Stitt’s Bits: The Bebop Recordings 1949-1952
Label: Prestige
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Stitt’s Bits: The Bebop Recordings 1949-1952
It’s right there in the first sentence of Harvey Pekar’s liner notes to this three-CD set: ‘When is Sonny Stitt going to get his props?â?� Pekar raises (and rants upon) a good point: Sonny Stitt’s music has spent the last 50-plus years in the shadow of Charlie Parker, even though Stitt was arguably as innovative in developing what ‘bebopâ?� meant to a saxophone. In the opening and closing of Pekar’s lengthy notes, the passion with which he attacks this question mirrors the passion that can be heard throughout these 76 cuts; however, it’s in the middle bit ‘ the long, repetitive and rationalizing bit ‘ that the notes also begin to answer their own question. Stitt, despite helping to lay a substantial amount of the groundwork for bebop’s revolution in the late ’40s and early ’50s, really did nothing to advance the sound beyond that moment. Stitt typically opted to riff on the changes with whatever sidemen he could pick up, and that blasé attitude is prevalent throughout these cuts. That’s not to say that Stitt’s playing is lazy â?¦ just his work ethic. His playing is a force of nature. Whether a blistering septet version of ‘Blues Up and Downâ?� or more prosaic fare like a 1951 quartet run-through of ‘P.S. I Love You,â?� Stitt’s strong tone bursts through on each of these recordings. Listening to the raw energy of even something like ‘Jeepers Creepersâ?� (not to mention Parker favorite ‘Cherokeeâ?�), it’s easy to see why Pekar’s blood boils at the unfairness of the Parker-Stitt comparisons; after all, wasn’t Bird himself quite fond of cheese too? Musically at least, this boxed set winds up making the point that Stitt’s biggest problem wasn’t his choice of sidemen or his song selection; instead, the reason he’s not a household name today probably has to do with the fact that he didn’t overdose on heroin in his 30s.
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2006.