Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. One Bass Hit, Pt. 1 - Dizzy Gillespie Sextet
2. Oop Bop Sh'bam - Dizzy Gillespie Sextet
3. That's Earl, Brother - Dizzy Gillespie Sextet
4. Bebop in Pastel
5. Fool's Fancy
6. Bombay
7. Ray's Idea
8. Serenade to a Square
9. Good Kick
10. Seven Up
11. Blues in Bebop
12. Epistrophy - Kenny Clarke
13. 52nd Street Theme - Kenny Clarke & His 52nd Street Boys
14. Oop-Bop-Sh'bam - Kenny Clarke
15. Royal Roost - Kenny Clarke & His 52nd Street Boys
16. Boppin' a Riff
17. Fat Boy
18. Everything's Cool
19. Webb City
20. Stardust - Lord Nelson and His Boppers
21. Third Song - Lord Nelson and His Boppers
22. Body and Soul - Lord Nelson and His Boppers
23. Ratio and Proportion - Lord Nelson and His Boppers

Disc 2:

1. Red Shoes
2. Be Bop Blues
3. Royal Wedding
4. Fine and Dandy
5. Scamparoo - Russell Jacquet
6. Suede Jacquet - Russell Jacquet
7. Lion's Roar - Russell Jacquet
8. Relaxin' - Russell Jacquet
9. Afternoon in Paris - Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Stitt
10. Elora - Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Stitt
11. Teapot - Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Stitt
12. Blue Mode - Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Stitt
13. Blue Mode [Alternate Take] - Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Stitt
14. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
15. Sonnyside - Bud Powell, , Sonny Stitt
16. Bud's Blues - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
17. Sunset - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
18. Move
19. Hot House
20. Strike Up the Band - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
21. I Want to Be Happy - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
22. Taking a Chance on Love - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
23. Fine and Dandy - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt
24. Fine and Dandy [Alternate Take] - Bud Powell, Sonny Stitt

Disc 3:

1. Avalon
2. Later
3. Ain't Misbehavin'
4. Mean to Me
5. Stairway to the Stars
6. Touch of the Blues - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
7. Bye Bye - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
8. Blues Up and Down - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
9. You Can Depend on Me [Take 1] - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
10. You Can Depend on Me [Take 2] - Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt
11. Chabootie
12. Count Every Star
13. Nice Work If You Can Get It
14. There Will Never Be Another You
15. Blazin'
16. Seven Eleven
17. To Think You've Chosen Me
18. After You've Gone
19. Our Very Own
20. 'S Wonderful
21. Stringin' the Jug

Disc 4:

1. Nevertheless
2. Jeepers Creepers
3. Imagination
4. Cherokee
5. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)
6. Can't We Be Friends?
7. New Blues Up and Down, Pts. 1-3
8. Thrill of Your Kiss
9. If the Moon Turns Green
10. P.S. I Love You
11. This Can't Be Love
12. I Cover the Waterfront
13. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
14. Down with It
15. For the Fat Man
16. Splinter
17. I'm Confessin'
18. Cool Mambo
19. Sonny Sounds
20. Blue Mambo
21. Stitt's It
22. Sancho Panza - Johnny Richards Orchestra, Sonny Stitt
23. Hooke's Tours - Johnny Richards Orchestra, Sonny Stitt
24. Opus 202 - Johnny Richards Orchestra, Sonny Stitt
25. Loose Walk - Johnny Richards Orchestra, Sonny Stitt
26. Pink Satin - Johnny Richards Orchestra, Sonny Stitt

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90159 in Music
• Released on: 2003-11-25
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import

Album Description
UK exclusive box-set for one of the greatest sax players to emerge in the post bebop era, originally known as a disciple of Charlie Parker. Includes 40 page booklet with discography. Standard jewel cases housed in a slipcase. Proper. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Complete Early Recordings!!
This 4-CD set captures all Stitt's recordings from his debut in 1946 with Dizzy Gillespie on Savoy, through the Prestige Years of 1949 to 1951, ending with his first Roost recording session in 1952 with Johnny Richards.

Stitt was one of the foremeost bebop saxophonists, a true virtuoso who raised technical standards for saxophonists everywhere. He was widely admired by musicians as diverse as Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Booker Ervin and John Coltrane. A formidable player, he loved to "battle" with other horn players, forcing them to play at their best.

Stitt started on alto sax, later adding tenor and baritone. His technique on all three horns is amazing. Adding the other horns
made him a more complete and soulful player. Like Parker, he excels at the blues and soulful ballads. Few players, then or now, could stay with him on up-tempo numbers.

This is an exhaustive survey of his early stuff. Some of the material is very good, the Gillespie material and the Prestige quartet sides from 1950 and 1951 are great. The most critically acclaimed sides are a quartet date with Bud Powell from 1949
and a quintet date with John Lewis and JJ Johnson from around the same time. Stitt's tenor playing here is among his best.

The band Stitt co-led with Gene Ammons is here as well, but I find the 1960s Boss Tenors sessions much preferable to this stuff, which is a bit raw. You may also find the period vocals
by obscure singers offputting. Stitt plays well on the Johnny Richards stuff, but the busy, contrived arrangements don't suit his style.

I like the quartet sides from 1950 & 1951. Stitt is the focus of attention and plays beautifully on these, whether on alto tenor or baritone, on which he shows more ability than many full time baritone players. Stitt is so obviously superior to most of his contemporaries that the presence of other soloists, as on the "Bebop Boys" Savoy sessions is merely distracting. True, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell are on these, but so are some other players who tend to ramble on.

The sound quality is pretty variable. Two sessions recorded for an obscure Detroit label seem to have been recorded in an echo chamber. There is some distortion on some of the Prestige stuff. The Savoy and Roost material sounds pretty good, remembering that these were 78rpm recordings.

Of great historical interest, as much early Bud Powell is here, but not essential unless you are a Stitt fan. Nice to have and not expensive to buy. Very informative booklet as well.