tomkins (1965)


 As Stated By Sonny Stitt: 
We all have our own way of playing. You can’t tell somebody how to live, how to play, or how to feel. Anybody who tries to tell me that, I tell ‘em to go straight to you–know–where. I’m going to have a free mind. How are you going to play if you can’t be free. That ain’t saying nothing. Everyone should want to be themselves. I’m always going to be myself. Like, when they talk about me and Charlie Parker. Me and Charlie Parker sounded the same way years and years and years ago. He said: “You sound like me.” I said: “Well, you sound like me.” And we agreed: “We can’t help that, can we?” Then we’d go off and get some beer, play some music, or something.

 One thing about my playing now—I’m not as tense as I used to be. But, you know, traveling around the world, eating out of restaurants and tin cans—it will make you tense. Don’t think it won’t. It’s not the same as being able to go home and relax, have your nice dinner and look at your kids. That’s the way it is, though. I have to go out on the road and make it for my family. I do it all for them. No preference.

 As for having any preference between the alto and the tenor—I don’t think I know which one I like the best. Saxophone is nothing but a saxophone. It’s just in two different keys. I comply with the wishes of the audience, If they call on me to play an alto solo, I play it for them. If they say: “Play some tenor”, I play the tenor. That’s it. The reason I played mostly tenor in Ronnie Scott’s club last May: it wasn’t my alto. I wasn’t familiar with the horn, and I didn’t like it too much. My horn was in the States being repaired, gold–plated and all that stuff, and the man was so slow about it. So I decided to just wait until I got home, and got my horn back. I didn’t even bring my own alto mouthpiece with me. I played alto whenever they requested it. You see, I know I’m a public servant in music, and I try to please the people—to the nth degree.

 A guy who goes to work every day, and comes to hear me play—my job is to play music for him, or her. However, I also had to reproach them at times for not applauding the solos of the other musicians. I said: “Look here, don’t you want to give them a hand?” They seem to sit on their hands. Sometimes people feel like it’s hip not to applaud. Or maybe they really didn’t enjoy it. I don’t know, it’s just a complex thing. You never can tell.

 When you’ve got as good a rhythm section as I had in Ronnie’s, they deserve full encouragement. These guys set out to give their best every night. I played my horn the way I play it, and we just joined up together. I had a very good time. I try to communicate, not only to the audience, but to the band also. Make them feel good. When you write a letter—that’s the only way you’re going to receive one.

 My routine of work takes in one–nighters and theatres, as well as clubs. Most times it’s a quartet. Sometimes it’s two horns and rhythm, sometimes a big band. See, I’m what you might call a freelancer—like, the lone wolf. It’s difficult at times, because each little band you play with has a different attitude towards music. You have to analyse them first, and play what they can play. Don’t confuse the band. I know maybe three thousand songs; they might know a hundred songs. So I play the hundred they know, and forget about what I know. Co–operate. Be co–operative. There’s too much strife and stress in the world, as it is. You ain’t supposed to be hurting nobody’s feelings. So my jobs are always happy.

 I have to create that good, friendly atmosphere. Be nice to the cats, and they’re going to relax and be nice to themselves, and to you, too. I don’t want to have a miserable job on my hands. It’s the same with sitting–in. I let anybody play that wants to, if he can play. Sure. Who am I to refuse? I’m no judge of anything or anybody. “Come and join the party, buddy. Get your feet wet. Don’t get your feelings hurt, because I’m going to load the boom, if I can.” Maybe he might load the boom on me! You dig? I’ve been out here a long time, and I’ve learned to live with people.

 Look, it’s no fun playing by yourself. Try it. Everybody’s got something to offer. Human beings are all different. He might play it this way, he might play it that way, and I might play it the other way. You can play a scale many ways, have an idea many ways. Well, I guess I’m getting more mature as I grow older. I hope so, anyway. I hope I’m learning something. You can’t be stepping on people, now—music–wise or any other way. You can dislike what they do, without having to bug the cat who’s doing it. Maybe you can pass a little hint now and then—what he’s doing wrong. But you’re not supposed to try and correct him too much. He’s got a mind of his own. You got two painters—they’re going to paint the same picture. Each sees it in his mind’s eye his own way. So you got two different pictures.

 Of course, you’re going to find the way–out cats. Some people will conform to the correct notes and chords, and try to use some common sense with their ideas. And there’s some that are a little reckless, and are trying to find something different. Music has to have a rhythmic beat, time, clarity of notes, ideas, imagination, emotion, and to paint a pretty picture. Unless he’s angry—then he can paint an angry picture.

 There’s no new path to jazz. Jazz is jazz. They can mix the notes up however they want to, but there’s no way to change it. They’ve gained knowledge, sure, but all this came from the servitude of the slaves. They used to be so unhappy they’d go down there and be moaning, and singing songs. That’s all they could do. So that’s how it started. Spiritual music — that’ll never change.

 Some musicians seem to want to forget that jazz comes from slavery. I’m never going to forget it. How you going to forget something that happened to you, and your people? Not me. No—it happened to me. We can only try to make conditions better. Modern jazz—that didn’t start with Bird. Did you ever hear a song called “Tickle Toe”? And Don Byas — he was playing the same way a long time before Bird got here. Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Charlie Christian, Charlie Shavers—do you think they weren’t articulate musicians? Man, this is nothing new. It was there in the first place—they just hadn’t tried to develop it. They were satisfied with themselves. The people have been asleep on it, that’s all. But they’re learning fast.

 You can’t expect people who have day jobs to have an extra sense of music. Their perceptive qualities are slightly under par. They want to know. Like, I listen to the rock ‘n’ rollers. My wife even has me doing the Twist. I try to be tolerant to any kind of music. And I play with all of ‘em—Memphis Slim even. I might do anything. I ain’t got good sense. At times I just laugh at myself. Ornette and Coltrane have their way of playing—that’s all that is, man. That’s the way they hear and think. They play the same notes we do—they’ve just got a different way of going about it. Maybe they’re going to the moon, I don’t know. Bon voyage. I’m going to stay here on earth.

 I like to see them people pat their feet, and snap their fingers, and enjoy it. I don’t want to mystify anybody. You must understand this, too—they’re doing it for a reason. They’re seeking something. They ain’t just making a lot of noise. Because Coltrane plays right. He just plays rapid. Like Johnny Griffin. And I think sometimes it goes over the people’s heads—they’re going so fast. People can’t understand all that stuff.

 Lester Young told me a long time ago: “Sonny, just take your time, and let ‘em pat their foot, baby”. Coleman Hawkins told me the same thing. So I do that. It’s easier on the musicians, really. I ain’t going to put myself under no strain. Take my time, play something pretty—swing. But, see, everybody ain’t like that. Some cats are nervous, and they feel as though they have to do more on their instrument, I imagine, than what was done before. And they’re trying to find a way.

 But you can’t do no more than has already been done. Remember a man named Art Tatum—now who can play any more than that? I used to go and listen to him, and Oscar Peterson is the only one who has come close. And Charlie Parker—who can outplay him? Then there’s Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, and an old man named Louis Armstrong. And Coleman Hawkins—he’s not young any more, but, buddy. YOU get on that bandstand with him—or any of those cats I called off, and you got your hands full! You better believe me. And you’re going to lose the race if you start to mess.

 These young guys who come on with all that animosity and petty jealousy, and they’re going to conquer somebody—I don’t know why they do that stuff. That’s stupid. All they should do is go up there and learn, and enjoy what they’re doing. Jazz is supposed to be a happy thing. You take one of today’s weirdies and put him on the stand with Ben Webster, Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims—he’ll go home with his head in his hands. You ain’t supposed to play over people’s heads. You’re trying to give a message to people, and make it as simple as possible for the average man.

 I play for the children sometimes. They say: “Oh, Uncle Sonny, will you play for us?” So I go and sit down at the electric piano, and I play for ‘em and sing to ‘em. And they understand what I’m doing. If a child can understand—baby, that’s it. My little niece and nephews dance to my records, too. And I learn all the newest dances—because I’m going to stay as young as I can as long as I can. My mother’s almost 60 years old, and she can run, dance, do anything like that. Plus my grandmother—she’s 105 years old, and she can get up and walk as fast as I can.

 Singing? Oh, yes, I get carried away. It’s a show, like—to make the people warm up a little bit, and make ‘em feel at home. If you don’t understand the notes, you can understand the lyrics. It’s trying to make them relax and be happy. You don’t have to bend them your way all the time. Okay, so a guy or lady might ask me: “Mr. Stitt, would you play ‘Misty’ for us, please?” ‘Now they must have a reason for asking for that song. They like the song very much. So what kind of musician would I be to say: “I’m not playing that kind of music for you”? These people are paying my way, my family’s way. They like my music, and they like me, so why shouldn’t I try to please them? You ain’t supposed to go down the drain—but just don’t play on the ceiling.

 As for the fault–picker—he finds no fault with himself? He’s the perfect human being? There’s nothing perfect on this earth: I don’t have time to criticize people—I’m too busy criticizing myself. What we can try to do is to better ourselves. Don’t make the same mistake twice. I’ve made my mistakes. I ain’t going to say that I wasn’t wrong about a lot of things in my life. But I did learn to try to make myself more respectable in jazz, and not act like an idiot. This is a great profession we have, and it should be respected highly. It’s just like baseball, football: cricket, horse–racing, dentistry or medicine.

 I got one beef about the general public. All musicians are not perverts, dope fiends or bad–acting characters, and I hope the people learn to understand that everyone in this world is human, and there will be mistakes that they will make. But when the man or woman that makes the mistake corrects it—give him credit. Because it may be hard for him to change himself, to conform to society’s ways of living. I try to be a good man, and to lead a Christian life to the best of my ability. And I just want people to learn that jazz is a wonderful thing.

https://www.dclibrary.org/node/31026


May 24, 2012

Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Library

DC Music Salon: Sonny Stitt, Jazz Legend


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Sonny Stitt, jazz sax legend, passed away in D.C. thirty years ago this summer. An avid disciple of Charlie Parker's, Stitt developed his own style, which influenced John Coltrane and a generation of others.

Stitt's name comes up time and again as a bebop/hard-bop mainstay, but one can't ignore his blues and ballads. We can conclude Ellington would say Stitt's playing is "beyond category."

He played alongside a virtual who’s who of the most important names in jazz -- Billy Eckstine, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk -- to name just a few. But unlike many of his list-topping contemporaries, Stitt is less of a household name. On Monday, June 4, we're going to try to learn why this is, as we hear more about the man behind the amazing sound -- and, of course, listen to some of his music!

DC Jazz FestivalIn a special evening presented with the DC Jazz Festival, we will have the opportunity to learn more about this great musician from his daughter Katea Stitt, WPFW's longtime Music and Cultural Affairs Coordinator. Stitt, a much-loved leader of D.C.'s arts community, has her own production company, Anyanwu Management.

She's worked with Ntozake Shange, Lester Bowie, Sekou Sundiata, Defunkt, the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, and Sweet Honey In The Rock, among others. She will be interviewed about her late father by her friend Askia Muhammad, who is News Director at WPFW, as well as a poet, radio producer, commentator and, for over thirty years, a journalist. Since this program is presented during the DC Jazz Festival, be sure to arrive early!

DC Music Salon
DC Music SalonSalon -- noun. A gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine their taste and increase their knowledge through conversation.

DC Music Salon is a free film & book series about music, featuring discussions with expert guests. We show films and speak with musicians, filmmakers, authors and other fellow music lovers. These aren’t lectures, and all are welcome to attend and join the conversation. Most meetings start with a quick introduction of a guest or topic, then show appropriate footage; we may discuss a relevant book and likely ask questions of our experts.
THE MUSIC OF SONNY STITT: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH SONNY STITT: 

Sonny Stitt-- Now!:


Recording Date:  June 10, 1963   Personnel: Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone) Hank Jones (piano) Al Lucas (bass) Osie Johnson (drums)   

Tracklist: 1. Surfin'  (0:00) 2. Lester Leaps In (4:03) 3. Estralita (10:15) 4. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone (13:26) 5. Touchy (17:50) 6. Never—Sh! (22:53) 7. My Mother's Eyes (27:50) 8. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (31:50)   Impulse A-43 stereo

Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, J. J. Johnson (1949-1950) - Full Album:


Tracklist:

[00:00] 1. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm [03:00] 2. Sonny Side [05:24] 3. Bud's Blues [08:00] 4. Sunset [11:49] 5. Fine And Dandy ( take 1 ) [14:34] 6. Fine And Dandy ( take 2 ) [17:17] 7. Strike Up the Band [20:45] 8. I Want to Be Happy [24:00] 9. Taking a Chance on Love [26:35] 10. Afternoon in Paris ( take 1 ) [29:40] 11. Afternoon in Paris ( take 2 ) [32:49] 12. Elora ( take 1 ) [36:00] 13. Elora ( take 2 ) [39:06] 14. Teapot( take 1 ) [42:11] 15. Teapot ( take 2 ) [44:57] 16. Blue Mode ( take 1 ) [48:44] 17. Blue Mode ( take 2 )

Dizzy Gillespie & Sonny Stitt - Live in Belgium 1958:


Sonny Stitt - Stitt Plays Bird (Full Album):


Alto Saxophone – Sonny Stitt
Bass – Richard Davis
Drums – Connie Kay
Guitar – Jim Hall
Piano – John Lewis
..........................................................
1 Now's The Time 3:18
2 My Little Suede Shoes 3:04
3 Parker's Mood 4:19
4 Constellation 3:16
5 Au Privave 2:39
6 Hootie Blues 6:35
7 Confirmation 4:35
8 Ko-Ko 4:51
9 Yardbird Suite 4:49
10 Scrapple From The Apple 3:48
11 Ornithology 3:39
.........................................................
Recorded - New York on January 30, 1963

"Lover Man"

Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone),Walter Bishop (piano),Tommy Potter (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums):




Sonny Stitt--Body and Soul (full album):

Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements from the Pen of Quincy Jones ( Full Album):


Sonny Stitt - "Everything Happens To Me" - Jazz Giants - Tivoli --November 1971:



Sonny Stitt (1950 -1952) - Kaleidoscope (Full album):



A1 Stitt's It A2 Cool Mambo A3 Blue Mambo A4 Sonny Sounds A5 Ain't Misbehaving A6 Later B1 P.S. I Love You See more tracks B2 This Can't Be Love B3 Imagination B4 Cherokee B5 Can't We Be Friends B6 Liza
Sonny Stitt --"Blues Walk" (with Dizzy Gillespie)--
Belgium 1958:


Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt--Belguim, 1958--Part 1:


Sonny Stitt--From the album 'The Champ'
Recorded April 18, 1973:




Sonny Stitt Quartet--"Tuneup":


Sonny Stitt & Hank Jones Quartet 

"People Will Say We're In Love":

Sonny Stitt & Hank Jones Quartet - "It Might As Well Be Spring" (Alternate Take):


Sonny Stitt--"Blues For Prez And Bird":

 

Sonny Stitt and Hank Jones Trio:









Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons--God Bless Jugs and Sonny:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Stitt 

Sonny Stitt



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt.jpg
Sonny Stitt in New York City on July 6, 1976
Background information
Birth name Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr.
Born February 2, 1924 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died July 22, 1982 (aged 58) Washington, D.C.
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Saxophone
Years active 1943–1982
Labels Prestige, Roost, Verve, Argo, Impulse!, Roulette, Cadet, Muse
Associated acts Billy Eckstine, Gene Ammons, Eddie Davis, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis

Edward "Sonny" Stitt (born Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr.; February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording more than 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, in reference to his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Stitt was sometimes viewed as a mere Charlie Parker mimic, especially earlier in his career, but gradually came to develop his own sound and style - particularly when performing on tenor sax.

Contents

 


 

Early life

 

Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts,[1] and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background: his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor; his brother was a classically trained pianist; and his mother was a piano teacher.[1]
 
Sonny was given up for adoption in 1924 by his father. No one seems to know why Boatner gave his son away, but the child was adopted by the Stitt family, who raised him in Saginaw.[2] He later began calling himself "Sonny". While in high school in Saginaw, Stitt played in the Len Francke Band, a local popular swing band.
 
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. Parker is alleged to have remarked, "Well, I'll be damned, you sound just like me", to which Stitt responded: "Well, I can't help the way I sound. It's the only way I know how to play." Kenny Clarke remarked of Stitt's approach: "Even if there had not been a Bird, there would have been a Sonny Stitt".
 
Stitt had played in some swing bands in the early 1940s and was featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties. He replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's [3] bopbig band in 1945 and in 1946 made the first recordings under his own name for Savoy Records, which established his bop credentials.
 
Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons beginning in 1945 when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker imitator. Later on, he played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time at the Federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky, between 1948 and 1949 for selling narcotics.
 
Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating 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.[1] 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 Hank Mobley. Later in the 1960s, Stitt paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall on guitar.
 
Stitt 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 the Selmer Varitone amplification system 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 Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. In 1971 he also recorded another album with Varitone, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank, which was released in 2000.
 
Stitt's productivity dropped in the 1970s due to alcoholism. Stitt had drunk heavily since giving up heroin in the late fifties but the abuse was beginning to take its toll. A series of alcohol-induced seizures caused Stitt to abstain and kick the habit for good. Stitt said of this time: "It was pitiful, man...I was really a slave. I've come back from the dead, because that's where I was, man. I was dead."
 
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, Concord and Emarcy. His last recordings were made in Japan. A rejuvenated Stitt also toured with Red Holloway in the late 1970s, who noted a marked improvement in his playing. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22 in Washington, D.C..[3]


Discography

 

As leader/co-leader

 


As sideman

 

With Gene Ammons

With Art Blakey


With Dizzy Gillespie


With Milt Jackson


With Oscar Peterson


With Don Patterson


With Zimbo Trio


  • Zimbo Trio invites Sonny Stitt, (1979) Clam/Continental

 

References

 


  1. Wilson, John S. (1982). "Sonny Stitt, Saxophonist, Is Dead; Style Likened to Charlie Parker's". The New York Times. p. 28. Retrieved 2008-06-25.

  3. Will Friedwald, "Bebop's Greatest Sparring Partner", The New York Sun, August 14, 2006.

  5. "SONNY STITT, 58, JAZZ SAXOPHONIST, DISCIPLE OF CHARLIE (BIRD) PARKER". The Boston Globe. 1982-07-25. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-06-25.

    1. Wingate.

     

    External links

     

    1. Sonny Stitt at Verve Records
    2. Sonny Stitt at the Hard Bop Homepage
    3. BBC - Radio 3 Jazz Profiles - Sonny Stitt

 
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