Gene Ammons – Bad! Bossa Nova (1962)

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Eugene “Jug” Ammons (saxophonist) was born on April 14, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois and passed away on July 23, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 49.

Ammons developed a playing style that was initially inspired by Lester Young. This style alternately featured strong powerful playing punctuated with sharp bursts or “honks” and low, deep notes while playing ballads. Ammons played a rich, soulful music overlaid with an aggressive attack – a style that moved him towards the outer edges of the bop tradition yet never quite slipped over into fully fledged soul or R&B. Ammons enjoyed considerable success thanks in part to his enthusiastic playing and the concurrent popularity of jazz soul music throughout the 60s.

Besides co-leading a two tenor group in the early ’50s with Sonny Stitt, Ammons worked as a single throughout his career, recording frequently in settings ranging from quartets and organ combos to all-star jam sessions. Drug problems kept him in prison during much of 1958-1960 and, due to a particularly stiff sentence, 1962-1969.

When Ammons returned to the scene in 1969, he opened up his style a bit, including some of the emotional cries of the avant-garde while utilizing funky rhythm sections, but he was still able to battle Sonny Stitt on his own terms. Ironically, the last song that he ever recorded (just a short time before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1974) was “Goodbye.”
For more info: Gene Ammons http://www.geneammons.net/

Isto é Gene Ammons – Bad! bossa Nova (1962). Gravadora Prestige PRST 7257-A

Personnel

Gene Ammons

tenor saxophone

Hank Jones

piano

Kenny Burrell, Bucky Pizzarelli
guitar

Norman Edge

bass

Oliver Jackson

drums

Al Hayes

bongos

Tracklist:

1 Pagan Love Song
2 Ca'Purange (Jungle Soul)
3 Anna
4 Caé Caé
5 Moito Mato Grosso
6 Yellow Bird

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