On June 24, 1973, Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society reunited one of the most legendary tenor teams of the bebop era:
Gene "Jug" Ammons and
Sonny Stitt. Like
Dexter Gordon and
Wardell Gray,
Jug and
Stitt were on the same team -- the bop team -- but loved to compete with one another and see who had the mightiest chops. That was in the late '40s and early '50s -- when the saxmen were reunited at that Baltimore concert in 1973, they weren't as competitive and battle-minded as they had been in their younger days. But their chops were still in top shape, and they could still swing unapologetically hard. Thankfully, that Baltimore gig was taped, although the performances went unreleased until the early '00s, when they became the focus of two Milestone releases:
God Bless Jug and Sonny in 2001 and
Left Bank Encores in 2002. This solid CD finds
Ammons and
Stitt providing an inspired two-tenor attack on material that ranges from "Blues Up and Down" to "Autumn Leaves" and "Just in Time"; only on "They Can't Take That Away from Me" does
Stitt switch to alto. Guest vocalist
Etta James is in fine form on "Exactly Like You" and her signature tune "Don't Go to Strangers," and the all-star rhythm section (pianist
Cedar Walton, bassist
Sam Jones, and drummer
Billy Higgins) takes over on "Theme from Love Story" (which gives the saxophonists a chance to lay out). "Theme from Love Story" is a tune that most jazzmen wouldn't think to perform, but it works well for the lyrical
Walton. Like
God Bless Jug and Sonny,
Left Bank Encores falls short of essential, but is an enjoyable disc that
Ammons and
Stitt's hardcore fans will appreciate. ~ Alex Henderson