Record of the day: Gene Ammons, “Funky”

Gene Ammons
“Funky” (Cd Prestige 00025218624428)

The album’s title perfectly explains what you’ll hear inside; music that draws directly from the blues, without frills, with long and articulated solos that nevertheless get to the point without getting lost in flights of fancy and firmly anchored to the classic twelve bars.
After all, saxophonist Gene Ammons has been exposed to the blues since he was a child, being the son of Albert Ammons, one of the greatest pianists of the boogie-woogie era; from him Gene learned to have power on his instrument, dispensing robust and genuine phrases that make listening to his music an experience that is always more than satisfying, even if not particularly daring or innovative.

In the mid-1950s, when stereophony began to take hold, Ammons released a long series of informal, relaxed Hi-Fi Jam Sessions for Prestige, featuring some of the biggest names in the New York jazz scene (another excellent album in this series is “Jammin’ in Hi-Fi with Gene Ammons”).
Often the musicians would enter the studio with very little preparation; they would agree on a blues routine and some known standards, turn on the microphones and let the spontaneity and skill of the soloists involved do the rest.

“Funky”, released in 1957, is no exception and offers truly quality jazz, fun and excellently played; after all, it couldn’t be otherwise, given the caliber of the names Ammons gathered in the studio with him. With a sparkling rhythm section like the one formed by Art Taylor on drums and Doug Watkins on double bass, you can be sure that the flow of the music will always be very aggressive and swinging, and if the trumpet is played by Art Farmer, the alto sax by Jackie McLean, the guitar by Kenny Burrell and the piano by Mal Waldron, success is guaranteed.

Among this all-star cast, Ammons cuts a fine figure, distributing with his tenor sax very hot solos that smell of blues and gospel mixed with the most rigorous bebop, scratching the air with the solos of “Funky” and “Pint Size” (composed by Jimmy Mundy, formerly alongside Count Basie), stretching like rubber the broad melodic phrases of the introduction of “Stella by Starlight”, subsequently tackled at a medium bounce tempo that allows Ammons to indulge in impeccable phrasing.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.