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If you want to talk about a "groove," look no further. Gene Ammons can swing you to death. This melody has great infectious rhythmic grooves. No introduction is necessary for this one, it just starts in a swingin' 2-feel for eight measures, then goes into a 4-feel for the remaining eight measures of this 16-bar groove blues.
This was recorded on Gene's first day back in the recording studio as leader since September of 1962, hence the album title. Gene was still swinging like he always did! Rudy Van Gelder remembers the session well, so it was done in his Englewood Cliffs studio in New Jersey, not in New York as many sources say.
Gene Ammons is the son of the great boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons. Born in Chicago, Gene studied music at Du Sable High School under Captain Walter Dyett. He left Chicago at 18 to tour with King Kolax. On September 5, 1944, at the age of 19, he made his first recording with Billy Eckstine and his Orchestra. The Eckstein band was truly legendary, with Dexter Gordon on tenor sax, Leo Parker on baritone, Dizzy Gillespie in the trumpet section, Art Blakey on drums, Tommy Potter on bass, Sarah Vaughan singing with the band, and Tadd Dameron as one of the arrangers. It was a hothouse of talent and creativity and an immense opportunity for the young Gene, whom Billy nicknamed “Jug” when the straw hats ordered for the band were too small for his head. Read more...
