Search - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt :: Left Bank Encores

Only for the devout.

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 08/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With a cast of old friends--indeed, of immortal beloveds--such as these (only Cedar Walton is still with us), I figured a recording of any quality, no matter how low the fi, would be a welcome addition to my library. But I honestly believe this is the most poorly recorded, ineptly mixed, carelessly mastered recording I've ever encountered--markedly inferior, even, to my stealth tapings on a $20 mini-cassette machine. I can't think of any reason to own this CD, especially with so much worthy material by Jug and Sonny in existence (excluding some scandalously out of print Jug/Sonny sessions with organist Donald Patterson). But if you really insist on picking it up, try to find consolation in the following: The informative bios and notes by Scott Yanow, the mighty (but way over-miked) walking bass lines of Sam Jones, and the few moments when Sonny (he's stellar on "Blues Up and Down," even by Stitt standards), Etta (frequently drowned out by Ammons), Cedar (playing an out-of-tune piano), and Gene (frequently playing out of tune) are neither distorted nor inaudible. If Fantasy was foolish enough to pay someone for these tapes, that should remain their loss. Instead, they apparently felt it necessary to try to get back their investment at the expense of the consumer."