Sonny Stitt – Endgame Brilliance (32 Jazz, 1997)

Originally issued as 2 LPs: Tune-Up! (Cobblestone, 1972) and Constellation (Cobblestone, 1972)

Sonny Stitt (as, ts); Barry Harris (p); Sam Jones (b); Roy Brooks (d); Alan Dawson (d)

Recorded on February 8, 1972 [Tune-Up!] and June 27, 1972 [Constellation]

I've gone round and round about which Sonny Stitt to choose for this survey.  During the 1970s, he made so many records in so many disparate styles, that it was very difficult to choose just one. 

So I decided to take the route of "conventional wisdom."  When most jazz fans talk about Stitt in the 1970s, Tune-Up! and Constellation are the two that regularly come up.  These albums find Stitt re-visiting the classic blues and be-bop sounds of the late-1940s and 1950s.  Both records feature Stitt supported by impeccable rhythm sections.  Bop master Barry Harris plays piano and Sam Jones is the bassist on both LPs.  Alan Dawson sits in the drummer's chair on Tune-Up!, while Roy Brooks does the same on Constellation.  Both LPs were produced by Don Schlitten, and they bear his stamps of quality and consistency.  I can't imagine anyone who likes jazz not enjoying this music -- even folks who aren't particularly fans of Sonny Stitt.

Over the years, I've grown to admire Sonny Stitt's music more and more.  His range extends much further than orthodox bop, so I thought it would be interesting to look at some more recordings from his huge discography.  Until recently, I didn't realize that Stitt made FIVE quartet albums during the 1970s that feature the piano & bass duo of Barry Harris and Sam Jones.  Strangely, each of the five LPs features a different drummer:
- Tune-Up! (Cobblestone/Muse, 1972) with Alan Dawson
- Constellation (Cobblestone/Muse, 1972) with Roy Brooks
- 12! (Prestige, 1973) with Louis Hayes
- My Buddy: Sonny Stitt Plays for Gene Ammons (Muse, 1976) with Leroy Williams
- Blues for Duke (Muse, 1978) with Billy Higgins

All of these are worth exploring, not just the first two!  For example, I really love Blues for Duke, a tribute to Ellington.  An Ellington tribute isn't the most original idea in the world.  It seems like nearly every jazz man's made one.  But I love this LP for all sorts of reasons.  The compositions are timeless Ellington classics, and there's nothing rote about the performances.  Billy Higgins is one of my all-time favorite musicians.  And Stitt seems genuinely inspired by the opportunity to make an album for Ellington.  

People associate Stitt with technique, and he certainly had no shortage of chops.  Yes, sometimes Stitt coasts, relying on his technique to get by.  This is perhaps inevitable, given the fact that he recorded so prolifically.  But to say that what he's about is unfair to Stitt.  Just listen to Blues for Duke.  He plays with real feeling, both on the Ellington pieces and the massively bluesy title cut.

I've also come to enjoy Sonny Stitt's soul-jazz.  On Bob Porter-produced albums like Turn It On! (Prestige, 1971) and Black Vibrations (1972), Stitt uses a Selmer Varitone to alter his sound.  This is a big turn off for some listeners (pun intended), but I dig it.  I wouldn't want to hear Stitt use the Varitone exclusively, but it does bring something different -- an almost violin-like aspect -- to his sound.  The same killer unit supports Stitt on both LPs: Virgil Jones (tr), Melvin Sparks (g), Leon Spencer (org), and Idris Muhammad (d.)  Turn It On! and Black Vibrations were reissued on Stitt's entry in the Legends of Acid Jazz series in 1996.

Given Stitt's enormous discography, we've only scratched the surface.  But these albums give listeners a sense of Stitt's range.  I sometimes wonder if jazz fans overlook him precisely because he made so many records, even though many of them bear little or no relationship to Stitt's tired, old "Bird clone" rap.