SONNY STITT - KALEIDOSCOPE

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Sonny Stitt - Kaleidoscope

Sonny Stitt

Kaleidoscope

PRLP 7077

NYC, February 17, 1950

Personnel:

Sonny Stitt (ts)

Kenny Drew (p)

Tommy Potter (b)

Art Blakey (d)

JRC1009A Later

JRC1010A Ain't Misbehavin'

NYC, December 15, 1950

Personnel:

Sonny Stitt (ts)

Junior Mance (p)

Gene Wright (b)

Art Blakey (d)

122 Imagination

123 Cherokee

NYC, January 31, 1951

Personnel:

Sonny Stitt (ts)

Charlie Bateman (p)

Gene Wright (b)

Art Blakey (d)

133 Liza

134 Can't We Be Friends?

NYC, February 1, 1951

Personnel:

Sonny Stitt (ts, bars)

Charlie Bateman (p)

Gene Wright (b)

Teddy Stewart (d)

146 P.S. I Love You

147 This Can't Be Love

NYC, February 25, 1952

Personnel:

John Hunt, Bill Massey, Joe Newman (tp)

Sonny Stitt (ts)

John Houston (p)

Ernie Shepherd (b)

Shadow Wilson (d)

Humberto Molares (cga)

335 Cool Mambo

336 Sonny Sounds

337 Blue Mambo

338 Stitt's It

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Tracks

1. Stitt's It [Massey/Stitt] 2:35

2. Cool Mambo [Massey/Stitt] 2:40

3. Blue Mambo [Massey/Stitt] 2:25

4. Sonny Sounds [Massey/Stitt] 2:29

5. Ain't Misbehavin' [Brooks/Razaf/Waller] 3:02

6. Later [Stitt] 3:00

7. P.S. I Love You [Jenkins/Mercer] 3:00

8. This Can't Be Love [Hart/Rodgers] 2:47

9. Imagination [Burke/VanHeusen] 3:24

10. Cherokee [Noble] 2:33

11. Can't We Be Friends? [James/Swift] 2:41

12. Liza (All the Clouds'll RollAway) [Gershwin/Gershwin/Kahn] 2:45

Review by Stephen Cook

Deftly handling the alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone, bebop giant Sonny Stitt is heard to perfection here on a variety of early-'50s dates. Stitt not only shows off his patented speed throughout, but he goes a long way in dispelling criticisms of him being all fire and no grace. The disc kicks off with four tight, Latin-tinged swingers featuring an octet that includes trumpeter Joe Newman and timbales player Humberto Morales. Switching to piano quartet mode for the bulk of the disc, Stitt ranges effortlessly from frenetic blasts ("Cherokee") to golden-hued ballads ("Imagination").

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