neveronfriday Posted March 27, 2004 Report Posted March 27, 2004 (edited) When the chance came up to suggest an AOW, many recordings popped into my head, Gerry Mulligan's Songbook, Tord Gustavson's Changing Places, plus a whole number of others. But, the CD that has gotten the heaviest rotation on my stereo this year is Sonny Stitt's Stitt Plays Bird. I bought this one not all that long ago from 2001 when they had a larger number of Atlantic remasteres on offer, and it managed to magically work its way to the top of my ever-growing "have-to-listen-to" CD pile, only to stay there and, sometimes permanently, block a lot of others from ever getting the attention they deserve. **************************************************************************** Track List: **************************************************************************** 01 Ornithology (by Charlie Parker & Benny Harris) 03:39 02 Scrapple from the Apple (by Charlie Parker) 03:48 03 My Little Suede Shoes (by Charlie Parker) 03:04 04 Parker's Mood (by Charlie Parker) 04:19 05 Au Privave (by Charlie Parker) 02:39 06 Ko-Ko (by Charlie Parker) 04:51 07 Confirmation (by Charlie Parker) 04:35 08 Hootie Blues (by Charlie Parker) 06:35 09 Constellation (by Charlie Parker) 03:16 Bonus Tracks: 10 Now's the Time (by Charlie Parker) 03:18 11 Yardbird Suite (by Charlie Parker) 04:49 Note: Tracks 10 - 11 are outtakes recorded during the Stitt Plays Bird sessions, first released on the 1990 CD reissue of this album. **************************************************************************** This tribute album pretty much defines where Stitt comes from, and much of his style owns tons to Bird. This anecdote, taken from the 1966 liner notes (by Ira Gitler) illuminates this: "I heard the records he (Parker) had done with McShann and I was anxious to meet him. So when we hit Kansas City, I rushed to Eighteenth 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 signalled me with a little flurry of notes to cease so no words would ensue. He said, 'You sure sound like me." Although Stitt always insisted that he sounded like that before he met Parker, he still, as the same liner notes state, "[...] embodies the Parker sound and spirit". Stand-outs are, in my opinion, the brisk "Constellation", "Now's The Time" with some nifty guitar and alto interaction, and "Yardbird Suite" which has this wonderful laid-back groove. The only problem I have with this disc is the sometimes rather "pingy" cymbal sound (too much treble, IMHO), but I'm probably being retentive again and altogether it is a fine quality recording. I'll write more as we go along. Have a listen. Cheers! Edited March 27, 2004 by deus62 Quote
Dan Gould Posted March 27, 2004 Report Posted March 27, 2004 (edited) Great choice!! I have had this one for a very long time on CD. I still remember what the clerk at Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis said to me when I brought it up to pay for it: "John Lewis swings hard on this!" and for me that is a highlight of the date, for anyone who thinks John Lewis was an effete player, too "third stream", blah blah blah, just put this one on! BTW, can anyone comment on the 2003 reissue sound? If there's any drawback to this, its the 1990 remastering Edited March 27, 2004 by Dan Gould Quote
king ubu Posted March 27, 2004 Report Posted March 27, 2004 Great choice, deus! I have the 1990 release - the sequencing of the tunes on that one is in session order, I believe, rather then the original sequence on the new one. Have to listen again, it's been a long time... ubu Quote
neveronfriday Posted March 27, 2004 Author Report Posted March 27, 2004 A brief aside: I just noticed that my Atlantic release from 2003 has one leaf of the booklet in twice (the center page with pages 7 and 10 and a double-page spread of a photo by Dennis Stock.). Strange. Quote
neveronfriday Posted March 27, 2004 Author Report Posted March 27, 2004 (edited) BTW, can anyone comment on the 2003 reissue sound? If there's any drawback to this, its the 1990 remastering Dan, the sound is very good (as you might know from other threads, I'm quite the audiophile). The problems I have with the cymbals is a problem I have with many recordings ... it was just a time when, in my opinion, cymbals were not given enough room to breathe, or the technology simply wasn't there yet. I call it the "pingy" sound, which, more often than not, was maybe even intended. But that is another topic altogether. Cheers! Edited March 27, 2004 by deus62 Quote
mikeweil Posted March 27, 2004 Report Posted March 27, 2004 Great choice!!! Perhaps my favourite Stitt album of all, with excellent playing by all involved! Quote
Brad Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 This is not my favorite Sonny album but it's up there. I'd reserve some of the Verve, Roulette and Muse offerings for that it, but it's up there. I'm looking forward to listening to this in the next day or so. Quote
neveronfriday Posted March 28, 2004 Author Report Posted March 28, 2004 This is not my favorite Sonny album but it's up there. I'd reserve some of the Verve, Roulette and Muse offerings for that it, but it's up there. I'm looking forward to listening to this in the next day or so. Brad, got any recommendations? I'm planning on getting some more Stitt. Cheers! Quote
king ubu Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 This is not my favorite Sonny album but it's up there. I'd reserve some of the Verve, Roulette and Muse offerings for that it, but it's up there. I'm looking forward to listening to this in the next day or so. Brad, got any recommendations? I'm planning on getting some more Stitt. Cheers! This one's probably my favourite: Though I don't have the Roost set yet, and don't own any of the Verves but the one included in the Elite Edition Series ("Plays the Blues", I think it's called). Anyone knows why Atlantic held "Plays Bird" back for so long? Contractual reasons? I guess rather not, as Stitt was not the one to have exclusive recording contracts. ubu Quote
king ubu Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 deus, the one I mention above is OOP - if you're not able to locate a used copy (try http://www.djangos.com or Amazon marketplace sellers), drop me a line. ubu Quote
couw Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 that endgame was AotW some moons ago (linky-plinky) I need to give this AotW (Stitt does Bird) another listen. Be back soon (maybe). Quote
neveronfriday Posted March 28, 2004 Author Report Posted March 28, 2004 [...] (Stitt does Bird) [...] Quote
John L Posted March 28, 2004 Report Posted March 28, 2004 Speaking of burning, sizzling Stitt, I noticed that "Personal Appearance" is due for a CD reissue on Verve this year. In my opinion, that is from the top drawer. Quote
JohnS Posted March 30, 2004 Report Posted March 30, 2004 This is a splendid album. Sonny soars (but then he usually does). The shadow of Bird hangs over the date but Sonny is his own man despite throwing in the inevitable Bird lick here and there. Lewis is excellent, doesn't play a note too many and his playing with Hall is a delight. Lovely music, always a pleasure to play. Quote
mikeweil Posted March 30, 2004 Report Posted March 30, 2004 This is another favourite Stitt CD of mine: It has two LPs, the meeting with Paul Gonsalves and a quartet LP, both with excellent sympathetic rhythm sections and Stitt in fine form, he raises clearly above the level of his many blowing dates, and sound is very good. Quote
JohnS Posted March 31, 2004 Report Posted March 31, 2004 Odd that "Stitt Plays Bird" was left in the can for three years. Quote
skeith Posted March 31, 2004 Report Posted March 31, 2004 Actually I don't think it's so odd. I adore Stitt, but I have always found this one to be oddly unsatisfying. It doesn't make my top 10 Stitt recordings. Quote
danasgoodstuff Posted March 31, 2004 Report Posted March 31, 2004 Atlantic was struggling in the early '60s (after losing Ray Charles0 and a lot of stuff got delayed, Coltrane's The Avant Guarde fer instance. They may have waiting for a window of oppertunity where Stitt didn't have three other LPs out on other labels; could've been a much longer wait... I like this one, ironically enough to me it shows that Stitt isn't merely a Bird clone but has his own, similar but distinct, thing going on. Kinda feel the same way 'bout Bud Plays Bird and that took even longer to come out. Quote
neveronfriday Posted April 8, 2004 Author Report Posted April 8, 2004 Who's next? (I've not been able to post as much on the board lately. I'll add to this thread once I'm back in the saddle.) Cheers! Quote
J.A.W. Posted April 8, 2004 Report Posted April 8, 2004 Who's next? Apparently no one. It looks like the AotW is on the way out... Quote
neveronfriday Posted April 8, 2004 Author Report Posted April 8, 2004 Maybe the people who have done one, can do more? I enjoy reading these, and if nothing else, I would be able to add a few more, to say the least. Cheers! Quote
JohnS Posted April 8, 2004 Report Posted April 8, 2004 C'mon guys, we were talking about Jimmy Woods and Geoge Russell not so long ago. Quote
neveronfriday Posted April 8, 2004 Author Report Posted April 8, 2004 Attention, attention! jodigrind, our new member, will be picking it up! Many thanks! And shame on all of you, who are letting this fine tradition go down the hatch! Cheers! Quote
Shawn Posted April 10, 2004 Report Posted April 10, 2004 I pulled this out and gave it a spin for the first time in awhile. A good album, not a classic in my opinion, but a damn fine session. Stitt never had any problem with the blues and those are the strongest cuts on this session I think. The aforementioned guitar interplay is another nice contribution. I think this was a project near and dear to Stitt and that comes through in the performance. My only complaint is that at times it seems a little too restrained (not a word that is used to describe Stitt very often), but it's still very solid. Quote
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