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Sonny Stitt
Background information
Birth name	Edward Hammond Boatner Jr.
Born	(1924-02-02)February 2, 1924 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	July 22, 1982(1982-07-22) (aged 58) Washington, D.C.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone
Years active	1943–1982
Labels	Prestige, Roost, Savoy, Verve, Argo, Impulse!, Atlantic, Roulette, Cadet, Muse, Flying Dutchman, Sonet, Who's Who in Jazz
Associated acts	Billy Eckstine, Gene Ammons, Eddie Davis, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis

Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording more than 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern because of his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Stitt was sometimes viewed as a Charlie Parker mimic, especially earlier in his career, but gradually came to develop his own sound and style, particularly when performing on tenor sax.

Early life

Edward Hammond Boatner, Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts^[1] and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background: his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer, and college music professor; his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher.^[1] He was given up for adoption in 1924 by his father and adopted by the Stitt family in Saginaw.^[2] He later began calling himself "Sonny". While in high school in Saginaw, he played in the Len Francke Band, a local popular swing band.

In 1943, Stitt met Charlie Parker. As he often recalled, the two men had similar styles. Parker is alleged to have remarked, "Well, I'll be damned, you sound just like me", to which Stitt responded, "Well, I can't help the way I sound. It's the only way I know how to play."^{[citation needed]}Kenny Clarke said of Stitt, "Even if there had not been a Bird, there would have been a Sonny Stitt."^{[citation needed]}

During the 1940s, he played alto saxophone as a member of Tiny Bradshaw's big band, Billy Eckstine's big band with Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon, and Dizzy Gillespie's big band.^[3]

Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Parker's style, and he began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor.^[1] He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records as well as albums for Argo, Verve, and Roost. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones and Chick Corea for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves."

Stitt joined Miles Davis briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon), all of which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb, and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with Hank Mobley. Later in the 1960s, Stitt paid homage to Parker on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall on guitar.

Stitt recorded several times with his friend Gene Ammons, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best dueling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves in 1963 for Impulse! on the Salt and Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with the Selmer Varitone amplification system as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-a-Stitt in 1967.

Later life

In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output slightly, and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune-Up!, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. In 1971 he also recorded another album with Varitone, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank, which was released in 2000.

Stitt's productivity dropped in the 1970s due to alcoholism. Stitt had drunk heavily since giving up heroin in the late fifties and the abuse was beginning to take its toll. A series of alcohol-induced seizures caused Stitt to abstain and kick the habit for good. Stitt said of this time: "It was pitiful, man...I was really a slave. I've come back from the dead, because that's where I was, man. I was dead."^{[citation needed]}

Stitt joined the all-star group The Giants of Jazz (which also featured Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding and bassist Al McKibbon) and made albums for Atlantic, Concord and EmArcy. His last recordings were made in Japan. A rejuvenated Stitt also toured with Red Holloway in the late 1970s, who noted a marked improvement in his playing. In 1982, Stitt was diagnosed with cancer, and he died on July 22 in Washington, D.C..^[1]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

• 1949–50: Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J. J. Johnson (Prestige, 1956)


• 1950: Stitt's Bits (Prestige, 1958)


• 1950–52: Kaleidoscope (Prestige, 1957)


• 1953: Sonny Stitt Playing Arrangements from the Pen of Johnny Richards (Roost)


• 1954: Jazz at the Hi-Hat (Roost)


• 1954: The Battle of Birdland (Roost) with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
  


• 1955: Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements from the Pen of Quincy Jones (Roost)


• 1956: Sonny Stitt Plays (Roost)


• 1956: New York Jazz (Verve)


• 1956: For Musicians Only (Verve) with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz
  


• 1956: 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt (Roost)


• 1957: Personal Appearance (Verve)


• 1957: Sonny Stitt with the New Yorkers (Roost)


• 1957: Only the Blues (Verve)


• 1957: Sonny Side Up (Verve) with Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins
  


• 1958: The Saxophones of Sonny Stitt (Roost)


• 1958: Sonny Stitt (Argo)


• 1958: Burnin' (Argo)


• 1959: The Hard Swing (Verve)


• 1959: Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (Verve)


• 1959: A Little Bit of Stitt (Roost)


• 1959: Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve) with Oscar Peterson
  


• 1959: The Sonny Side of Stitt (Roost)


• 1959: Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues (Verve)


• 1959: Saxophone Supremacy (Verve)


• 1959: Sonny Stitt Swings the Most (Verve)


• 1960: Stittsville (Roost)


• 1960: Previously Unreleased Recordings (Verve)


• 1960: Sonny Side Up (Roost)


• 1961: The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt (Verve) with the Ralph Burns Strings


• 1961: Sonny Stitt at the D. J. Lounge (Argo)


• 1961: Dig Him! (Argo) with Gene Ammons (reissued on Prestige as We'll Be Together Again in 1969)


• 1961: Boss Tenors (Verve) with Gene Ammons


• 1962: Stitt Meets Brother Jack (Prestige) with Jack McDuff


• 1962: Boss Tenors in Orbit! (Verve) with Gene Ammons


• 1962: Soul Summit (Prestige) with Gene Ammons and Jack McDuff
  


• 1962: Feelin's (Roost)


• 1962: Low Flame (Jazzland)


• 1960–62: Stitt in Orbit (Roost)


• 1962: Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass (Atlantic)


• 1962: Rearin' Back (Argo)


• 1963: Stitt Plays Bird (Atlantic)


• 1963: My Mother's Eyes (Pacific Jazz) with Charles Kynard
  


• 1963: Move on Over (Argo)


• 1963: Now! (Impulse!)


• 1963: Salt And Pepper (Impulse)


• 1963: Soul Shack (Prestige)


• 1963: Stitt Goes Latin (Roost)


• 1963: Primitivo Soul! (Prestige)


• 1964: My Main Man (Argo) with Bennie Green
  


• 1964: Shangri-La (Prestige) with Don Patterson
  


• 1964: Soul People (Prestige) with Booker Ervin and Don Patterson


• 1965: Inter-Action (Cadet) with Zoot Sims
  


• 1965: Broadway Soul (Colpix)


• 1965: "The Double-O-Soul of Sonny Stitt, Part 1"/"The Double-O-Soul of Sonny Stitt, Part 2" (Wingate) (Single)^[4]
  


• 1965: "Concerto For Jazz Lovers"/"Just Dust" (Wingate) (Single)^[4]
  


• 1965: "Stitt's Groove"/"Marr's Groove" (Wingate) (Single) with Hank Marr^[4]
  


• 1965: Sax Expressions (Roost)


• 1965: Live at Ronnie Scott's (Ronnie Scott's Jazz House) with Dick Morrissey
  


• 1965: The Matadors Meet the Bull (Roulette)


• 1965: Pow! (Prestige)


• 1965: Night Crawler (Prestige) with Don Patterson


• 1966: Soul in the Night (Cadet) with Bunky Green
  


• 1966: What's New!!! (Roulette)


• 1966: I Keep Comin' Back! (Roulette)


• 1966: Deuces Wild (Atlantic) with Robin Kenyatta
  


• 1967: Parallel-a-Stitt (Roulette)


• 1968: Made for Each Other (Delmark)


• 1968: Soul Electricity! (Prestige)


• 1968: Come Hither (Solid State)


• 1969: Night Letter (Prestige)


• 1969: Little Green Apples (Solid State)


• 1971: Turn It On! (Prestige)


• 1971: You Talk That Talk! (Prestige) with Gene Ammons


• 1971: Black Vibrations (Prestige)


• 1971: Just the Way It Was (Hyena)


• 1972: Tune-Up! (Cobblestone)


• 1972: Goin' Down Slow (Prestige)


• 1972: Constellation (Cobblestone)


• 1972: So Doggone Good (Prestige)


• 1972: 12! (Muse)


• 1973: Mr. Bojangles (Cadet)


• 1973: The Champ (Muse)


• 1973: God Bless Jug and Sonny (Prestige) with Gene Ammons


• 1973: Left Bank Encores (Prestige) with Gene Ammons


• 1973: Together Again for the Last Time (Prestige) with Gene Ammons


• 1974: Satan (Cadet)


• 1975: Never Can Say Goodbye (Cadet)


• 1975: Mellow (Muse)


• 1975: Dumpy Mama (Flying Dutchman)


• 1975: My Buddy: Sonny Stitt Plays for Gene Ammons (Muse)


• 1975: Blues for Duke (Muse)


• 1976: Stomp Off Let's Go (Flying Dutchman)


• 1976: Forecast: Sonny & Red (Catalyst) with Red Holloway
  


• 1977: I Remember Bird (Catalyst)


• 1977: Sonny Stitt with Strings: A Tribute to Duke Ellington (Catalyst)


• 1978: The Sonny Stitt Quintet (Finite)


• 1978: Sonny Stitt Meets Sadik Hakim (Progressive)


• 1979: Zimbo Convida Sonny Stitt (Clam) with the Zimbo Trio
  


• 1980: Groovin' High (Atlas)


• 1980: Atlas Blues "Blow & Ballad" (Atlas)


• 1980: Sonny's Back (Muse)


• 1981: In Style (Muse)


• 1981: Sonny, Sweets and Jaws: Live at Bubbas, (Who's Who in Jazz) with Harry "Sweets" Edison, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis)


• 1981: Just in Case You Forgot How Bad He Really Was (32 Jazz)


• 1983: The Last Stitt Sessions (Muse)


• 1988: Sonny Stitt Featuring Howard McGhee (Jazz Life) with Howard McGhee
  

As sideman

With Gene Ammons

• 
  All Star Sessions (Prestige, 1950–55)


• 
  Jug and Sonny (Chess 1958) reissue of early 1950s material


• 
  Boss Tenors (Verve 1961)


• 
  Boss Tenors In Orbit (Verve 1962)


• 
  Soul Summit (Prestige 1962)


• 
  You Talk That Talk! (Prestige, 1971)


• 
  God Bless Jug and Sonny Live at the Left Bank (Prestige 1973)


• 
  Left Bank Encores (Prestige 1973)


• 
  Together Again For the Last Time (Prestige 1974)

With Art Blakey

• 
  A Jazz Message (Impulse!, 1963)


• 
  In Walked Sonny (Sonet, 1975)

With Miles Davis

• 
  Miles Davis in Stockholm 1960 Complete with John Coltrane and Sonny Stitt (Dragon, 1992)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• 
  The Modern Jazz Sextet (Verve 1956) with Skeeter Best, John Lewis, Percy Heath and Charli Persip
  


• 
  Duets (Verve, 1957) Quintets with Sonny Stitt or Sonny Rollins, with Ray Bryant, Tommy Bryant and Charlie Persip


• 
  The Giants of Jazz (Atlantic, 1971) with Art Blakey, Al McKibbon, Thelonious Monk and Kai Winding
  


• 
  The Bop Session (Sonet, 1975) with John Lewis, Hank Jones, Percy Heath and Max Roach
  

With Milt Jackson

• 
  Loose Walk (Palcoscenico, 1980)

With Oscar Peterson

• 
  The Oscar Peterson Trio with Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge and Jo Jones at Newport (Verve 1957)

With Don Patterson

• 
  Patterson's People (Prestige, 1964)


• 
  The Boss Men (Prestige, 1965)


• 
  Funk You! (Prestige, 1968)


• 
  Brothers-4 (Prestige, 1969)


• 
  Donny Brook (Prestige, 1969)


• 
  Tune Up! (Prestige, 1964–69)

With Zimbo Trio

• 
  Zimbo Trio invites Sonny Stitt, (1979) Clam/Continental

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sonny Stitt.

• Sonny Stitt at Verve Records


• Sonny Stitt at the Hard Bop Homepage


• BBC - Radio 3 Jazz Profiles - Sonny Stitt