Gene Ammons - Greatest Hits: The 50s

Ten long years after the release of Gene Ammons' Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: The Sixties, the de facto second volume finally emerged in 1998, summing up the 1950s on a single disc of short-play singles and long, glorious blowing sessions. The three singles, all succinct little summaries of progressive bop, cover the years 1950 and 1955, and then the real meat and potatoes kick in: five extended tracks (including the definitive jam of this period, "The Happy Blues") with plenty of ecstatic blowing room for Jackie Mclean's alto, Art Farmer and Donald Byrd's trumpets, and Mal Waldron's piano. Read More