Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – July 23, 1974) also known as "The Bos… Read Full Bio ↴Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – July 23, 1974) also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ammons studied music with instructor Walter Dyett at DuSable High School. Ammons began to gain recognition while still at high school when in 1943, at the age of 18, he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax's band. In 1944 he joined the band of Billy Eckstine (who bestowed on him the nickname "Jug" when straw hats ordered for the band did not fit), playing alongside Charlie Parker and later Dexter Gordon. Notable performances from this period include "Blowin' the Blues Away," featuring a saxophone duel between Ammons and Gordon. After 1947, when Eckstine became a solo performer, Ammons then led a group, including Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt, that performed at Chicago's Jumptown Club. In 1949 Ammons replaced Stan Getz as a member of Woody Herman's Second Herd, and then in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt.
The 1950s were a prolific period for Ammons and produced some acclaimed recordings such as "The Happy Blues" (1955), featuring Freddie Redd and Lou Donaldson. Musicians who played in his groups, apart from Stitt, included Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Mal Waldron, Art Farmer, and Duke Jordan.
His later career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession, the first from 1958 to 1960, the second from 1962 to 1969. He recorded as a leader for Mercury (1947-1949), Aristocrat (1948-1950), Chess (1950-1951), Prestige (1950-1952), Decca (1952), and United (1952-1953). For the rest of his career, he was affiliated with Prestige. After his release from prison in 1969, having served a seven-year sentence at Joliet penitentiary, he signed the largest contract ever offered at that time by Prestige's Bob Weinstock.
Ammons died in Chicago in 1974, at the age of 49, from cancer.
Ammons and Von Freeman were the founders of the Chicago school of tenor saxophone. Ammons's style of playing showed influences from Lester Young as well as Ben Webster. These artists had helped develop the sound of the tenor saxophone to higher levels of expressiveness. Ammons, together with Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, helped integrate their developments with the emerging "vernacular" of the bebop movement, and the chromaticism and rhythmic variety of Charlie Parker is evident in his playing.
While adept at the technical aspects of bebop, in particular its love of harmonic substitutions, Ammons more than Young, Webster or Parker, stayed in touch with the commercial blues and R&B of his day. For example, in 1950 the saxophonist's recording of "My Foolish Heart" made Billboard Magazine's black pop charts. The soul jazz movement of the mid-1960s, often using the combination of tenor saxophone and Hammond B3 electric organ, counts him as a founder. With a thicker, warmer tone than Stitt or Gordon, Ammons could at will exploit a vast range of textures on the instrument, vocalizing it in ways that look forward to later artists like Stanley Turrentine, Houston Person, and even Archie Shepp. Ammons showed little interest, however, in the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Joe Henderson or Wayne Shorter that was emerging at the same time.
Some fine ballad performances in his oeuvre are testament to an exceptional sense of intonation and melodic symmetry, powerful lyrical expressiveness, and mastery both of the blues and the bebop vernacular that can now be described as, in its own way, "classical."
King Pleasure recorded his vocalese take on Ammons' composition "Hittin' the Jug" under the title "Swan Blues".
"Answer Me, My Love" written by Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman and Gerhard Winkler, performed by Gene Ammons, is featured on the soundtrack for Romance & Cigarettes (2005).
He played on a Bb Conn 10M tenor saxophone with a Brilhart Ebolin mouthpiece.
Ammons is considered a major influence on the style of popular jazz tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman a.o..
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ammons studied music with instructor Walter Dyett at DuSable High School. Ammons began to gain recognition while still at high school when in 1943, at the age of 18, he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax's band. In 1944 he joined the band of Billy Eckstine (who bestowed on him the nickname "Jug" when straw hats ordered for the band did not fit), playing alongside Charlie Parker and later Dexter Gordon. Notable performances from this period include "Blowin' the Blues Away," featuring a saxophone duel between Ammons and Gordon. After 1947, when Eckstine became a solo performer, Ammons then led a group, including Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt, that performed at Chicago's Jumptown Club. In 1949 Ammons replaced Stan Getz as a member of Woody Herman's Second Herd, and then in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt.
The 1950s were a prolific period for Ammons and produced some acclaimed recordings such as "The Happy Blues" (1955), featuring Freddie Redd and Lou Donaldson. Musicians who played in his groups, apart from Stitt, included Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Mal Waldron, Art Farmer, and Duke Jordan.
His later career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession, the first from 1958 to 1960, the second from 1962 to 1969. He recorded as a leader for Mercury (1947-1949), Aristocrat (1948-1950), Chess (1950-1951), Prestige (1950-1952), Decca (1952), and United (1952-1953). For the rest of his career, he was affiliated with Prestige. After his release from prison in 1969, having served a seven-year sentence at Joliet penitentiary, he signed the largest contract ever offered at that time by Prestige's Bob Weinstock.
Ammons died in Chicago in 1974, at the age of 49, from cancer.
Ammons and Von Freeman were the founders of the Chicago school of tenor saxophone. Ammons's style of playing showed influences from Lester Young as well as Ben Webster. These artists had helped develop the sound of the tenor saxophone to higher levels of expressiveness. Ammons, together with Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, helped integrate their developments with the emerging "vernacular" of the bebop movement, and the chromaticism and rhythmic variety of Charlie Parker is evident in his playing.
While adept at the technical aspects of bebop, in particular its love of harmonic substitutions, Ammons more than Young, Webster or Parker, stayed in touch with the commercial blues and R&B of his day. For example, in 1950 the saxophonist's recording of "My Foolish Heart" made Billboard Magazine's black pop charts. The soul jazz movement of the mid-1960s, often using the combination of tenor saxophone and Hammond B3 electric organ, counts him as a founder. With a thicker, warmer tone than Stitt or Gordon, Ammons could at will exploit a vast range of textures on the instrument, vocalizing it in ways that look forward to later artists like Stanley Turrentine, Houston Person, and even Archie Shepp. Ammons showed little interest, however, in the modal jazz of John Coltrane, Joe Henderson or Wayne Shorter that was emerging at the same time.
Some fine ballad performances in his oeuvre are testament to an exceptional sense of intonation and melodic symmetry, powerful lyrical expressiveness, and mastery both of the blues and the bebop vernacular that can now be described as, in its own way, "classical."
King Pleasure recorded his vocalese take on Ammons' composition "Hittin' the Jug" under the title "Swan Blues".
"Answer Me, My Love" written by Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman and Gerhard Winkler, performed by Gene Ammons, is featured on the soundtrack for Romance & Cigarettes (2005).
He played on a Bb Conn 10M tenor saxophone with a Brilhart Ebolin mouthpiece.
Ammons is considered a major influence on the style of popular jazz tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman a.o..
Hittin' the Jug
Gene Ammons Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Gene Ammons:
Autumn Leaves The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of…
Back In Your Own Back Yard We leave home expecting to find a blue bird, Hoping ev'ry…
Back In Your Own Backyard We leave home expecting to find a blue bird, Hoping ev'ry…
Ben Ben, the two of us need look no more, We both…
Body And Soul My heart is sad and lonely For you I sigh, for…
But Beautiful Love is funny or it's sad, Or it's quiet or…
But Not for Me Old man sunshine listen you Never tell me dreams come true …
Bye Bye No one here can love or understand me Oh, what hard…
Calypso Blues Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo, Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay Wa-oo-oo, wa-…
Canadian Sunset Once I was alone So lonely and then You came, out of…
Didn't We This time we almost made the pieces fit Didn't we? This time…
Easy to Love I know too well that I'm just wasting precious time In…
Exactly Like You I used to have a perfect sweetheart Not a real one,…
For You When you just give love And never get love You'd better le…
Good Bye I remember holdin' on to you All them long and lonely…
Goodbye I remember holdin' on to you All them long and lonely…
Here Maybe I should have saved those left over dreams Funny, but…
I Can't Give You Anything But Love Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
I Remember You How did I know that the warmth of the glow…
I Sold My Heart to the Junk Man All over town they're talking about me The whole world knows…
I Want to Be Loved I'm a very ordinary man Trying to work out life's happy…
I'm Beginning to See the Light I never cared much for moonlit skies I never wink back…
If You Are But a Dream If you are but a dream I hope I never waken, It's…
It Don't Mean A Thing It don't mean a thing If it ain't got that swing (doo…
It Might as Well Be Spring I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
It's the Talk of the Town We were more than lovers, We were more than sweethearts, It'…
It's You Or No One How did I know that the warmth of the glow…
It´S The Talk Of The Town We were more than lovers, We were more than sweethearts, I…
It’s You or No One How did I know that the warmth of the glow…
Jug's Blue Blues Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo, Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo…
Just Friends Just friends, lovers no more Just friends, but not like befo…
Let It Be I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm I'm as…
Long Ago And Far Away Long ago and far away I dreamed a dream one day And…
Love Is Here to Stay It's very clear, our love is here to stay Not for…
Lucille Lucille, won't you do your sister's will? Oh, Lucille, won't…
Moonglow It must have been moonglow, way up in the blue It…
My Romance My romance doesn't have to have a moon in the…
Namely You You deserve a boy who's willin', namely me. One who'd…
Old Folks Everyone knows him as Old Folks Like the seasons, he'll com…
Once In A While Once in a while will you try to give One little…
Out in the Cold Again The song that you sang so sweetly You called it our…
Pagan Love Song Come with me where moonbeams light Tahitian skies And the st…
Papa Was A Rolling Stone It was the third of September; that day I'll always…
Pennies From Heaven Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven Don't you…
Prelude to a Kiss If you hear A song in blue Like a flower crying For the…
Skylark Skylark Have you anything to say to me? Won't you tell me…
Someone to Watch Over Me There's a saying old says that love is blind Still were…
Something I Dreamed Last Night I can't believe that you're not here with me To have…
Song of the Islands Islands of Hawaii Where skies of blue are calling me Where b…
Stairway to the Stars Let's build a stairway to the stars And climb that stairway…
Stormy Monday Blues I had a hard time waking this morning I got a…
Street of Dreams Midnight, you heavy laden, it's midnight Come on and trade …
The Song Is You I hear music when I look at you, A beautiful theme…
Them There Eyes I was just minding my business Life was a beautiful song D…
There Is No Greater Love There is no greater love Than what I feel for you No…
Time On My Hands When the day fades away into twilight The moon is my…
Travellin' Light I'm trav'lin' light Because my man has gone So from now on…
Until The Real Thing Comes Along I'd wait for you I'd slave for you I'd be a beggar…
Where Or When It seems we stood and talked like this before We looked…
Why Was I Born Spending these lonesome evenings With nothing to do But to l…
You Go to My Head You go to my head And you linger like a haunting…
You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to You'd be so nice to come home to You'd be so…
You're Not the Kind You say you're falling in love with me That's why I…
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Toney Am
This cat 🐈 is soulfully swinging with so much passion, he takes your breath away and with every chorus he keeps digging deeper into the cracks and crevices of the blues. This music will be always remain in the heart of God and those who paid the price of love for the right to be free.
Gerry Vanderzeypen
Breathy, bluesy, funky and right down in my soul where I live boys and girls. In younger years with my saxophone, THIS was the kind of "STUFF" I loved to play on stage AND especially after in jam sessions in other parts of town...listening to this, don't feel like 75 years old today, no I do not....Birthday on February 2nd 2020 coming up and will be that magical start of so called golden years of a seniors life...live long and be healthy to all out there and ENJOY the "sounds" of jazz..........
clarkewi
Awesome!
SelectCircle
How did you manage to make this track all about you?
terrywho22
@SelectCircle Forget it, he's rolling.
Rott Bot
True story. I grew up on rock, metal, and punk. Never gave a thought to listening to jazz. Wasn't cool enough for my image. Home on leave one time, I jumped into my parents' car to go meet some friends. The radio was tuned to a college station that played jazz at that hour. I was in a hurry so I didn't take time to fiddle with the radio and just drove off. This was the song that was playing, and I was shocked to find how much I liked it. The next song, "I Sold My Soul to the Junk Man" by the Ray Appleton Sextet. That was it. I was hooked, and opening up to Jazz allowed me to open myself up to enjoying many other genres now. I still listen to metal and punk, but people are blown away when my random shuffle pulls up a little swing now and then. Music is life.
Mark Bartlett
Hard Rock Outlaw country psychedelic Punk is what I listen to but in 2016 I got back into vinyl at the age of 52 and discovered I love jazz with a roll of the dice when I purchased Miles Davis Kind of Blue without knowing what I was about to hear. Down the rabbit hole I went! 6 years later I'm still discovering Talent such as Gene Ammons and others via tone poet and other hi-fi vinyl releases, YouTube and comment sections! Glad I collected a huge collection over the years because price gouging is taking the fun out of it. I missed out on the analog Productions release of Soulful moods of Gene Ammons.
Moafrika Radio Television - Mr TV
I'm 66.5. I started listening to the guy at 21 years. I still enjoy him. It's a pity he passed off so early. My love for his music forced to buy and try my luck on a tenor though I do hymns and folk stuff with family and church not jazz. Hear him on Neal Armstrong's 'you're the sun and I'm the moon'. Incredibly indeed. Isn't he?
Dems1648
Yes, he is. But I prefer Stanley Turrentine's Blue Hour or Hustlin'. Check them out if you don't know these albums yet but I'm sure you do :-)
zonker33
Saw this guy at Chicago's jazz showcase around '69-'70 maybe, along with Sonny Stitt. One of the most incredible jazz concerts I ever saw.