Sonny Stitt - Constellation (1972 Japanese Cobblestone Vinyl LP)

Sonny Stitt - Constellation | Vinyl LP, 1972 Japanese Cobblestone (YZ-19-CO)

• Straight bop, no gimmicks, with Stitt on both alto and tenor saxophone running through eight pieces drawn from the Charlie Parker and Bud Powell songbooks alongside standards
• Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Roy Brooks behind him, three musicians who understood this repertoire from the inside and could swing a quartet date like few rhythm sections of the period
• Original 1972 Japanese pressing on Cobblestone, produced by Don Schlitten and released the same year as the US edition

By 1972, Sonny Stitt had been recording for over two decades and had produced an enormous catalogue that ranged from the essential to the indifferent, with detours through organ combos and electric sessions that obscured how formidable he remained with a reed and an acoustic rhythm section. Constellation strips everything back. Stitt plays alto and tenor across eight tracks, most of them bop repertoire: Charlie Parker’s “Constellation” and “Webb City”, Bud Powell’s “Casbah”, Ray Brown and Gil Fuller’s “Ray’s Idea”, and three standards including a warm reading of “Ghost of a Chance” and a swinging “Topsy”. “By Accident”, the longest piece at nearly seven minutes, gives Stitt the most room to stretch. There are no overdubs, no extra horns, no concept. The recording was produced by Don Schlitten for Joe Fields’s Cobblestone label, and it captures what Stitt did best when nothing got in the way.

The rhythm section deserves equal billing. Barry Harris was the foremost bebop pianist still working in the tradition, and his comping behind Stitt is economical and perfectly placed. Sam Jones’s bass lines are firm and melodic, and Roy Brooks brings a crisp, responsive energy on drums. All three were veterans of the hard bop circuit and had played together in various configurations throughout the 1960s. Schlitten recorded a companion album, Tune-Up!, with the same core group (Alan Dawson replacing Brooks on drums) earlier the same year, and the two records together represent Stitt at his most concentrated. When Cobblestone folded in 1973, both titles passed to Muse Records and were later reissued on a single CD by 32 Jazz. This 1972 Japanese pressing is an original release, catalogue number YZ-19-CO, from the same year as the US Cobblestone edition (CST 9021).