Metronome
Jack Maher : January, 1957

Jammin’ with Gene, which serves as a title of both the lead off tune and album for this set of sides, just about sums up in three words the feeling and the outcome of this date. Throughout, there is extended blowing by Don Byrd and Art Farmer, trumpets, the alto of Jackie McLean and Gene’s tenor. The rhythm section, which consists of Mal Waldron at piano, Art Taylor and Doug Watkins, plays well together except on Not Really The Blues, which fills one complete side. On this tune Art’s drums seem overly aggressive, pushing and pulling at Watkins and soloists alike.

The other two tunes, Together Again and Jammin’ are around a medium tempo with Jammin’ a walker and Together a ballad thru Gene’s opening chorus and then a bit above medium for the rest of the soloists. The ballad has a salty quality; a hardness along the Jacquet lines, something which seems to describe Gene’s playing thru the medium and slow tempos. The one discrepancy, however, is his unwillingness to honk and scream as Jacquet does. Jammin’ has a peculiar Red Top–Preacher line and features some competent Art Farmer blowing as does most of the album.

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Down Beat : 01/23/1957
Nat Hentoff : 3 stars

Except for most of the leader’s contributions, this is a blowing session with some areas of imaginative excitement. Ammons has the power and intensity of the others, but lacks the inventiveness. He is at his best on Together, both in the opening, stark, slow stripping of the ballad line and the emphatic up-tempo sections. But on the other two tracks, after fairly effective opening statements, his solos decline into a collection of cliches. The other soloists, however, are incisive if not entirely as relaxed as they have been on some other sessions. All, however, have a number of effective comments. Rhythm section is strong, but Taylor is sometimes too loud and heavy as on Blues.

Blues, played in an undercurrent of near-frenzy, takes up the entire second side with the final part being devoted to a series of slashing exchanges between the horns. Prestige these days too often is taking the easy way out of recording jazz – assembling some men and telling them to just blow. It doesn’t always work out memorably. Sessions deserve more thought and advance planning and added takes than are sometimes afforded by Prestige.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Those of you who own or have heard either or both of the jam sessions, featuring Gene Ammons, that Prestige previously has released (LP 7050 & LP 7039), know them to be vigorous, hard-swinging, high spirited outings replete with all star casts. This latest congregation is no exception. Gene is joined by Art Farmer, one of the individual modern trumpet voices and a vital force in both the aforementioned sessions and Jackie McLean, the powerful young altoman who greatly enhanced proceedings in the second set. Added to this front line is the singing, swinging trumpet of Donald Byrd. In the rhythm section there are two newcomers, the much in demand freelance bass player Doug Watkins and pianist Mal Waldron from the Charlie Mingus group. The one returnee is Art Taylor who was also on the second session.

Not Really The Blues, written by Johnny Mandel, was a number on which Woody Herman used to feature Gene Ammons in the late forties. Here Gene reviews it at a faster pace than the original recorded version, more like the tempo that Herman’s band did in person. Solo order is Byrd, McLean, Farmer, Ammons, and Waldron. In the first exchange sequence it is Farmer, Byrd, McLean, Ammons and in the second set of conversations the order is the same as the original solos.

Really the blues is Jammin’ With Gene with workouts on the slow funker by Ammons, Byrd, Farmer and McLean in that order.

We’ll Be Together Again is divided into two sections. First Gene plays the melody in its ballad form with sensitive backing by Mal Waldron’s chords and Doug Watkins’ bowing. After one chorus he takes it up and this tempo is carried through solowise by Farmer, McLean, Byrd and Waldron. The last chorus belongs to Gene as he and the original tempo get together again in the last eight bars.