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]
Laura
Sonny Stitt Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of something that never happened, yet you recall it well
You know the feeling of recognizing someone
That you've never met as far as you could tell, well
Laura is the face in the misty light
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
The laugh that floats on a summer night
And you see Laura on the train that is passing through
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
She gave your very first kiss to you
That was Laura but she's only a dream
The lyrics to Sonny Stitt's song "Laura" speak to the experience of nostalgia and the feeling of being haunted by ephemeral memories. The first verse describes the sensation of recalling something that never actually happened, but feels vivid and real. The second verse introduces the titular figure, "Laura," as a mysterious and elusive presence that the singer feels haunted by. Laura is described as the "face in the misty light," a phantom figure that seems to exist in a liminal space between reality and memory. The lyrics continue to emphasize the strange familiarity that the singer feels towards Laura, even though they never met her in waking life.
Line by Line Meaning
You know the feeling of something half remembered
The uncanny experience of remembering only partial details of something that should be more vivid in your memory.
Of something that never happened, yet you recall it well
The feeling of certain memories that seem to occur in a parallel universe like a dream, but you remember it happening almost like it was real.
You know the feeling of recognizing someone
The feeling of déjà vu when you see someone whom you are certain you've never met before, but something about them seems oddly familiar.
That you've never met as far as you could tell, well
Even after investigating the connection, you realize that you do not know that person or how they should know you.
Laura is the face in the misty light
Laura is a symbol representing memories and the recreation of the emotions surrounding the significant events or people in our lives.
Footsteps that you hear down the hall
Echoes of memories from the past linger with us and can resurface during present times creating a strong emotional response.
The laugh that floats on a summer night
Sometimes memories can resurface during specific moments like the sound or smell of a season, creating a sense of nostalgia for the listener.
That you can never quite recall
The sense of frustration tied to nostalgia where it can be challenging to place or understand the event completely, but the feeling is there despite memory problems.
And you see Laura on the train that is passing through
The sudden emergence of memories can be triggered by factors like conversations, smells, places, or even strangers and rush back as vividly as it first happened.
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
Recognition of a stranger that seems to be tied to a familiar memory leads to a confusing sense of déjà vu.
She gave your very first kiss to you
She represents the first time that you felt love, even if it was not a real person, then it could have been a feeling or perhaps the experience of the first kiss.
That was Laura but she's only a dream
The realization that memories are not always real representations of past events, but the emotions and reactions we associate with them are valid, indicating that memories and dreams can be hard to differentiate.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: David Raksin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Howard Gibson
Some musicians just play their instrument, Stitt always had something to say and boy did he say it in such magnificently beautiful melodic tone,perfect harmony .Sonny although you are gone thank you for the musical legacy you left for mankind to treasure throughout the ages. GOD BLESS YOU, RIP 🎶🎷
mark higgins
One day it will be recognised just how great Sonny Stitt was
ConcertGrande
exactly my friend ! cheers from France
Howard Gibson
I totally agree,Sonny Playing is like medicine for the soul, every day I have to take my dose!!! 🎶🎷.
Parker Ward
Perfect sound. Perfect technique. And with soul. Stitt is one of those players where "perfect" is a completely appropriate adjective.
ALAIN DRILLON
Une des meilleures version de ce standart,Sony tu était le meilleur!
Hans H
Those years around 1959 , so many underrated jazzmen who become famous today. Thumbs up !!!
Piero Chiti
for me one of the greatest sax men of jazz story.
caponsacchi
Sonny Stitt may not have been the most innovative player, but he-
more than anyone else-consolidated the music of the past--the best popular songs and the most expressive styles in playing material for which lyrics were an unnecessary burden--hindering rather than furthering communication. Sonny's command of the music was so complete he could make it "talk" with a power exceeding the medium of verbal communication. His was a language of sheer emotion, taking the listener into worlds of beauty and profound emotion for which the words have yet to be invented. If the song could not stand up without "words," it was unworthy. of the repertory of the most creative jazz musicians, who transformed the song into emotive poetry going beyond the reach of pedestrian "words." Most songs requiring words are like the "recitative" of opera, which consists of inferior melody, conventional harmony and pitter-patter rhythms--all for the sake of conveying pedestrian information about motive and plot to spectator who mistakes story business for art. But the best songs are like the "arias" of opera, conveying not mere information but offering the possibility of epiphany and transformation. Such songs can stand soley on the strength of their melodies, harmonies and rhythms--words unneeded. And there's no one better at communicating the power of such "wordless messages" than Sonny Stitt, who somehow never loses track of the main melody while locating the counter-melodies that add drama and adventure to each of his improvisational adventures.Stitt would show up for a recording session with no rehearsal beforehand and lay down as many as 10 tracks--many first takes--and then move on, usually finishing the session ahead of schedule. With pianists like Jimmy Jones (Sarah's accomapnist) and Hank Jones (Ella's pianist) Sonny had guys who understood the music and its most intuitive, melodic exponent. They were musicians happy to stay out of Sonny's way, satisfied to make his route as unimpeded as possible and his successful arrival all but certain. All of these 1950s recordings by Stitt on the Roost label are exemplary and of exceeding value to any young musician becoming familiar with the most vital standards of the Great American Songbook. Records like "Kind of Blue," "Time Out" and "Getz/Gilberto" may receive the most publicity, but the Stitt recordings made for Roost are exemplary blue ribbon recordings that every serious listener of jazz, saxophone playing, and the jewels of the Great American Songbook simply cannot afford to be without.
Howard Gibson
Excellent commentary, Love Stitt.!!!