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JazzWords > Sonny Stitt
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Why should I (or YOU) care about a musician that most of today's jazz listeners have never heard
of? Sonny Stitt died nearly 20 years ago, was not a media darling, did not write a "kiss and tell"
autobiography and kept his demons largely to himself for the last 34 years of his life.
After having listened to jazz for the better part of thirty years, I have developed an appreciation
for some of the distinct voices and consistent performers in an art form where being popular is
usually synonymous with being mass-market accessible or just a little bizarre.
While I like many of the fringe musicians (usually for their musicianship, not their bizarre behavior),
there are a number of great musicians - Roy Eldridge, Johnny Hodges, Earl Hines, Coleman Hawkins,
Sidney Bechet, Mary Lou Williams, Warne Marsh (one of the real unsung great improvisers of all time),
Sam Rivers, Steve Lacy (big in Europe) and others - who don't register with many of today's fans.
Although some were wildly popular in the '30s, '40s ,'50s and '60s, they are not the idols they should be.
I feel that Sonny Stitt is currently the most underrated saxophonist of his generation. He is
currently being penalized for not having recorded extensively for Blue Note or Verve, because we all
know what a great job those labels are doing with dead artists. He also suffers from not having
blown his own horn (autobiographically) during his life. How could he know that just weeks after
subbing for the late Art Pepper at the Kool festival that he'd be joining him in the heavenly Bebop sax
section?
However, his peers respected his ability (just check out how many name musicians played with him in the
'50s and '60s). He also has a list of near misses that might surprise you. For instance,
he was nominated for two Grammy awards (back when that really meant something) and there was no media
darling like Wynton Marsalis to tell people what to think.
He also missed getting into the Down Beat hall of fame posthumously in 1982 because he had the misfortune
to die in the same year (albeit weeks later) as Art Pepper. He actually subbed for Pepper just weeks
prior to his own death.
Even in death, Sonny Stitt has had to take second fiddle to a great alto saxophonist. In life, Stitt was
always considered "a Charlie Parker disciple." This page is beginning of my celebration of Stitt's life
and contribution as a working musician for 40 years. Stitt remains one of the most extensively recorded
musicians of all time.
He is one of my favorites, regardless of the recording. He always had something to say, and he seems to
have been able to make others play better, too. And the work with Gene Ammons (dig "The Blues Up and
Down," on Verve) is well worth listening to.
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