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..
There Is No Greater Love
Gene Ammons Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Than what I feel for you
No greater love,
No heart so true
There is no greater thrill
Than what you bring to me
No sweeter song
You're the sweetest thing
I have ever known
And to think that
You are mine alone.
There is no greater love
In all the world, it's true
No greater love
Than what I feel for you
You're the sweetest thing
I have ever known,
And to think that
You are mine alone.
There is no greater love
In all the world, it's true
No greater love
Than what I feel for you
In Gene Ammons's song "There Is No Greater Love," the singer expresses his deep love and affection for someone special. The lyrics tell of the intensity of the singer's emotions, stating that there is no greater love than what he feels for his beloved. The singer conveys the idea that his heart is true and his love is sincere, and that no one in the world can love his sweetest thing more than he does.
The second stanza continues this idea, with the singer describing the thrill that his beloved brings him, noting that her singing is the sweetest song he has ever heard. He recognizes that she is the sweetest thing he has ever known and is grateful that she is his alone. The song's chorus repeats the idea that there is no greater love in the world than what the singer feels for his beloved.
Overall, "There Is No Greater Love" is a beautiful tribute to the power of true love. The lyrics capture the intense emotions and the almost overwhelming passion that comes from loving someone deeply. The song is a powerful expression of the singer’s love, and it is easy to understand why it has become so beloved over the years.
Line by Line Meaning
There is no greater love
The love that I have for you cannot be surpassed
Than what I feel for you
The emotions that I have towards you are unmatched
No greater love,
There is nothing more profound than the love between us
No heart so true
Your heart is the most sincere and genuine that I have ever known
There is no greater thrill
Nothing excites me more than being with you
Than what you bring to me
The joys that you bring into my life are unparalleled
No sweeter song
The sound of your voice is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard
Than what you sing to me
The words that you speak to me are like a melody that I never want to end
You're the sweetest thing
You are the most kind and lovable person I have ever met
I have ever known
Out of everyone I have come across, you stand out as the most special
And to think that
It's hard to believe
You are mine alone.
That you belong to me and no one else
In all the world, it's true
There is no other love like ours anywhere in the world
No greater love
My love for you is the biggest, most powerful thing in my life
Than what I feel for you
The intensity of my love for you is unmatched by anything else I have ever experienced
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ISHAM JONES, MARTY SYMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Matt Davis
It's always confused me that Gene Ammons isn't more widely regarded these days - he's usually left out of the canon of 'influential saxophonists', but seems to have made a definite (if subtle) impression on virtually every great player of the 40s and 50s - Bird, Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Stitt and many others...
Grayson
Given that ammons didnt start localy playing until he was 18 in 1948 i'd say that Bird playing since he was 11 and then having his popularity really start to take off from 1937-39 was more of an influence on him than the other way around. Can't forget that he is who really opened that door for many players like Stitt, Ammons and Gordon to become the face of bop after bird made it cool. Bird gained his traction and became and icon at least 5 years before the others even started to get popular/get their name out there.
loretta908
This is truly one of my favorite tracks ever!
Jan Gunnar Olsen
Mine too! Fm the "old" man 76yrs
Ryan Michelz
I wonder how many people notice this. As a drummer myself sometimes when I press on my hi hat pedal you can hear not only the Cymbals but you can hear the metal of the stand itself moving around. I can hear it in this recording everytime he steps on his pedal
boomerang905
I witnessed both men perform right here in Chicago. I was around 19 so l have sat in the presence of Royalty early on. :p Extremely cool charismatic people. RIP
Adrian Guev
boomerang905 you are so lucky and fortunate to witness this beauty of music
Chris Potter
I can’t even imagine being able to say that I saw either of these guys perform. For me that’s on the same level as being able to have seen bird perform. You’re a lucky person!
Jan Gunnar Olsen
No fuzz! Just PLAIN swinging/Dancing/Singing music from GREAT MUSICANS!
rob kuiters
Boss Tenors ! with Sonny on Alto, great presence !