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..
It Don't Mean a Thing
Gene Ammons Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If it ain't got that swing
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
It don't mean a thing
All you got to do is sing
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
If it's sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm
Ev'rything you got
Oh, it don't mean a thing
If it ain't got that swing
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
The lyrics of Gene Ammons's song "It Don't Mean A Thing" describe the essence of swing music and its importance to the listener. The first line of the chorus repeatedly states, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing", which emphasizes the significance of the rhythmic feel of the music. The lyrics go on to explain that whether the music is slow or fast, it's the groove that carries the song. The song encourages the listener to sing along and the most crucial component of the music is the "rhythm" that drives it.
The lyrics suggest that swing music is not only about melody or harmony alone; it’s the "rhythm" or the "swing" of the music that makes it enjoyable. It's not necessary for music to be sweet or hot, sophisticated or straightforward, to elicit an emotional response from the listener, as long as the rhythm is there. As the song suggests, the musicians must give their all for the rhythm to make it meaningful to the audience.
Overall, the lyrics of "It Don't Mean A Thing" talk about the essence of the swing music era and how the rhythm or the swing is the most important element of any piece of music with this style.
Line by Line Meaning
It don't mean a thing
The importance of something is minimal
If it ain't got that swing
Unless there's a specific tempo and rhythm to it, it holds no real value
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
It don't mean a thing
The importance of something is minimal
All you got to do is sing
All that is necessary is adding a specific tempo and rhythm
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
It makes no diff'rence
The particular style or character of something does not affect its value
If it's sweet or hot
Whether it's a slow ballad or a fast-paced tune, the genre or arrangement does not matter
Just give that rhythm
Keep up with the pace and maintain a consistent beat
Ev'rything you got
Put your full effort and energy into it
Oh, it don't mean a thing
The importance of something is minimal
If it ain't got that swing
Unless there's a specific tempo and rhythm to it, it holds no real value
(doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
Doo wah, doo wah, doo wah, doo wah)
Syllabic sounds used to punctuate the lyrics
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: Duke Ellington, Irving Mills
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
lastknowngood0
Jug named for " The Archie Comic Character" Jughead, by his kid pals, because of his like of the read! Jug was an awesome Tenor that grew up in various Big Bands From Billy Eckstine to Diz! I am reminded of an old issue of Archie where Veronica brought a Hip Cat home and her Dad angered by the Cat slapping Dad on the back, threw him out in the snow and said. "This Cat came to my Pad and hit me where I live, So now he's gone, real gone and cool!" as the dude lay in the snow! ;-)
Antonio Betancourt
vale...k'ilos de premios...
rujazz
Thanks always, Antonio!