Search - Sonny Stitt, Beenie Green :: My Main Man (Mlps)

Seems like old times

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 01/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bennie Green was no where near the technician Stitt was. In fact, his trombone vocabulary precedes J. J. Johnson's and the bebop revolution of Bird and Diz. Nevertheless, Sonny and Bennie sounded like soul mates on the two occasions I caught them together at McKee's Show Lounge 63rd and Cottage in Chicago. Their meetings didn't produce the sparks of Stitt and Jug (Gene Ammons) but a spirit of rare camaraderie (Stitt could be an ornery loner). On this session, Green's broad, open sound comes through better than in person (he was playing without a mike in front of a Hammond B3 when I caught him), and Sonny exercises restraint and good taste in deference to his good friend and worthy musical companion. (The title track and two others can also be found on a Stitt anthology called "How High the Moon.") Another recommended album by the pair is "Pow.""