Edward "Sonny" Stitt and Don Patterson forged what was surely one of the outstanding, long-term saxophone/organ pairings. The ace multi-saxophonist Stitt (1924-1982) was among the first of the bebop virtuosi to embrace the organ's power and many tonal possibilities; Patterson (1936-1988), who began as a piano player, was a most tasteful, non-grandstanding master of the Hammond B-3. From 1961 until 1969, Stitt and Patterson recorded together at least 13 times for seven different labels, with the vast majority on Prestige. This set, with Stitt wailing on alto only, combines a pair of vibrant LPs from 1965 (Stitt was the leader on Night Crawler, Patterson on The Boss Men), plus two numbers from a 1964 Stitt album, Shangri-La. The coolly burning Billy James is the drummer throughout. Although blues 'n' boogaloos were au courant for saxophone-organ bands in 1965--and are, indeed, represented here--Stitt and Patterson focus mostly on enduring standards, which receive timeless readings.

with Billy James