|
JazzWords > Sonny Stitt
|
|
|
|
|
(page two)
My only "Sonny" experience came in 1978 in Dayton, Ohio. It was in a little club called Jilly's, on the
ground floor of a parking garage, I believe. It was a great place to hear music. I heard Stephane Grappelli,
Betty Carter and Yusef Lateef in the same venue that summer.
Since the only album I had by Sonny at that time was the Prestige twofer called "Genesis", I was pretty familiar
with his late 40s recordings with Bud Powell, JJ Johnson and Gene Ammons. I asked him to play Cherokee, and he obliged.
The band kicked it off, and he turned around to the local rhythm section (as you know, he never traveled with a group)
and said something like "Whoa, what are you guys trying to do, kill me?" It was a tempo that he clearly could have
handled on another night, but a pace too fast for this night. Still, it was an incredible experience. I missed
hearing a lot of legends by days or weeks, (Art Pepper was too sick to perform when he came to my home town) so
I was happy to have heard Stitt.
One of the reasons that I find Stitt so appealing is that his life is such a paradox of light and shadows. An immensely
talented individual, but one obviously tormented as well. Well-liked by musicians, but no friend to any man on the
stand (Red Holloway tells a great story about taking alto lessons from Stitt, and then getting carved up by him when
Sonny politely coaxed him to bring his alto to the gig).
This real warrior with a sax was passive and gentle in many other ways. According to some accounts, he spent his days
on the road (when he wasn't on the wagon) by watching daytime TV and devouring vodka. Several people who knew him
at about the time I saw him have verified similar stories.
The book, whenever it gets written, will allow us to explore the private side of a man who clearly was driven to excel
on the stand, and who gave us an incredible catalog of often exceptional, and always listenable music.
At his best, there was none better.
©1999 Dave Leonnig
<< Back 2 of 2
Biography/Discography of Sonny Stitt
Read other reviews
|
|
|
|
|
©2002 JazzSpot Inc. All rights reserved.
|
