The Greatest Hits

Product Description:

Personnel: Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone); Sonny Stitt (alto saxophone); Joe Newman (trumpet); Frank Wess (flute); Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Richard Wyands, John Houston (piano); Jack McDuff, Johnny "Hammond" Smith (organ); Kenny Burrell, John "Bucky" Pizzarelli (guitar); Doug Watkins, Wendell Marshall, Norman Edge, Buster Williams (bass); Art Taylor, Walter Perkins, Oliver Jackson, George Brown (drums); Ray Barretto (congas); Al Hayes (bongos).

Producers: Esmond Edwards, Ozzie Cadena.

Compilation producer: Bob Porter.

Engineers include: Rudy Van Gelder.

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois between 1960 & 1962. Includes liner notes by Bob Porter.

Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1988, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

These eight tunes were culled from six albums Ammons recorded in the early '60s. GREATEST HITS: THE SIXTIES serves as an excellent overview of Ammons' output at the time, touching on all facets of his work. A couple of numbers feature combos built around organists-Johnny "Hammond" Smith on "Angel Eyes" and Jack McDuff on "Twisting the Jug." "My Foolish Heart" finds longtime cohort Sonny Stitt playing alto saxophone alongside Ammons' tenor. The title track from Ammons' JUNGLE SOUL is a real treat, with the twin guitars of Kenny Burrell and Bucky Pizzarelli meshed into an ensemble anchored by pianist Hank Jones and further bolstered by Al Hayes' bongos. This collection also makes it apparent why Ammons is held in the highest regard as a balladeer. His emotive playing embraces blues phrasing and couples it with a richly romantic tone.