Early life
Edward Boatner was born in Boston, Massachusetts[1] and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background; his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher.[1] Boatner was soon adopted by another family, the Stitts, who gave him his new surname. He later began calling himself "Sonny".
In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic/less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie. He had also played in some swing bands, though he mainly played in bop bands. Stitt was featured in Tiny Bradshaw's big band in the early forties. Stitt replaced Charlie Parker in Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1945.[2]
Stitt played alto saxophone in Billy Eckstine's big band alongside future bop pioneers Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons from 1945 until 1956, when he started to play tenor saxophone more frequently, in order to avoid being referred to as a Charlie Parker imitator. Later on, he played with Gene Ammons and Bud Powell. Stitt spent time in a Lexington prison between 1948–49 for selling narcotics.
Stitt, when playing tenor saxophone, seemed to break free from some of the criticism that he was imitating Charlie Parker's style, although it appears in the instance with Ammons above that the availability of the larger instrument was a factor. Indeed, Stitt began to develop a far more distinctive sound on tenor.[1] He played with other bop musicians Bud Powell and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, a fellow tenor with a distinctly tough tone in comparison to Stitt, in the 1950s and recorded a number of sides for Prestige Records label as well as albums for Argo, Verve and Roost. Stitt experimented with Afro-Cuban jazz in the late 1950s, and the results can be heard on his recordings for Roost and Verve, on which he teamed up with Thad Jones and Chick Corea for Latin versions of such standards as "Autumn Leaves."
Stitt joined Miles Davis briefly in 1960, and recordings with Davis' quintet can be found only in live settings on the tour of 1960. Concerts in Manchester and Paris are available commercially and also a number of concerts (which include sets by the earlier quintet with John Coltrane) on the record Live at Stockholm (Dragon), all of which featured Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers. However, Miles fired Stitt due to the excessive drinking habit he had developed, and replaced him with fellow tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley. Stitt, later in the 1960s, paid homage to one of his main influences, Charlie Parker, on the album Stitt Plays Bird, which features Jim Hall on guitar and at Newport in 1964 with other bebop players including J.J. Johnson.
He recorded a number of memorable records with his friend and fellow saxophonist Gene Ammons, interrupted by Ammons' own imprisonment for narcotics possession. The records recorded by these two saxophonists are regarded by many as some of both Ammons and Stitt's best work, thus the Ammons/Stitt partnership went down in posterity as one of the best duelling partnerships in jazz, alongside Zoot Sims and Al Cohn, and Johnny Griffin with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Stitt would venture into soul jazz, and he recorded with fellow tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin in 1964 on the Soul People album. Stitt also recorded with Duke Ellington alumnus Paul Gonsalves in 1963 for Impulse! on the Salt And Pepper album in 1963. Around that time he also appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's in London, a live 1964 encounter with Ronnie Scott, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes, eventually surfaced, and another in 1966 with resident guitarist Ernest Ranglin and British tenor saxophonist Dick Morrissey. Stitt was one of the first jazz musicians to experiment with an electric saxophone (the instrument was called a Varitone), as heard on the albums What's New in 1966 and Parallel-A-Stitt in 1967.
Later life
In the 1970s, Stitt slowed his recording output slightly, and in 1972, he produced another classic, Tune Up, which was and still is regarded by many jazz critics, such as Scott Yanow, as his definitive record. Indeed, his fiery and ebullient soloing was quite reminiscent of his earlier playing. He also recorded another album with Varitone, Just The Way It Was - Live At The Left Bank in 1971 which was released in 2000.
Stitt joined the all-star group Giants of Jazz, which also featured Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kai Winding and bassist Al McKibbon) and made albums for Atlantic Records, Concord Records and Emarcy Records. His last recordings were made in Japan. In 1982, Stitt suffered a heart attack, and he died on July 22 in Washington, D.C..[2]
IMAGINATION
Sonny Stitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can you tell me what you see
There's a thousand voices whispering
Songs and you're the melody
So I imagine my heart with you
See what imagination can do
It's not hard to conceive
Many, many days our shadows passed
Seeing visions of a new bright horizon
Set the morning light
And that morning light is you
So I imagine my heart with you
See what imagination can do
It's not hard to conceive
love ecstasy imagining you, imagining me
The beauty we both can see
You're the dream I prayed would come along
To make my fantasy
Day and night you live inside my heart
You're the flame of love to me
The lyrics of Sonny Stitt's song "Imagination" are rich with imagery and metaphor, as he explores the power of the mind and the beauty of love. The opening lines address a "magic mirror" that can "search" the heart and "see" all of the different desires and emotions within. This imagery speaks to the idea that our imaginations can reveal a great deal about who we are and what we truly desire. Stitt then goes on to describe the "thousand voices whispering" within him, all of which come together to create a beautiful melody - a clear reference to the different aspects of the self that make up one's personality.
The chorus of the song is a powerful reminder of the transformative power of the imagination. Stitt sings about how imagining oneself with their beloved can bring about feelings of "love ecstasy" and create a new reality in the mind's eye. He sings about how the "morning light" is his love interest, suggesting that their love has brought new brightness and hope into his life. The song also touches on the idea of a shared dream, with Stitt singing about how his love interest is "the dream I prayed would come along" - a reminder that love can often feel like a wish come true.
Overall, "Imagination" is a beautiful and poetic exploration of the power of the mind and the beauty of love. Stitt's lyrics are filled with vivid imagery and heartfelt emotion, making it a song that is both deeply thought-provoking and deeply moving.
Line by Line Meaning
Magic mirror come and search my heart
Sonny Stitt is requesting introspection and insight into his deepest desires
Can you tell me what you see
He's looking for the magic mirror's response to what it finds inside his heart
There's a thousand voices whispering
The human spirit is a constantly moving, multifaceted and evolving entity, thus making it hard to pinpoint its desires and aspirations
Songs and you're the melody
In a world of many options and diversions, Sonny Stitt is cognizant of that one special individual who brings rhythm and harmony to his existence
So I imagine my heart with you
The artist's daydreaming of a shared future with that special someone he has in mind
See what imagination can do
He believes that imagination can births enormous possibilities and open up new frontiers
It's not hard to conceive
In Sonny Stitt's opinion, new outcomes can be engineered easily through creative visualization
Love ecstasy imagining you with me
His yearning to experience pure bliss and happiness with that special person is palpable
Many, many days our shadows passed
The passage of time is symbolic of the relationship between two people
Seeing visions of a new bright horizon
The future of these two individuals shines incredibly bright, and the artist is fully aware of that fact
Set the morning light
The artist reflects on the beauty and freshness of a new day
And that morning light is you
His special person reminds him of the excitement and promise that everyday present
It's not hard to conceive
Sonny Stitt reiterates his belief in the power of imagination
love ecstasy imagining you, imagining me
The artist views their relationship as a constantly flowing exchange of energy that produces love and ecstasy
The beauty we both can see
The love shared between these two is the source of real beauty they both appreciate
You're the dream I prayed would come along
The artist describes the arrival of that special person as a fulfillment of a long-awaited dream
To make my fantasy
He finds great joy in the realization that this special person is real and not just a creation of his imagination
Day and night you live inside my heart
The artist indicates his high level of admiration for his significant other
You're the flame of love to me
He takes it a notch higher by describing the other half in terms of the passion and fire he brings to his life
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANKA WOLBERT, RONNIE MOERINGS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ole Birger Pedersen
As usual a great inspiration.
mario longo
Bella ballad...non so se amo più Parker che Stitt , o, viceversa...
lastknowngood0
まだあなたのことを考えて <<<3