Soul Stream Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 Maybe it's just me.... But with all the talk over the years of Coltrane's spiritual music making, and Miles' deepness, ect.... I must say the person who almost comes across more than anybody as a "spiritual" player is Gene Ammons. When Gene Ammons blows "My Way," that's about as close to pure humanity as it gets... played with as much conviction as either Love Supreme or Spiritual Unity. It seems Ammons was never marketed this way. He was always a barroom Big Tenor in the recording world, never given the "serious" recording contract that Impulse or Atlantic or Columbia could have afforded him. Too bad, there's nobody more serious in my book that Gene Ammons. To me, nobody does it better than Gene Ammons. He stood flat-footed on the stage and blew his heart out every time it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 I agree with you completely about Ammons' deeply spiritual qualities. Ironically, the one attempt to market Gene Ammons as (literally) a spiritual player was (as least in my view) a relative artistic failure: "Preachin' " Jug was one of a kind. I can't go too long without listening to something by him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 I've just recently been getting my first of Ammons' material. I love the song "Jug Eyes." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrugs Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Jug and Dodo!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Three essential purchases, IMHO: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Well, since you started, here are a few others that I would never want to be without: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Dig it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryan Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Something tells me a few lads picked up ANGEL EYES based on the cover alone. Yowza! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 I guess I never thought much about Ammons in terms of spirituality. I just kept being overwhelmed by his huge sound. I used to do a jazz show on a local radio station here in Portland and I never remember backannouncing an Ammons' cut without referring to "the big sound of Gene Ammons." A cop from one of his Prestige dates, but right on the money. The tune that stays in my head is "Someone to Watch Over Me" which, BTW, is included in the soundtrack from the not-too-bad movie of the same name starring Tom Beringer and Mimi Rogers. I was cruising my local Border's the other day and came across an Ammons' release on the Ocium label. It's called "My Foolish Heart" and brings together recordings cut for the United, Chess and Decca labels between 1950 and 1953. Supporting cast includes Sonny Stitt (suprise, surprise), J.J. Johnson, Johnny Coles and Junior Mance. I was a little concerned about the sound quality, but it's quite nice. One worth looking for if you're an Ammons afficionado. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 Just got my first taste of Gene Ammons the other day - have now posted him in the 'just discovering' thread! I'm really enjoying 'Boss Tenor' - the blues lead-off is fantastic. The liner notes (I forget by whom - LeRoi Jones, perhaps?) make a really perceptive point, in my book - that he seems to sound like the impossible middle-ground (tonewise) between Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins. Ammons, I think, doesn't need any borrowed glory, but purely descriptively, I think it's just about right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 God Bless Jug & Sonny is really cool (as are all of the Ammons / Stitt collaborations). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randissimo Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Jug and Dodo!!!! I listened to Ammons but I also listened to Wardell Gray and Don Byas just to name a couple of great tenor players that don't get mentioned enough. Arno Marsh (Old time tenor player) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Time to explore the Ammons OJC catalog ... Any favorites from the "jam session" dates? Ammons on OJC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 On point: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted December 11, 2004 Report Share Posted December 11, 2004 Here's a review of Ammons' The Happy Blues by our own Guy Berger. A nice one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryan Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 Not a "jam", so to speak, but I dig the shit out of this one: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 I also quite like his guest soloist appearance on Mingus and Friends In Concert--especially on Jump Monk and Mingus Blues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Happy Blues...that's a good 'un. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 (edited) Hustlin' Scorin' Ballin' Doin' Time Fuckin' etc. etc. & none of those titles is meant romantically or disrespectfully... Well, come to think of it, they don't sound too romantic, do they? More seriously, I don't understand the point. Edited December 15, 2004 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolff Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 (edited) Time to explore the Ammons OJC catalog ... Any favorites from the "jam session" dates? Ammons on OJC I have Twistin' the Jug, Angel Eyes, Vevet Soul, Funky, All Stars and Blue Gene. All good, but I play Blue Gene the most. Edited December 15, 2004 by wolff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 Hustlin' Scorin' Ballin' Doin' Time Fuckin' etc. etc. & none of those titles is meant romantically or disrespectfully... Well, come to think of it, they don't sound too romantic, do they? More seriously, I don't understand the point. You're not alone. Favorites: dates with Sonny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 (edited) "next time i'll type it up in braille, maybe ya'll will have a better chance at "getting it." Thanks. I would appreciate that. "meanwhile, tell me when the "spiritual" trope in jazz marketing/fandom was invented." I don't know what this refers to. Maybe you can explain it to me. "meanwhile, tell me where Jug was for, uh, much of the 1960s." You are referring to his stay in prison, I presume? What implications you are drawing from that? The fact is, Jug got a bad rap. As a drug user (not dealer), they tried to make an example of him to scare others. As far as I am concerned, he was guilty of no crime at all. meanwhile, tell me what "spiritual" means to you. To me, "spiritual" refers to those elements of humanity and our existence that are too deep for us to comprehend in a usual conscious manner. meanwhile, tell me what "spiritual" meant to Gene Ammons. I don't know. Do you? for what it's worth (not a WHOLE lot on the open, ya' know, "market") i have a solid education in african-american history, if not Gene's biography in particular, so ya'll are welcome to spill in as much detail you have-- no background checks required HERE, bruthas & sistahs. That is to say that an education in African-American history is enough to understand Gene Ammons without even knowing his biography? meanwhile, terrestial clem loves Gene Ammons, man of the flesh, desire; man of the STREETS!! It seems to me that you are the one who is drumming up some sort of romantic image of Gene Ammons in your own mind. Maybe you should get a job in that "marketing/fandom industry" that you describe earlier. After all, "black man of the streets" sells a lot better these days in white suberbia than spirituality. Edited December 15, 2004 by John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Burke Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 Not exactly on-topic but..... I recommend that anyone with a copy of Big Bad Jug (and a love for late-80's NYC hip hop) give "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" a spin at 45rpm rather than 33. Drums are straight Marley Marl--especially after things pick up, about halfway through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robviti Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 i think it depends on your definition of spiritual. a love supreme was coltrane's "gift to god." as such, it fits neatly within the narrow definition that something "concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church" is spiritual. i don't know if any of jugs's work was so explicitly spiritual in this sense. personally, it doesn't matter to me, because ammons was one of the most soulful tenor players i've ever heard, and that means a lot in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted January 2, 2005 Report Share Posted January 2, 2005 I've been listening to Boss Tenor and thought this would be a good time to resuscitate this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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