Search - Artist/Band: Sonny Stitt

• Name: Sonny Stitt
• Birthday: 02/02/1924
• Birth Place: Boston, MA
• Died: 07/22/1982
• Decades Active: 1940,1950,1960,1970,1980
• Genre: Jazz
• Styles: Bop, Hard Bop, Soul Jazz, Jazz Instrument, Mainstream Jazz, Saxophone Jazz, Standards
• Moods: Energetic, Exuberant, Fiery, Freewheeling, Passionate, Playful, Rousing, Sophisticated, Amiable/Good-Natured, Bravado, Carefree, Confident, Dramatic, Earnest, Earthy, Exciting, Literate, Lively, Rambunctious, Searching, Stately, Street-Smart, Swaggering, Urgent, Warm, Witty, Wry

Title	Release
Don't Call Me Bird!	11/27/2007
Move on Over: The Eddie Buster Sides	05/07/2007
Tune-Up!/Constellation	04/16/2007
An Introduction to Sonny Stitt	09/12/2006
Sonnyside	08/02/2006
Stitt Goes Green	07/04/2005
It's Magic	03/22/2005
One O'Clock Jump	02/28/2005
The Complete Original Quartet Recordings W	2005
1951-1953	11/16/2004
Tenor Battle at Birdland	11/16/2004
Sonny Sounds	05/25/2004
Por Puro Amor	12/15/2003
Sax o' Bebop WA	11/25/2003
1950-1951	05/27/2003
Forecast: Sonny & Red/Partners	02/17/2003
Blues Up and Down	2003
Everything's Cool	2003
Sonnyside [Proper]	2003
Rockin' at the Hi Hat	12/05/2002
Stitt's It	11/27/2002
I Remember Bird/A Tribute to Duke Ellington	11/19/2002
Complete 1949-1950 Prestige Masters	10/01/2002
Plays Johnny Richards & Live at Hi-Hat	08/20/2002
Back Home in My Own Home Town	07/01/2002
In a Mellow Tone	03/26/2002
Just Friends [Prestige Elite]	03/09/2002
1946-1950	10/02/2001
Sonny's Blues [Jazz Time]	08/14/2001
The Boss Men	03/30/2001
Sonny's Blues [International]	2001
Atlas Blues: Blow And Ballad	12/21/1999
In a Sentimental Mood	12/10/1999
Givin' Away the Store	10/12/1999
Legends of Acid Jazz: Sonny Stitt/Don Patterson, Vol. 2	01/26/1999
Duty Free	07/21/1998
The Best of the Rest	06/23/1998
How High the Moon	04/07/1998
Bebop Boys [Indigo]	11/05/1997
Legends of Acid Jazz	07/16/1996
Night Letter [Compilation] WA	07/09/1996
I Should Care	1996
Jazz Classics	12/12/1995
Verve Jazz Masters 50	09/26/1995
Just Friends [Le Jazz]	1995
Loose Walk	12/06/1994
Soul Classics	07/13/1992
Compact Jazz: Sonny Stitt	1992
Prestige 1st Sessions, Vol. 2	1992
Last Stitt Sessions, Vols. 1 & 2 WA	1984
Last Stitt Sessions, Vol. 1 WA	06/1982
Battle of the Saxes	12/1981
In Style	03/18/1981
Good Life WA	11/16/1980
Moonlight in Vermont WA	11/23/1977
I Remember Bird	1977
In Walked Sonny WA	05/16/1975
The Champ	04/18/1973
Mr. Bojangles WA	1973
12! WA	12/12/1972
So Doggone Good	09/13/1972
Constellation WA	06/27/1972
Goin' Down Slow	02/15/1972
Tune-Up! WA	02/08/1972
Endgame Brilliance: Constellation & Tune-Up WA	1972
Made for Each Other	07/13/1968
Autumn in New York	1967
Deuces Wild	09/11/1966
Soul in the Night	04/15/1966
Inter-Action	03/1966
Soul People	1966
What's New? Sonny Stitt Plays the Varitone	1966
My Main Man	05/1965
Salt and Pepper	09/05/1963
My Mother's Eyes	05/1963
Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass WA	02/1963
Stitt Plays Bird WA	01/29/1963
Move on Over WA	1963
Now!	1963
Rearin' Back	09/24/1962
Low Flame	04/04/1962
Stitt Meets Brother Jack WA	02/16/1962
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm	1962
The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt WA	03/06/1961
Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio WA	06/1960
The Hard Swing WA	02/09/1959
Burnin'	08/01/1958
Sonny Stitt	1958
Only the Blues WA	10/11/1957
Sonny Stitt with the New Yorkers	06/28/1957
Personal Appearance	05/12/1957
New York Jazz	09/14/1956
37 Minutes and 48 Seconds	1956
Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements of Quincy Jones	1956
In Boston (1954)	02/1954
Kaleidoscope WA	1952
Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J.J. Johnson	1950
Stitt's Bits	1950
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Charlie Parker has had many admirers and his influence can be detected in numerous styles, but few have been as avid a disciple as Sonny Sitt. There was almost note-for-note imitation in several early Stitt solos, and the closeness remained until Stitt began de-emphasizing the alto in favor of the tenor, on which he artfully combined the influences of Parker and Lester Young. Stitt gradually developed his own sound and style, though he was never far from Parker on any alto solo. A wonderful blues and ballad player whose approach influenced John Coltrane, Stitt could rip through an up-tempo bebop stanza, then turn around and play a shivering, captivating ballad. He was an alto saxophonist in Tiny Bradshaw's band during the early '40s, then joined Billy Eckstine's seminal big band in 1945, playing alongside other emerging bebop stars like Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon. Stitt later played in Dizzy Gillespie's big band and sextet. He began on tenor and baritone in 1949, and at times was in a two-tenor unit with Ammons. He recorded with Bud Powell and J.J. Johnson for Prestige in 1949, then did several albums on Prestige, Argo, and Verve in the '50s and '60s. Stitt led many combos in the '50s, and re-joined Gillespie for a short period in the late '50s. After a brief stint with Miles Davis in 1960, he reunited with Ammons and for a while was in a three-tenor lineup with James Moody. During the '60s, Stitt also recorded for Atlantic, cutting the transcendent Stitt Plays Bird, which finally addressed the Parker question in epic fashion. He continued heading bands, though he joined the Giants of Jazz in the early '70s. This group included Gillespie, Art Blakey, Kai Winding, Thelonious Monk, and Al McKibbon. Stitt did more sessions in the '70s for Cobblestone, Muse, and others, among them another definitive date, Tune Up. He continued playing and recording in the early '80s, recording for Muse, Sonet, and Who's Who in Jazz. He suffered a heart attack and died in 1982. ~ Ron Wynn and Bob Porter, All Music Guide