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“The Eternal Triangle” (Sonny Stitt)

Album: “Sonny Side Up”, 1959

Sonny Side Up is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and the tenor saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins, recorded in December 1957 in New York City. It was released in 1959 on producer Norman Granz’s newly launched Verve label.

As Thomas Cunniffe has written, “The pairing of Rollins and Stitt was highly inspired. More important than their common nicknames (and the punning album title), tenor saxophonists Rollins and Stitt were both influenced by Charlie Parker, but each took a vastly different approach to improvisation. Stitt transferred Parker’s white-hot intensity to the tenor after several fans and critics pointed out the tonal similarity of their alto sounds. Rollins was a more thoughtful player who expanded the vocabulary of bop improvisation by incorporating thematic elements into his solos and by experimenting with different melodic shapes and unusual phrase lengths.” (Wikipedia)

Personnel:
Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet
Sonny Stitt – tenor saxophone
Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
Ray Bryant – piano
Tommy Bryant – double bass
Charlie Persip – drums