Though it was logical that Stitt should follow Parker in Eckstine's solo alto sax chair, it does not indicate, as the above story should make clear, that Stitt in any way followed Parker in the development of a style. In the same way, trumpeters who had never heard Gillespie began playing in Dizzy's style, and pianists who knew nothing of Bud Powell be came a part of the bop piano movement. This is probably true of Lou Levy, the pianist on these sides, whom Stitt heard as a teenager gigging around Chicago in the early 1940s, in a style probably not greatly different from that which he later committed to records. The rhythm section for this session was assembled in Los Angeles when Sonny, who had gone west for an engagement at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco, came to L.A. on his day off to cut these sides. Leroy Vinnegar was no stranger to Sonny, who had worked with him some years earlier in a combo with Serge Chaloff.
Sonny plays alto on all tracks.
Morning After, that closes the set. Though he was due to join Miles Davis as these comments went to press, Sonny has spent almost all the past decade on the road as a single, usually picking up local rhythm sections. Through no fault of his or ours, it has been difficult to catch him in New York, where his work has been confined to occasional concerts. But Sonny is happy making a good living and playing with complete freedom. I want to make everything I do listenable and understandable, and with an essential element of melody.