Billboard : 06/30/1956
Score of 75

A re-issue of four selections Stitt made with Jay Jay Johnson in late 1949; Afternoon in Paris, Elora, Blue Mode, and Teapot – plus all the material on the 10-inch LP called Bud Powell and Sonny Stitt (Prestige LP 103), recorded a few months later. These were Stitt’s first recordings on tenor, and show an imaginative application to this instrument of what Parker was then doing on alto. His work – and that of Johnson, Powell, John Lewis, Max Roach and others involved in these sessions – is stimulating enough still to arouse the interest of most modern collectors.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Recently some people have started to notice Sonny Stitt‘s alto work. Alto was Sonny’s original instrument but as brilliant as he was, he still lived in the shadow of Charlie Parker.

In 1949, Sonny switched to the tenor saxophone and although he occasionally played alto and sometimes baritone, his main vehicle became the tenor. Sonny really established himself on tenor to the point where he could return to the alto and be accepted. Of course Bird’s death had something to do with it but Sonny’s playing never had to be relegated to obscurity. There was room for both talents despite the enormity of Bird’s genius.

While I’m on the subject of Bird’s death and events it caused, it seems as if a number of strange phenomena occurred as a result. Disc jockies who had never played his records suddenly delivered recorded eulogies to him, and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in the Down Beat readers’ poll, a niche which I’m sure he would still be looking for it not for his untimely death.

The sessions in this album represent the beginning of Sonny’s career on tenor. The recordings with Jay Jay Johnson were not only his first on tenor but his first recordings of any sort in over two years. The tenor trombone combination is a handsome one. They achieve a striking sound especially in John Lewis‘ Afternoon In Paris.

The immense power of the quartet sides has not been lessened by the years. They have a hard swing which comes not only from the resilient beat of Max Roach, Bud Powell and Curly Russell but from the inner power of the soloists themselves. Sonny is very lyric too, and Bud is undoubtedly one of the greatest virtuosos jazz has ever had.

Now that Sonny has re-emphasized the alto let’s hope he doesn’t de-emphasize the tenor. In this case, two horns are better than one.