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Classic Jug, playing in a laidback open-ended blowing session, with other strong Prestige players – like Coltrane, Jerome Richardson, Paul Quinichette, Art Taylor, and Mal Waldron, who always seems to be the driving force between most Prestige sides like this. The album has only 4 tracks, and they're all long and nice and soulful. The titles are "Blue Hymn", "The Real McCoy", "Cheek To Cheek", and "That's All".

Way more than just an album with Gene Ammons as a leader – and instead, a set that truly earns the "all stars" listed on the cover – thanks to a great array of supporting players, and a very loose, open-ended jam session style that lets everyone get in plenty of solo space! Ammons' tenor is tremendous, but he's also a great collaborator here, too – working with Idrees Suliman on trumpet, Pepper Adams on baritone, Mal Waldron on piano, Art Taylor on drums, Doug Watkins on bass, and Ray Barretto on conga – in a mode that's maybe slightly tighter than some of the blowing sessions Prestige was doing at the time, but which still has that key longform creative energy that made the hardbop generation so great. Titles include "Blue Gene", "Scamperin", "Blue Greens n Beans", and "Hip Tip" – and all tracks are long, with plenty of focus on solos!

Dang! Poor Gene Ammons kept getting stuck with albums that had titles which referenced his prison time! Fortunately, the quality of this one's good enough to live past the stupid name – and the record has Gene blowing with a larger group of west coast soul jazz players, arranged by Bobby Bryant, in the style of big band funk he was using on his own work. More than a few nice moments arise – especially on the cuts "Crazy Mary", "Fru Fru", and "Jaggin".

Pretty cool early work from Jug! This original 10" LP features one of his first blowing sessions for Prestige – caught in the company of Art Farmer, Lou Donaldson, Freddie Redd, and Kenny Clarke. The album features 2 long tracks – "Woofin & Tweetin" and "Juggernaut" – both of which were later issued on 12" LPs, but which are packaged here in a cool original 10" sleeve!

Very nice album by Jug that often gets overlooked because it's comprised of 2 different sessions, and can't get the "historical" writeup of being a single significant moment in the studio. Some tracks – including "Lascivious" and "Soft Winds" – are with a tight quartet that features the very soulful piano of Patti Brown. The others are with a larger group that has a whole horn section backing Jug up. The sound's a bit unusual for his records of the time, but it also gives him a great platform to work from, and he wails out of the group on his solos. Other titles include "Lullaby Of The Leaves" and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be".

Nice and cool, but not in a west coast way – and instead a set that's got Gene Ammons working some wonderfully soulful magic on a set of gentle ballads! The set's got a brilliant late nite sort of feel – one of those tenor albums that seems to sound even better in the space past midnight – as the warm glow from Ammons' horn seems to sparkle even more strongly in the dark – standing out with that stark, spare approach that always makes his ballad work so special – and unlike just about anyone else. The group here is nice and cool too – with Richard Wyands on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and JC Heard on drums – and titles include "Someone To Watch Over Me", "I Remember You", "Willow Weep For Me", and "Till There Was You".

A nice little album – featuring some of the sides that Gene Ammons cut "off contract" for Chess/Argo during the early 60s, and ones that feature him paired with Sonny Stitt, his longtime partner in legendary tenor battles from the 50s. The two horns aren't really locked in combat here, but they do complement each other nicely on the album's mellow groovers and ballad tracks. Titles include "Cha Bootie", "Tenor Eleven", "The Last Mile", and "Full Moon".

These two tenor giants meet in the period slightly before Ammons death, and they're grouped with some of the younger funky players on Prestige, like Leon Spencer, Idris Muhammad, and George Freeman. The sound is fairly traditional, but there's some nice funky moments. Tracks include "Out Of It", which was written by Harold Vick, "The People's Choice", written by Harold Ousley, and the title cut, which is a Leon Spencer original.

Bad Bossa Nova is right – as Gene Ammons really hits a great groove here – one that's not exactly bossa, but which has lots of Latin and tropical touches! The session makes great use of 2 guitars at the same time – using that of Kenny Burrell for soulful rhythm, but also adding in Bucky Pizzarelli for some nice acoustic embellishments – in a mode that's similar to the soul jazz-com-bossa style used on records like Ike Quebec's Soul Samba or Charlie Rouse's Bossa Nova Bacchanal. The overall rhythms are a bit more complicated, and a bit more soul jazz based than those sets – with Hank Jones on piano, Oliver Jackson on percussion, and Al Hayes adding in some sweet extra bongo! Titles include the classic "Ca'Purange" – plus "Anna", "Yellow Bird", "Cae Cae", and "Moito Mato Grosso". Also issued under the title Bad Bossa Nova.

A stone classic from Gene Ammons – and a record that introduced his talents to a whole new audience in the 60s! The album's a more laidback one than some of Jug's more hard-blown honkers – as you might guess from his hit rendition of the ballad in the title – and the instrumentation here varies between organ from Johnny Hammond Smith and piano from Mal Waldron – making for a nice tapestry of dark-tinged, late nite moods. Other players include Frank Wess on tenor and flute, and Art Taylor or Ed Thigpen on drums. Titles include the classic "Angel Eyes", plus "You Go To My Head" and "It's The Talk Of The Town" – and slightly more groovin numbers like "Getting Around" and "Water Jug".

In "back", the title is pointing to the fact that Gene Ammons is back on the scene, after being released from 7 years of a tragic 15 year narcotics sentence in prison. The album marks a proud return for Jug – who'd not recorded since a very successful flurry of sides recorded in 1961, done for a number of labels, and issued slowly during his time off the recording market. The album's a nice groover in a Prestige funky mode – with Bernard Purdie on drums on a number of cuts, plus work by Sonny Phillips, Candido, and Junior Mance. Includes the funky cuts "Tastin' the Jug" and "Jungle Boss" – plus "Madame Queen" and "Feeling Good".

One of Gene Ammons' classics from the 60s, and a straight ahead session of soul jazz tenor and piano, with drums by Art Taylor and a bit of extra conga from Ray Barretto. Nice rolling 60's soul jazz groove, and some nice piano comping behind Jug by Patti Brown and Walter Bishop Jr. Tracks include "Travelin", "Soft Summer Breeze", "Carbow", and "Song of The Islands".

A wonderful batch of mellow, laidback balladry by Gene Ammons. Like a lot of the two-fers issued by Milestone and Prestige in the 70s when they came under the Fantasy umbrella, this set collects sides from a couple of different sessions, Nice An' Cool and The Soulful Mood Of Gene Ammons in this case. Sidemen are Richard Wyands, Doug Watkins and JC Heard, or Patti Brown, George Duvivier and Ed Shaughnessy. 16 tracks in all, including "Till There Was You", "Little Girl Blue", "Something I Dreamed Last Night", "I Remember You", "Someone To Watch Over You", "Two Different Worlds", "Skylark", "Three Little Words", 'Street Of Dreams" and "Under A Blanket Of Blue".

Our favorite side of Gene Ammons' talents – summed up nicely in a 2LP set! Ammons wasn't the first tenor player to work with a Hammond organ, but once the format gained popularity, Gene made a wise move to take it up – and it became a pairing that forever defined the later years of his sound! The 2LP set brings together a nice blend of ballads, groovers, and funky tunes recorded for Prestige with organists Johnny Hammond Smith and Jack McDuff during the 60s – titles that include "Born To Be Blue", "Twistin The Jug", "In Sid's Thing", "Blue Room", "Water Jug", "Getting Around", "Angel Eyes", "Stormy Monday", "Velvet Soul", and "Down The Line".

Killer live work from Jug – recorded during the early 60s in Chicago, with just an organ-based trio, and very much in the feeling of the best small-group lounge jazz shows of the day! The material is issued here in a 1967 version, its first release – but the grooves were recorded at the DJ Lounge in Chicago – at a time when Gene Ammons was turning out some very raw, rough-edged material! Organist Eddie Buster does a pretty darn good job of wailing away, and Ammons is in very different, very freewheeling form than on many of his other studio sessions from the time. Gerald Donovan is on drums – and titles include "Fast Track", "Foot Tappin", "Scrapple From The Apple", and "Jug's Blue Blues".

Classic mellow Jug – from a time when Prestige discovered that Gene Ammons would sell equally well to the mellow jazz crowd as to the jukebox jumpers. Most of the cuts feature Gene with a deep soulful tone that could qualify as "velvet", but which still has enough of a rough edge to remain soulful. One track is played by a larger group, and the rest are with small combos that either feature organ or piano. Tracks include "Salome's Tune", "Velvet Soul", "Stranger In Town", and "Light N Up".

One of the tasty blowing session albums that Jug cut for Prestige – remarkable in the quality of the players (Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Pepper Adams, and others), and in the relaxed easy groove of the solid soulful tracks. There's 4 long cuts, and they all swing nicely nicely nicely! Titles include "Ammon Joy", "Groove Blues", and "Jug Handle".

A hard-hitting blowing session, cut very much in the mode of Gene's late 50s sides for Prestige – and with a very accomplished group of soul jazzers that includes Nat Adderley, Frank Foster, Bennie Green, and Frank Wess. The groove has a nice raw late night sound – and tracks are pretty long and open-ended. Titles include "Litty Ditty", "Sermonette", "Juggin Around", and "Jim Dog".

Groove and Jug wail away in this classic set of tenor/organ tracks recorded for Pacific Jazz in the early 60s. The backing is spare, with only Gene Edwards on guitar and Leroy Henderson on drums, and tracks include "Morris The Minor", "Good Vibrations", "Hey You, What's That?", and "Groovin' With Jug".

A more laidback set than usual from Ammons' early 70s stretch on Prestige – but a record that nicely gets back to that big-toned tenor sound he used often on ballads from earlier years! The combo mixes both electric piano and organ – the former from Hank Jones, the latter from Ernie Hayes – and drums are mostly by Idris Muhammad, but in a style that's a bit more roundly open and soul-based than some of his funkier jams. But there's still a nice groove to many numbers – a gentler one, with a sly undercurrent of soul – even on a few that feature fuller strings arranged by Ed Bogas. Titles include "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit", "Fine & Mellow", "Lady Sings The Blues", "Play Me", "Tin Shack Out Back", and "Ben".

Beautiful beautiful work from tenorist Gene Ammons – and an album that really demonstrates that during the 60s, one of Ammons' strongest suits was his work with a mellow tune or ballad! The tracks here are wonderfully laidback, but never sleepy – very soulful, and solidly put together in that Ammons-made gentle-blown way – using just a few notes to send the message out with a powerful punch, without ever overdoing things the way that a few of his tenor contemporaries might be tempted to do! The group's a great fit too – with the lovely Patti Brown on piano, plus bass from George Duvivier and bass from Ed Shaughnessy – and titles include "Two Different Worlds", "Skylark", "Three Little Words", "Street Of Dreams", and "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To".

One of Jug's funkier albums from his time back out of the pen, and a tasty electric session with Billy Butler on guitar and Sonny Phillips on organ. Pretty Purdie plays drums, and he kicks it nice and lean on the great groover "Jungle Strut". The album also features a nice version of "Son of A Preacher Man", plus "Ger-ru", which features Junior Mance on piano.

Although late in the Prestige jazz funk years, and not in the small combo mode of some of Ammons' best early 70s sides, this is still an excellent batch of tracks – thanks to hip arrangements from Bill (William S?) Fisher! The format's almost in a Kudu/CTI mode, as larger arrangements envelope Jug's soulful tenor – funking away with a blacksploitation on tracks like "Chicago Breakdown", "Back In Merida", and a great cover of "What's Going On", all done with tight horns, compressed guitar, and even a bit of strings. There's a few mellower numbers that aren't as great – but these tracks more than make the album worth having!

Although the cover of the record includes a picture of Eddie's wife, Dinah Washington, and the "Friend" in the title would seem to imply that she's on the album, the set's really just a bunch of hard jazz cuts that showcase Eddie's screaming tenor sax, and which don't include Dinah's vocals. Not that that's a problem, though, because the record's a great one, and it's a good peek at player who was one of the biggest in Chicago during the 50's, and who had a loud hard R&B sound, in a mode that was similar to other Chicago players, such as Gene Ammons and Red Prysock. The record's got a number of originals by Chamblee, plus a few tracks written by Julian Priester and Dinah Washington (but did she really write them?). Titles include "Back Street", "Strollin Sax", "Village Square", and "Swing A Little Taste".

An excellent no-nonsense session from Groove and a cast of all-stars that includes Gene Ammons, Ben Webster, Les McCann, and Joe Pass. Larry Marable and Ron Jefferson also play drums, and George Freeman sneaks in a few licks on guitar – always a treat for us – but the real charm is Groove's light lively organ work, and the strong blowing of the tenor stars. The whole thing grooves like one of those hip Prestige sides from 1963 or 1964 – and is much more in the pocket than some of the other Pacific Jazz sides that Groove cut during the 60s. Titles include "This Here", "Hittin The Jug", "Denice", "Later", and "Licks A Plenty".

A classic from Stitt – cut during the underground days of the early 60s, when both he and Gene Ammons seemed to be recording for just about every jazz label around, and when they both seemed to be doing an awful lot of work in Chicago. This album was done in a flurry that Jug and Stitt cut for Argo during 1961 – and it's a Stitt-only session, recorded at the super-hip DJ Lounge, owned by Chicago spinner McKie Fitzhugh down at the intersection of 63rd and Cottage Grove. The group's an organ combo, with Eddie Buster on the Hammon, Joe Shelton on drums, and John Board joining in for a bit more tenor. (Interesting to note is the fact that Board made a number of classic soul session appearances later on in the decade – but this is one of his few jazz recordings.) The set's very hard-grooving – with longish tracks that let Stitt and Board go head to head in the same style he was used to with Ammons. Titles include "McKies", "Jay Tee", "Free Chicken", and "Blue Moon".

Charlie Parker classics in a variety of flavors – a great collection of material from the 50s, 60s, and 70s – all showing the huge influence of Bird's songwriting on the sound of modern jazz! The recordings here offer up a variety of formats, in a variety of different settings – piano jazz, guitar work, and hardbop horns – all pulled from the mighty vaults of Fantasy Records. Titles include "Parker's Mood" by Eddie Jefferson, "Scrapple From The Apple" by Blue Mitchell, "Yardbird Suite" by Art Pepper, "Confirmation" by Gene Ammons, "Now's The Time" by Frank Morgan, "Steeplechase" by Hampton Hawes, "Repetition" by Wes Montgomery, and "Billie's Bounce" by Johnny Griffin.

Tommy was more of a jukebox star than a jazz one – but this album's a great batch of mellow tenor tunes, with a sound that's somewhere in the R&B-ish end of Gene Ammons' spectrum! The format is simple – Tommy blows mellow lines over small combo backing with either piano or organ. Some tracks are a bit more upbeat, almost in a Clifford Scott mode – but Tommy keeps things pretty simple overall, with a real focus on the horn. Titles include "Mr Movin Is Groovin", "Hard", "Aw Shucks", "Tommy's Dream", and "Man With A Horn".

Amazing work from the early, legendary years of Billy Eckstine – that time when he was fronting one of the hippest backing groups a vocalist could hope to have! Eckstine's voice was already becoming the stuff of legend by the time of these recordings – but thanks to contributions from a host of famous boppers, his band was getting equal fame, too – a really legendary lineup that includes such greats as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie,Kenny Dorham, and Fats Navarro on trumpets; Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, and Gene Ammons on tenor; Leo Parker on baritone; Art Blakey on drums; and many other huge names too! The band was virtually a school for a whole generation of jazzmen to come – allowing them to play together, get to know each other, and spin off in important small groups – much in the way the Kenton group a few years later allowed so much development on the west coast. And amidst all this great music, Billy's vocals have never sounded better – much bolder and hard-swinging than in later years!

One of our favorite albums by Teddy Edwards – and one with some organ in the group! This obscure quartet side has Gerry Wiggins playing a rare bit of Hammond – grooving the group with a lean and open-ended soul jazz approach that really has Edwards blowing at his best! The style sits right up there next to Gene Ammons' best albums of the time, and the rest of the group features Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Milt Turner on drums. Titles include "Smokin", "No Regrets", "A Bag Of Blues", "Wiggin", and "Little Steddy" – all originals that get Edwards past the usual bag of soulful standards!

A nice 70s reissue two-fer that brings together two sides of jazz King Curtis cut for Prestige. The first set, The New Scene Of King Curtis finds him accompanied by Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Oliver Jackson – plus trumpet from Nat Adderley, billed on the back as "Little Brother" for contractual reasons! The 5 tracks are long and open, with less of King's tenor tricks, and more of a laidback Gene Ammons-ish style of blowing: "Little Brother Soul", "In A Funky Groove", "Have You Heard", "Da Duh Duh" and "Willow Weep For Me". The second LP is another rare early King Curtis jazz session – cut a few months later, but still before he settled down to his tight short soul instrumental recordings for Atlantic. The record is very much in the Prestige soul jazz style of the early 60s with Curtis set up nicely in a group that features Nat Adderley and Wynton Kelly again, but with Sam Jones and Belton Evans in the rhythm section, and it holds together in an easy grooving way. There's 6 tracks in this set: "Soul Meeting", "Lazy Soul", "All The Way", "Jeep's Blues", "What Is This Ting Called Love?" and "Do You Have Soul Now?".

Chicago mainstay John Young offers his own expressive take on pop tunes and film themes from the late 50's and early 60's on this trio side cut for the Argo label (Chess record's jazz wing) in 1961. This trio, featuring William Yancey and Phillip Thomas, served as the rhythm section for many of the sides cut for the Argo label behind leaders such as Sonny Stitt, Howard McGhee and Gene Ammons. Here, they shine in their own light on numbers like "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Mr. Lucky", "Spartacus(Love Theme)" and "Fever".