Salt & Pepper [Original recording remastered]

Sonny Stitt, Paul Gonsalves | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Grp Records
• ASIN: B000003N8Y
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,641 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Japanese only release. Universal. 2010. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sterling Stitt, Peerless Paul: One for the Time Capsule, May 10, 2009

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Salt & Pepper (Audio CD)

[If you're considering downloading this date, don't hesitate. It's two albums for the price of one: 1. "Salt and Pepper" with Sonny and Paul and 2. "Now" with Sonny and the same rhythm section, both sessions originally recorded on Impulse. The Gonsalves-Stitt face-off is one of the best tenor "battles" on record and should be considered essential for a number of compelling reasons:

It's said that Sonny Stitt would make a recording session for a couple of hundred bucks if he had a few hours to kill before his flight to the next town. Paul Gonsalves, on the other hand, appeared not to care about making record sessions at all. I've found only one under his name that still shows up occasionally--"Gettin' It Together" on Jazzland. The reason this 1963 meeting of the tenor giants is such a sleeper--indispensable, in my book--is that Sonny isn't mailing in his contributions. With the exception of "Stardust" (with Paul's earth-bound tenor and Sonny's ethereal alto), the session features some of the best work by either tenor player. Paul starts each of the solos like a man on a mission. His is the point requiring proof--viz. that he's not simply another member of the house of Ellington with one individual moment of excellence to his credit (his marathon solo that ignited the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival and, more than any other single musician's contribution, established the outdoor jazz festival as an event that would dominate music venues for the next half century and more. While Paul released only a couple of albums under his own name, Sonny seemed to record at least one per week (I've collected over a hundred, in the process requiring a reputation as a "formulaic," or highly predictable, player. Quite often Stitt will match the expectations of the listener familiar with his work. He was once quoted as saying that a musician should play "simply," and play only to "entertain the public, just like Art Tatum." Most jazz followers will appreciate the irony in that statement, though I doubt Sonny was aware of it. He could be almost as complex as Charlie Parker (Oscar Peterson proclaimed him one of the "trickiest" of all soloists to accompany, especially on alto. On the other hand, in the 1960s, and especially when he picked up his tenor, he could be banal and uninspired (a session featuring him with Jimmy Heath is one such example).

Predictable or not, Stitt should probably be considered the most exemplary, or "text book," saxophonist, the most "perfect" exponent on the instrument, the place for any serious saxophonist to begin--for his assimilation of Bird's ideas, his uncluttered and pure yet fully "embodied" tone, his use of different tonguings, his attention to dynamics, his habitual attention to logical structure during his solos.

As for Gonsalves, he plays well enough to make you lament the meagerness of his recorded output apart from the Ellington band. (He truly was a brilliant musician--his accomplishment on the "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" from the Ellington at Newport 1956 concert could not have been realized by either a bebopper or a progressive harmonicist--by either a Stitt or a Coltrane. Paul's subtle and nuanced variations during the construction of his 28-bar solo not only swung the band and set the entire audience on fire but was, in many respects, the equivalent of Duke's own approach to composition.) On each of his turns--"Perdido," "Sposin'," and the final blues (in Db)--his opening solo amounts to a throwing down the gauntlet. He's rawer, rougher, less "finished" than Stitt but never at a loss for new ideas and new ways of saying them. How can a "programmed" player like Stitt answer him? Sonny does--but only because Gonsalves pushes him to be more creative on the bigger horn than any of the other giants he faced on record or in person. For Sonny (as Miles Davis learned, when he tried him for six months after the departure of Coltrane), it's of paramount importance that he establishes domination and control. Notice how he does it by "bringing down" the dynamic level on a heater like "Perdido" or moving to alternate tonguing (which Paul avoids) on the Db blues. And while Paul continues to pour it on, Sonny seems to sense when he may not be able to top him, establishing one of his licks in the dominant key, which is a signal to wind it up in a hurry (on a couple of the tunes Paul seems to have no interest in calling it a take--not yet, anyway.

Stitt and Gonsalves mesh as well as Stitt and Jug, or Stitt and Jaws. They're amiable but not 'overly' comfortable with each other--there's enough combativeness (especially on "Perdido") to make the dueling exciting and the duets (especially "Stardust") satisfying if not sublime. The second date, originally entitled "Now," features Sonny plus rhythm section, but as on the date with Paul Gonsalves, the pianist is Hank Jones. Of the several versions I have of Sonny playing "My Mother's Eyes," this one is the tidiest, the most perfect. (I doubt that Sonny ever made a bad, or merely formulaic, album with Hank. Check out the Roost recording with Hank Jones, "Sonny Stitt and the New Yorkers," for especially good Stitt not to mention unapproachable saxophone playing. Perhaps the difference is the drummer: Osie Johnson on both of the New York Jazz sessions comprising "Salt and Pepper" and Shadow Wilson on the earlier Roost recording. Then there's the absolutely consummate playing on "New York Jazz," on which Sonny is accompanied by pianist Jimmy Jones and drummer Joe Jones. Stitt is a genuine American Master, even if he's never received his due--all the more reason that Gonsalves' stellar playing alongside him is especially gratifying.)

In short, music like this will never happen again. Thank god the moment has been preserved and is still in circulation. Try not to dwell on the outrageous ignorance and oversights that have denied Sonny Stitt an exalted position in some All-American Hall of Fame comprising the most creative musicians of the 20th century. The Lone Wolf, he was branded for his solitary traveling ways. He was also singular for the sheer excellence and faultless execution of his craft. In fact, as an instrumentalist he was to American music and the Great American Songbook what Sinatra was to them vocally.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is Great, August 5, 2010

By 

BABE - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Salt & Pepper (Audio CD)

For anyone who likes Sonny Stitt, this is a MUST HAVE.
This is by far one of Sonny's best albums, Ever!

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent jazz collection, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Salt & Pepper (Audio CD)

Sonny Stitt and Paul Gonsalves are two very good jazz saxophonists, and this collection features both of them together. One of the best parts of the tracks on the CD is the alternating melody, where the two of them trade off back and forth (this is really apparent on track 1, Salt and Pepper). Track 3, Theme from Lord of the Flies, also features some good alternations, and the music in general is a good mix of fast and slow beats.