Sonny Stitt Essentials

Editors’ Notes Sonny Stitt was a pure-blooded adherent of bebop who adapted his buoyant yet tender attack to shifting tastes during a career that spanned from the late ‘40s through the early ‘80s. Early on he was compared to Charlie Parker, but the bluesy elegance of ”Mean to Me” is all his own. Still, he swung furiously at times, flexing muscles alongside Dizzy Gillespie on “The Eternal Triangle,” and even acknowledging the impact of the fellow alto saxophonist on “Constellation,” swerving and gliding like Bird. Stitt worked fluidly in different contexts, including the West Coast cool of “Giuff” or the funky organ combo vibe of “Turn It On.”