All Star Sessions

All Star Sessions is an album by saxophonist Gene Ammons recorded between 1950 and 1955 and released on the Prestige label.[1]

All Star Sessions
Studio album by Gene Ammons
Released	1956
Recorded	March 5 and October 28, 1950; January 13, 1951; and June 16, 1955
Studio	New York City and Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	Jazz
Length	54:40
Label	Prestige PRLP 7050
Producer	Bob Weinstock
Gene Ammons chronology
Golden Saxophone (1953) All Star Sessions (1956) The Happy Blues (1956)

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars with its review by Stewart Mason stating, "A bop classic, All-Star Session was the recording debut of Gene Ammons as a leader with his group the Gene Ammons All-Stars, featuring his fellow tenor saxophonist Sonny Stitt... Those looking to explore Stitt and Ammons' enormous catalogs (both together and separately) could do much worse than starting right here".[2]

Track listing

All compositions by Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt except where noted.

1. "Woofin' and Tweetin'" (Gene Ammons) – 15:05
2. "Juggernaut" (Ammons) – 10:28
3. "Blues Up and Down" [take 3] – 2:39
4. "Blues Up and Down" [take 1] – 1:28 Bonus track on CD reissue
5. "Blues Up and Down" [take 2] – 2:23 Bonus track on CD reissue
6. "You Can Depend on Me" [take 1] (Charlie Carpenter, Louis Dunlap, Earl Hines) – 2:50
7. "You Can Depend on Me" [take 2] (Carpenter, Dunlap, Hines) – 2:50 Bonus track on CD reissue
8. "Stringin' the Jug" – 5:05
9. "New Blues Up and Down" – 5:07
10. "Bye Bye" (Jimmy Mundy) – 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
11. "When I Dream of You" (Carpenter, Hines) – 2:55 Bonus track on CD reissue
12. "A Lover Is Blue" (Carpenter, Mundy, James Oliver Young) – 2:46

Note

• Recorded in New York City on March 5, 1950 (tracks 3-7 & 10), October 28, 1950 (tracks 8, 11 & 12), January 31, 1951 (track 9) and at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack New Jersey on June 15, 1955 (tracks 1 & 2)

Personnel

• Gene Ammons – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
• Sonny Stitt – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone (tracks 3-10)
• Art Farmer (tracks 1 & 2), Billy Massey (tracks 9 & 10) – trumpet
• Chippy Outcalt – trombone (track 9)
• Lou Donaldson – alto saxophone (tracks 1 & 2)
• Charlie Bateman (track 9), Duke Jordan (tracks 3-7 & 10), Junior Mance (track 8, 11 & 12), Freddie Redd (tracks 1 & 2) – piano
• Addison Farmer (tracks 1 & 2), Tommy Potter (tracks 3-7 & 10), Gene Wright (tracks 8, 9, 11 & 12) – bass
• Art Blakey (track 9), Kenny Clarke (tracks 1 & 2), Jo Jones (tracks 3-7 & 10), Wes Landers (tracks 8, 11 & 12) – drums
• Larry Townsend – vocals (track 9)

References

1. Gene Ammons discography accessed February 7, 2013
2. Mason, S. Allmusic Review, accessed February 7, 2013
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 8. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.