Search - Gene Ammons :: Big Sound

They DEFINITELY don't make 'em like this anymore !

Eddie Landsberg | Tokyo, Japan | 11/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"o.k. if you want my word of advice, take this album, put it in your cart and go over to GROOVE BLUES and check out my review of it and get that too (actually, in my humble opinion, this one is the better of the two, both, however being GREAT... Recorded the same day, I don't have much more to add... other than to re-iterate, Jerome Richardson's flute playing really blows me away on this one... its also pretty wild to hear a pre-fame John Coltrane (who was also an R&B session man back then) sounding almost like a young Sonny Stitt incarnate though a few Trane'isms due slip through if you listen real carefully.) - - Pepper Adams also takes some pretty short but frenzic bari solos



As for the session itself... it opens with a really intense slow blues... Though an all star session meant to pay homage to the horns, the rhythm section on this album is so tasty I find myself almost wanting to eat the cover... - - The high point of the album (solos aside) are a really swanky and cookin' head arrangement on CHEEK TO CHEEK... I have to admit surprise that it never went on to be considered a DEFINITIVE recording, because in my because its way up there among the billions of versions that have been laid out... - - Last but not least, Ammons takes a crack at Ben Webster's signature tune... While I dare not say who did the better version, I will say this: if you happen to play the tenor and one of the methods you used to learn is by transcribing solos, transcribe this one - - he sure digs down deep on it... and like about just about every other solo he took on the album, Jerome Richardson gets mean on it too."

More Jug jammin'

Bomojaz | South Central PA, USA | 02/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Made the same day (Jan. 3, 1958) as the "Groove Blues" album, only slightly augmented in personnel, this is another fine Ammons jam session. Jerome Richardson on flute is the only hold-over horn man from the "Groove Blues" album, but the results remain fulfilling. "Blue hymn" is a slow blues while "Cheek to cheek" gets an up-tempo treatment. "That's all" is a tad too long, but doesn't dampen the proceedings a bit. A very satisfying session."

"ONE OF MY FAVORITE JAM SESSIONS"

Dan Celli,X,DJ. | SAN FRANCISCO,CA | 09/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"GENE IS RIGHT ON THE MONEY;BLUESY/SOULFUL. QUINICHETTE DOES HIS PREZ THING. RICARDSON'S

FLIGHTY FLUTE IS IN GOOD FORM. MY FAVORITE BARI PLAYER,PEPPER ADAMS HAS 2 SOLO'S

HERE. COLTRANES ONLY SOLO IS PLAYED ON JAZZ CRITIC'S IRA(SHEETS OF SOUND)GITLER'S ALTO.

3 RARE ALTO SOLO'S CAN BE HEARD ON JUG'S COMPANION CD;"GROOVE BLUES" (SAME PERSONNEL.)

BASS; GEORGE JOYNER. DRUMS;ART TAYLOR. PIANO/ARRAIGNER/COMPOSER;MAL WALDRON.

I MET HIM IN 1961 WALKING DOWN THE STREET CARRYING A SUIT OF CLOTHES COMING FROM THE

CLEANERS. THAT EVENING, HE WAS APPEARING AT THE JAZZ WORKSHOP WITH MAX ROACH.

MAL'S;"THE REAL MC COYS" IS A CLASSIC BECAUSE ALL THE SOLOIST'S HIT THE JAZZ BULLS EYE! THIS TRACK

INCLUDES COLTRANES EXCITING ALTO SOLO. HE REALLY WORKS OVER THE UPPER REGISTER ON THIS SPEEDY TUNE. I THOUGHT AT THE TIME THE SOLO'S WERE WRITTEN OUT. (I WAS 18 THEN. ) I'M VERY PLEASED

WITH THIS ALBUM. WHO WOULD'NT BE?"