Sonny Stitt JJ Johnson H. McGhee - Now's the Time

[myxolydfly]

Wow, now I am introduced to H. McGhee! Very innovative trumpet rhythms (like I would know I am a jazz guitarist, heh).

[TheJazzsaxophone]

YES we all know that Sonny Stitt played Bird licks... They have extremely similar styles, but on the other hand, "Now's the Time" is in fact a Charlie Parker tune. What's wrong with referencing the master?

[mhstpt]

They way Howard and JJ blended in together was mesmerizing. Sonny Stitt just added the exclamation point. What a crazy-good ensemble this was!

[djlovaglio]

Pure talent! 

[tromboneJTS]

JJ playing a straight 12 bar blues at first and then adding complexity as he goes along.

[testostetron]

whos in the rhythm section?

[mike32738]

@testostetron Tommy Potter and Kenny Clarke.

[Dansker1931]

And this video is awesome - my 12-year old grandson who plays trombone is listening while he's playing his yu-gi-oh cards. Ah Yeah! What a life.

[noidealeftbehind]

jj johson cold as fuckin ice

[jazztrumpet87]

haha @ 7:40 sonny stitt's look is priceless.

[jazztrumpet87]

haha @ 7:40 sonny stitts look is priceless.

[HERB4441]

Sonny Stitt, J.J. & Howard Mcghee.....boy what a treat> If there had been no Bird there would have been Stittsy. Had he not been in hospital for a protacted period of time, he would be one of the fathers of Bebop. I saew him play & met him when I was studying jazz guitar under the great Chuck Wane. After Chuck died, I studied under Herb Ellis at the U. of Noth Texas. I wonder who the bass player is. Does anyone know?

[mgayleart]

@HERB4441 I think the bass player is Bird alumus, Tommy Potter.

[HERB4441]

@mgayleart .......Thank you for the info. I''m a pro jazz guitarist who uses a stage name. I should have known it was probably Tommy Potter.

[iamJROD]

@HERB4441 Wow thats amazing that you got to study with 2 great jazz guitarist. I like Chuck Wayne,and Herb Ellis, my personal favorite jazz guitarist is Johnny Smith.

[Gurkengraeber11]

^Die haben keinen Atem mehr - Hinterher !"

[Dmila220]

This video makes me happy!

[atadsatirical]

i'm better...just sayin (clearly being sarcastic and not a troll)

[depressor101]

stitt ==st itt == ttits lol

[Beefforyou]

@depressor101 Congrats of having the humour of a 12 year old.

[depressor101]

@Beefforyou mi friend is called mae stitt soo suk on that truth

[Beefforyou]

@depressor101 What does that have to do with anything?

[Thodmod]

I have played that piece myself I can tell you it goes fast. But its also a very funny piece to play:)

[S3aW3ed]

Howard Mcghee, you crack me up :)

[pabloww]

Heyy does someone know where can i listen/see Sonny Stitt song named "Duty Free" ???

[kjmurray1593]

gotta love F blues

[Trombonemaster88H]

18 people don't know what jazz is.....that's depressing

[flipside1717]

If I had a nickel for every time Howard McGhee changed key...

[funkbuey]

@flipside1717 You'd have a Quarter... ;)

[tubeberk08]

thanks man... i love the trumpet on that number.

[tubeberk08]

who is on the trumpet?... awesome beat

[lshplayer90]

@tubeberk08 His name is Howard Mcghee, a famous jazz trumpeter of the bebop era.

[jazzuffe]

Am I seeing this? Totally fantastic!

[9876543217303]

Sonny is so clean and clear. Perfection here. Love this guy. RIP

[szumo1982]

tommy potter - sounds so weird! and he quoted that one british military song like bird used to! awesome!!! howard mcghee showing he was IT before freddie hubbard came along

[bignickslider]

@szumo1982 the bass solo quotes 'Country Gardens', an English folk tune collected by Cecil Sharp

[itagoosh]

did JJ skipped Sonny ? after the bass solo

it looks it he did :)

Sonny is the man

[jazztbone722]

JJ! so swinging.

[feldman97]

my jazz band teacher told me to listen to this cuz i play trombone

[rsalvucc]

How many freaking keys does Maggie run through? Oh, man.

[nadinecohenjazz]

Sonny Stitt is definitely the best ..among the other excellent musicians I just love him .Fantastic.

[nadinecohenjazz]

Sonny Stitt is definitely the best ... I just love him .Fantastic.

[postatility]

@cubancrusader It's all about mutual love and respect of three guys who survived and triumphed before,during and after the bop wars.This clip is,in that sense,a great history lesson!

[Wamz1978]

oh, goddamn, this is so fucking badass... Stitt was DEMON!!! Howard McGhee is such a forgotten figure, but he was really something

[DYNODRUM]

Klook ,goes out here w/ a bit solo, that would have most "TODAY' having to ....try a new piano teacher..

[XephSlayer]

I started jazz about a year ago, then I found JJ, then I was happy and this is why.

JJ is awesome at creating melodies that are easy to listen to in his solos.

[aaronamccoy]

bird and stiitt played together, bird sais' you sound like me'..they were living in some sorta parrallel universe

[valvetrom]

is there somewhere a recording of JJJ with Milt Jackson, they both are exeptional melodic.??

[tromboista]

@valvetrom yes, send me an email and I´ll upload it for you "A Date In New York" JJ and Milt Jackson. There´s also J. J. Johnson, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, "Jackson & Johnson & Brown" 1983 By Concord |

[ironcross427]

id rather listen to bird....

[ponchocervantes]

jj !!!

[bumbulizer]

Haha some phat bass drum beat as the end. :P

[nipponsoul]

unbelievable

[nadinecohenjazz]

Sonny is my "heroe" fantasctic, I'll always love him...

[andifyouhadtwocoats]

blowin hard, these immortel gay icons of music

a marvelous video, another proove that jazz is the highest homosexuel art form

your truley

Rab Hines

[pakycracky]

@andifyouhadtwocoats, what the fuck are you talking about, get your mind out of the gutter, why do u have to bring sexuality into this?

[andifyouhadtwocoats]

@pakycracky musick is a sexuel thing, and jazz is the homo sexuel thing in musick. Can you sent your adrees, dahling? You are so sexxxy.

Love, Rab Hines

[Danfantasia91]

You sound like you're a hot bitch aren't you?

[Mxholloway33]

Sonny Stitt is the best

[caponsacchi]

That's got to be Tommy Potter on bass and Klook (Kenny Clarke) on drums. No one made Bird's licks more accessible and strung them together with greater precision, grace, logic, soul and expressiveness than Stitt.

[Slushpup2]

J.J. IS the Man!!!! Long Live The King!!!

[bovines36]

"Fuck you guys, I'm modulating to Db." —Howard McGhee

[saxmancam]

i hear alot of charlie parker licks

[iawsomedude]

buuuu

[musicblew69]

hooray for tommy potter! ! ! ! 

[ArthurGanate]

@musicblew69 A-MEN brother!!!

[jujutay]

Anyone know the bass player?

[fatboyslimqq]

the number of times sonny quotes bird's solo on this is uncanny

[waroffn]

Man, these guys are awesome. But does it kinda seem like a bunch of young dudes showing off?

[DealTurtle]

@waroffn Isn't that what artists do? Show off their talents....perform? I say let it all hang out, that's what you're up there for...

[waroffn]

@DealTurtle True. But I've heard Stitt and JJ play more mature solos is all. This is and old video. An oldy and a goody!

[ZackPomerleau]

Who is the drummer and where can I get this full track? That drum solo was HOT.

[gowbass]

@ZackPomerleau looks like Kenny Clarke on drums.

[ZackPomerleau]

Thanks man, this rules!

[aitbent]

Never heard the trombone played like that.. brilliant!

[92grego]

addirittura joe alessi dice che vorrebbe suonare come lui....fantastico!

[zackyp93]

Wow, i love me a great trombone solo. it just soothes the soul!

[tonybell7]

circle of fifths, pretty common practice

[BlackJaXx97]

@tonybell7

Actually this is basically a blues, with a turnaround at the end (a small portion of a circle of fifths, if you will.

[anthonysimeon]

i like how the trumpet player starts playing in a different key every few bars and the rhythm section follow his lead with ease.

[fabemez9924]

i dont know about with ease...it definitely took them two chorus' to catch up...but it is pretty sweet...

[gwalkron]

Great stuff and as groovy as fuck!

[scoot165zq]

Just how groovy would that be?

[gwalkron]

Groovier than the world's largest pair of corduroy trousers, in a ploughed field blended with unseen forces that affect our perceptions of time in a transcendental manner.

[davidizzle]

@gwalkron holy shit good answer!

[Kogerii]

Ha ha. Oh

@davidizzle

just as expected of you. That's why we keep you around.

[Blackgeoff1]

@gwalkron "Groovier than the world's largest pair of corduroy trousers, in a ploughed field ...."

That's very good

[dramione454]

@gwalkron LSD? Mushrooms? Whatever you took, man, you are trippin'!

[jazztrumpet87]

@gwalkron dig!



[jazzgent]

Howard McGhee is a JAMP. I would have punched him.

[unclejunglebass]

what's a JAMP?

[jazzgent]

I really meant to write JAMF. Which means Jive Ass Mother F.......

[RussellUpsomgrubb]

Why do people have to compare Teagarden and JJ? Gimme a break- you can't be musicians. It's apples and oranges. Or apples and apples- just say both were great players and leave it at that.  Every player that knows how to get through the changes has something to say.

[MrBlues2jazz]

exactly!

[rockyL48]

Teagarden was a great musician but "playing [too] many notes" in a bar was, in part, what Bop was all about. The world ar the ass end of WWII was an entirely different place than the twenties and thirties. I was born during hte post war baby boom. No way were my ears going to put up....

[rockyL48]

with N.O Jazz and Swing and neither was anyone else born between 1938 and 1964 (I include the seven years prior to the end of WWII because they were, too,substantially different from their elders, for the most part).

[blinkslide]

I love JJ's time feel.. that riff at ~1:40 is pretty sweet.. very fun solo - I feel like he got stiff as he got older. Jack Teagarden is cool too but he's definitely got a different bag.

[MrBlues2jazz]

I agree, what are these unhip cromagnums talking about????

[1335639649505]

and to think i have to play this in school,fast like this. wow!

[TayAP1234]

though Big T could (and did) outplay players like this, he was interested in this new form of expression. In fact, one of his best friends in New York was none other than Coleman Hawkins. But Jack thought he would not dare attempt this new Bebop Jazz as to ruin his reputation with so-called "Jazz Purists" that thought, like you, that this music had nothing to offer. But this music did bring jazz into a slightly more sophisticated society

[TayAP1234]

and that is not to say that jazz before this wasn't sophisticated, it was a different time.

[MrBlues2jazz]

GTFO! Didn't you hear about apples and eggs. not even in the same sphere! teagarden vs. JJ Johnson, premier BeBop trombonist. you must be smoking hay???

[tkdmaster3bd]

where the fuck is the second part of this vid????

[MrBlues2jazz]

Yeah!!!!!!!

[tkdmaster3bd]

godam this is sick modulating blues.

[shoegazer666]

i think jj was better during this era

[bcindahouse1]

nothing will ever be this cool again. i wish i had been around to see it.

[valvetrom]

I thoght for a second it was Schwarzenegger on Trumpet

[ThePublicEnemyNo1]

LMAO @ YOU!!!! HA HA HA OL>>>LMAO!!!! Looks like the terminator.

1950's Jazz on the Ave, Indianapolis, IN. My uncle Robert "Sonny" Johnson. Johnson-Montgomery Quintet; Check it out!

[TheJazplayer]

did sonny stitt miss his que to solo

[nnigle]

Sonny Stitt never misses.

[jamssmith]

@nnigle my sentiments exactly

[Ork40000]

Awesome. JJ's tone is so perfect and his improv is very inspiring. Trombone FTW!!!

[dreadtodred]

is that tommy potter on bass?

[glib11]

my dad recorded with this drunken genius in the early 70s in grand rapids michigan. a brand new bag was the record. limited release, cover tunes, probably unlicensed. him on electric guitar playing basslines and rhythm chords.

[Outlaw198811]

Kenny "Klook" Clark - dr

[Outlaw198811]

On the bass - Tommy Potter

[novaandyjess]

Great clip!! The essence of a jazz combo :-)

[trombonedude85]

who's the bass player?

[abehammy]

who is playing bass?

[neocatalyst]

Actually, he's doing some pretty cool stuff. For example, he changed keys every chorus for a while.

[valvetrom]

I love Stitts melodies, but they didn't let him play , tried to have some 4-4 fun , but he is playing so beutiful.

[sepiapanorama]

Is this available on DVD? Would be very grateful for release title and/or company. Thanks in advance.

[schnieef]

What is Sonny qouting at 9.20-9.23 ?

[trombonedude85]

Charlie

[wTrotta11]

@schnieef u ever figure it out?

[coldharbur00]

his lips got to hurt after that. on my page is a video of my band playing this song. if you enjoyed this, you will really enjoy the video i posted. Thanks for this!

[jazzinjj]

Man!!!....that was great!!

[AL3X4ND3R31]

what year was this

[leomcculloch]

HAHA 7:40 !! that was a LOOK!

[kerzinho]

Incredible. That was Sonny's way of saying, Ya reckon Bird would have waited till last for a solo, and y'all wanna trade 4's? Now hear this! My time!

And what a solo..

[bluesky810]

I noticed JJ plays some high Ab's in 1st position and they sound great! Its always been hammered that Ab is a nono in 1st on trombone because is too flat in that position -- maybe he's lipping it more sharp on the fly!

[danylongshaft]

what ever sounds good man

[BobbyDgenerate]

Its hard yes, and un likely because it can ve played easier in 3rd but he is a pro...

[Thecheesemistro]

he's jj. he can do what ever the fuck he wants

[tromboista]

Yes, you can do it as a passing note there, just don´t hang out on Ab

[BrunoJazzmanLeicht]

Boppin & groovin like perhaps nobody else. The most stylish brass section in jazz history.

Feel free to check out my little jazz site, and hope you like it. The link is in my profile.

Peace & See you around,

Brew

[roornc]

i wouldn't want to give up the mic either, thats a nice soundin rhythm section.

[Pikmar27]

I love Sonny Stitt more than just about anything in the universe!!!!!!!

[pricelesspistola321]

i like how jj quotes "you don't know me" during his solo. not sure if it was intentional, but I'm sure it was.

[leomcculloch]

are you sure you're not contradicting yourself there? ; )

[tromboista]

JJ has a million quotes, very very resourceful

[captainblu1995]

best trombonist ever!!!

[valvetrom]

What about Frank Rosolino,Jimmy Knepper,

JJjohnson,Albert Mangelsdorf

[malachithomas]

who is the bass player?

[sewitt60]

Tommy Potter

[selmerhorns]

Stitt!!!!!!!!!!!!! My hero!!!

[GroovinOrgan]

Gotta love the look that Sonny gives the other two horn players..... he's like "I got this, fellas."

[sack69attack]

who's on bass?

[douglasgorney]

NICE solo by J.J. Trombone solos can easily sound labored -- it's such a hard instrument. But this was smooth like *buttah*.

[Chunky244]

Sonny Stitt has such a nice sound.

[SaxMan630]

yeah he does. Its sweet and fat like Johnny Hodges, but with the bop style of Parker. Jizztastic.

[subtoner]

The first record date I played on in 1972 was for Aretha Franklin in a Quincy Jones big band arrangement . I played baritone sax and heard this sound directly behind me that parted my hair. It was J.J.!!!!! I was in heaven.

[queekers]

Cool story!

[jmgibon]

I first discovered JJ in 1961 through a 33LP that I bought in a military PX in West Germany. It was a duo with Kai Winding (or should I say a duel?). Still have this album which still sounds as new and fresh at it was then. Thank you for posting this.

[nyjets19]

Ork40000...sheet music? Its Now's the Time lol. standard blues man. if by sheet music you mean a transcription of JJ's solo, then transcribe it yourself. One of the best ways to improve your improvisational skills is to transcribe solos and practice them

[nyjets19]

This is how jazz trombone should be. As much chops as Wycliffe Gordon has, he cannot even TOUCH the amount of musicality and smoothness that JJ puts into his solos.

[danylongshaft]

Wycliffe Gordon aint shit, hes just all chops.

JJ' makes music out of his horn, genius

[holygroove2]

No comparison between the two - Wycliffe went in his own direction. JJ Johnson was the pioneer for modern jazz trombone playing. There's no comparing JJ to anyone. Wycliffe has that raw-dog blues going through him, and he's also a plunger master. JJ chose to go the route he went. His playing is deceptivley simple. He was the man - we (trombonists) all have to deal with hm.

[Ork40000]

I tried doing that. And yeah, it sort of worked...It took a bit of time though. ^_^

[Ork40000]

Awesome. J.J. Johnson all the way, man.

Hey, where can I find sheet music for this tune on the trombone?

[jazzernamedworm]

umm or u could transcribe?

[22330705]

superb performance by three alltime jazz greats!

[ssminopoopy]

Notice around the 3 minute mark when Howard McGhee makes his first key change the curiously amused expressions on the faces of Stitt and JJ.

Great stuff. Thank you for posting!

[Saxation1]

whos on bass

[bassthang2277]

That's Tommy Potter on bass.

[lewalcindor]

That's who I thought it was based on his appearance alone. But his solo made me think otherwise - it was so much more creative than in his Charlie Parker days.

He had really progressed in his solo playing by then.

[buttah43]

Once you can learn all these licks and transpose them in every key, you are truly a monster

[mikhailr13]

kids now a days have never even heard of all the greats, Bird, Gillespie, Coltrane, Ellington, Stitt, Miller, Goodman, ect

[kennydyn]

i have i am in my schools jazz band and i have a solo in nows the time

[StoneHearte]

yhea me too i play sax and trombone and i have a solo in our schools gala in december

[iamawombat101]

I think your mostly right except the few that are in good Jazz Bands or live just down the street from 18th and vine in Kansas City like me. I was lucky enough to be introduced to J.J., Ellington, Bird and Gillespie at the Jazz Museum by my band director. Unluckily a lot of people don't get that.

[Erthwerm]

I like how you post all these great names and alongside them put Glenn Miller...

[angelhalsey]

umm i play in el dorado high jazz

you decide for yourself if we suck. but yeah we have guest artists every year. we've had dizzy, kubis. started 22 years ago, so none of the classics like coltrane, parker, or ellington

[jazzernamedworm]

haha i noticed that as well... about that comment