Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, & Max Roach – Money Jungle (1962)

Duke Ellington – piano; Charles Mingus – bass; Max Roach – drums

Recorded for United Artists, 1962

The empathy between these three men is astounding. There is a crackling tension that elevates the mood, driving everyone to swing hard. An absolutely magical recording that belies the idea that Ellington wasn’t hip to the advances in jazz. Over the years, this has become one of my all-time favorite jazz recordings.

Thinking about Sonny Stitt…

Sonny Stitt is a much-maligned, misunderstood genius whose true talents were often hidden behind a cruel, contemptuous veneer and a bad habit that kept him on the jazz sidelines. The shadow of “Bird” loomed ominously as well, darkening a career more varied than his contemporaries gave him credit for. As recently as last year, Lou Donaldson denigrated Stitt in an interview with Jazz Times magazine.  Still, there are (and were) those hip to Stitt. In “Sonny Strikes Back,” Sonny answered his critics: “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.” I also suspect that Lou was just being jealous. Stitt reportedly had a mean temper in him when it came to cutting sessions. Lots of great players were afraid of him. Like they were afraid of Don Byas. And Booker Ervin. He would just get up there and blow you away.

I’ve been listening a lot to Stitt’s early Prestige sessions — the infamous Stitt’s Bits — wherein the early seeds of bebop are harvested. His playing is nuanced, varied, and fluid. He has a dexterity on alto, tenor, and baritone that few can equal. That he went and mastered all three instruments speaks to his dedication.  What’s lovely is to hear Stitt in great company: Bud Powell, Max Roach, Gene Ammons, Duke Jordan, Jo Jones, J.J. Johnson and more. Later, as his habit caught up with him, Stitt was often stuck with local pick-up bands whose talent didn’t match their leader.

Here’s an excellent track from those sessions:

Sonny Stitt – tenor sax / Bud Powell – piano / Curly Russell – bass / Max Roach – drums (Prestige Records, 1950)

Stitt breathes fire on this number. As he did on a large number of superlative recordings.

Edward “Sonny” Stitt was born on February 2nd, 1924 and died on July 22nd, 1982. He was only 58 years old.

Like Ike Quebec and Don Byas, he deserves to be better known.

Bop and Beyond’s 50 Personally Indispensable Jazz Albums:

Monty challenged me to come up with my own list of 50 personally indispensable jazz albums in response to the Amazon 100 list.

The criteria was simple, name the 50 jazz albums I personally could not live without. That’s it… a list of favorite albums (not necessarily the greatest albums either). Anyone who has followed this site knows my taste so most of these albums won’t come as much of a surprise anyway.

Monty’s list is posted here: http://rightheredude.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-top-50-jazz-albums-of-all-time.html

In the meantime, here’s mine…

01. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

02. Duke Ellington – Money Jungle

03. Clifford Brown & Max Roach – A Study In Brown

04. Thelonious Monk – Monk’s Dream

05. Billie Holiday – Lady Day: The Master Takes

06. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington – The Great Summit

07. Coleman Hawkins – Body and Soul

08. Ornette Coleman – At The Golden Circle

09. Miles Davis – In A Silent Way

10. Peggy Lee – Black Coffee

11. John Coltrane – Coltrane’s Sound

12. Alice Coltrane – Ptah, the El Daoud

13. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Like Someone In Love

14. Ahmad Jamal – The Legendary Okeh and Epic Recordings

15. Curtis Amy – Katanga!

16. Von Freeman – The Great Divide

17. Mary Lou Williams – Black Christ of the Andes

18. Paul Chambers – Bass on Top

19. Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidananda

20. Charlie Rouse – Bossa Nova Bacchanal

21. Thelonious Monk – Misterioso

22. Booker Ervin – The Freedom Book

23. Ike Quebec – Blue and Sentimental

24. Sonny Rollins – Saxophone Colossus

25. John Coltrane – A Love Supreme

26. Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’echafaud (Lift to the Scaffold)

27. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Au Club St. Germain

28. Duke Ellington – Fargo, 1940

29. Coleman Hawkins – Night Hawk

30. Mal Waldron – The Seagulls of Kristiansund

31. Herbie Nichols – Love, Gloom, Cash, Love

32. Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack

33. Pharoah Sanders – Jewels of Thought

34. The Jazz Crusaders – Freedom Sound

35. Django Reinhardt – Paris and London

36. Dexter Gordon – Our Man In Paris

37. Andrew Hill – Smokestack

38. Stanley Turrentine – Jubilee Shout!!!

39. Don Byas – Laura

40. Clifford Brown – With Strings

41. Grachan Moncur III – Evolution

42. Earl Hines – Once Upon A Time

43. Horace Parlan – Speakin’ My Piece

44. Lou Blackburn – The Complete Imperial Sessions

45. Sonny Rollins – East Broadway Run Down

46. Carmell Jones – Jay Hawk Talk

47. The Curtis Counce Group – Carl’s Blues

48. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Free For All

49. Paul Gonsalves – Boom Jackie Boom Chick

50. Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue

Turrentine/Rouse B-Day Bash Download:

Celebrate the music of Stanley Turrentine and Charlie Rouse with Bop and Beyond’s 3rd Annual Back-to-Back Birthday Bash– now available for download:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TIW10LQM

Bop and Beyond’s 3rd Annual Back-To-Back Birthday Bash!

Certain shows have become an annual tradition here at Bop and Beyond. This Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 6pm, Bop and Beyond celebrates it’s 3rd Annual Back-To-Back Birthday Bash in honor of two of my all-time favorite tenor sax players:

We’ll be hearing from both men’s work as leaders and sidemen for various labels.

Bop and Beyond, Fridays at 6pm on WSVA Radio.

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(A download of this program will be made available within a week of initial broadcast)