All Star Sessions Explained

All Star Sessions
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Gene Ammons
Cover:	All Star Sessions.jpg
Released:	1956
Recorded:	March 5 and October 28, 1950; January 13, 1951; and June 16, 1955
Studio:	New York City and Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	54:40
Label:	Prestige PRLP 7050
Producer:	Bob Weinstock
Chronology:	Gene Ammons
Prev Title:	Golden Saxophone
Prev Year:	1953
Next Title:	The Happy Blues
Next Year:	1956

All Star Sessions is an album by saxophonist Gene Ammons recorded between 1950 and 1955 and released on the Prestige label.^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Stewart Mason stated: "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... Those looking to explore Stitt and Ammons' enormous catalogs (both together and separately) could do much worse than starting right here".^[2]

Track listing

All compositions by Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, except where indicated.

1. "Woofin' and Tweetin'" (Gene Ammons) – 15:05
2. "Juggernaut" (Ammons) – 10:28
3. "Blues Up and Down" [take 3] – 2:39
4. "Blues Up and Down" [take 1] – 1:28 Bonus track on CD reissue
5. "Blues Up and Down" [take 2] – 2:23 Bonus track on CD reissue
6. "You Can Depend on Me" [take 1] (Charlie Carpenter, Louis Dunlap, Earl Hines) – 2:50
7. "You Can Depend on Me" [take 2] (Carpenter, Dunlap, Hines) – 2:50 Bonus track on CD reissue
8. "Stringin' the Jug" – 5:05
9. "New Blues Up and Down" – 5:07
10. "Bye Bye" (Jimmy Mundy) – 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
11. "When I Dream of You" (Carpenter, Hines) – 2:55 Bonus track on CD reissue
12. "A Lover Is Blue" (Carpenter, Mundy, James Oliver Young) – 2:46

Note

• Recorded in New York City on March 5, 1950 (tracks 3–7 & 10), October 28, 1950 (tracks 8, 11 & 12), January 31, 1951 (track 9) and at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack New Jersey on June 15, 1955 (tracks 1 & 2)

Personnel

• • Gene Ammons – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone Sonny Stitt – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone (tracks 3–10)
• Art Farmer (tracks 1 & 2), Billy Massey (tracks 9 & 10) – trumpet
• Chippy Outcalt – trombone (track 9)
• Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone (tracks 1 & 2)
• Charlie Bateman (track 9), Duke Jordan (tracks 3–7 & 10), Junior Mance (track 8, 11 & 12), Freddie Redd (tracks 1 & 2) – piano
• Addison Farmer (tracks 1 & 2), Tommy Potter (tracks 3–7 & 10), Gene Wright (tracks 8, 9, 11 & 12) – bass
• Art Blakey (track 9), Kenny Clarke (tracks 1 & 2), Jo Jones (tracks 3–7 & 10), Wes Landers (tracks 8, 11 & 12) – drums
• Larry Townsend – vocals (track 9)

Notes and References

1. http://www.jazzdisco.org/gene-ammons/catalog/#prestige-prlp-7050 Gene Ammons discography
2. Mason, S. Allmusic Review, accessed February 7, 2013