A
bop classic,
All-Star Session was the recording debut of
Gene Ammons as a leader with his group
the Gene Ammons All-Stars, featuring his fellow tenor saxophonist
Sonny Stitt. At the time,
Ammons and
Stitt were legendary on the
New York bop scene for the extended cutting contests they would get into on-stage; wisely, the album re-creates that excitement on its first two extended tracks,
"Woofin' and Tweetin" (whose 15-minutes-plus took up nearly an entire side of the original 1950 LP, still a daring move at the time) and the even-more-exciting ten-minute blast
"Juggernaut." Stitt and
Ammons make an intriguing pair, with
Ammons'
Lester Young-influenced style going up against the bluesier, rawer sound of the
Charlie Parker disciple
Stitt; neither back down, and even the ten brief 78 sides and studio outtakes that fill out this CD feature some hot solos. A pair of
ballads recorded around the same time,
"When I Dream of You" and
"A Lover Is Blue," provide a much-needed breather and a bit of relaxation after the previous ten tracks' worth of classic
hard bop. Those looking to explore
Stitt and
Ammons' enormous catalogs (both together and separately) could do much worse than starting right here. ~ Stewart Mason
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