Sonny Stitt, Booker Ervin, Don Patterson - Soul People (1964-69) {Prestige Remaster 1993}

According to prevailing modern jazz wisdom, when one locked horns with altoist-tenor player Sonny Stitt (1924-1982), one had to be armed to the teeth with licks. Booker Ervin (1930-1970), whose tenor saxophone cry was among the most urgent sounds of the post-to-free-bop era, was solely on the basis of that sound, more than equal to the task of jamming with Stitt. Backed expertly by organist Don Patterson (1936-1988), who had worked extensively with Stitt, Soul People (which also includes a previously unreleased Patterson feature, the mellow bossa reading of “There Will Never Be Another You”) is a consistently rewarding set.

There are dozens of Sonny Stitt records available at any particular time; this CD reissue is one of the better ones. Mostly sticking to tenor, Stitt battles fellow tenor Booker Ervin with assistance from the fine organist Don Patterson and drummer Billy James on five selections and a ballad medley from 1964. Because both Stitt and Ervin always had very individual sounds, their tradeoffs are quite exciting and end up a draw. Among the "bonus" cuts of this CD are a feature for Patterson with a trio in 1966 ("There Will Never Be Another You") and a collaboration between Stitt, Patterson, James and guitarist Grant Green on a 1966 version of "Tune Up." Enjoyable and generally hard-swinging music.