Artist's albums
God Bless Jug And Sonny
2001 · album
Gentle Jug, Volume 3
2000 · compilation
Greatest Hits: The 50s
1998 · compilation
Greatest Hits:The 70s
1998 · compilation
Legends Of Acid Jazz
1997 · compilation
The Chase!
1996 · album
Gentle Jug, Volume 2
1995 · compilation
The Boss Is Back!
1994 · album
Up Tight!
1994 · album
Young Jug
1994 · album
FUNKY
1992 · album
Jammin' In Hi-Fi With Gene Ammons
1992 · album
The Gene Ammons Story: The 78 Era
1992 · album
Jammin' With Gene
1991 · album
The Big Sound
1991 · album
Groovin' With Jug
1989 · album
Live! In Chicago
1989 · album
Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - The Sixties
1988 · compilation
For Beautiful People
2023 · album
My Romance
2021 · album
Early Visions
2010 · album
Chicago Concert
2003 · album
Fine And Mellow
2003 · album
A Stranger In Town
2002 · album
Left Bank Encores
2002 · album
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Biography
Gene Ammons, who had a huge and immediately recognizable tone on tenor, was a very flexible player who could play bebop with the best (always battling his friend Sonny Stitt to a tie) yet was an influence on the R&B world. Some of his ballad renditions became hits and, despite two unfortunate interruptions in his career, Ammons remained a popular attraction for 25 years. Son of the great boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons (who was nicknamed "Jug") left Chicago at age 18 to work with King Kolax's band. He originally came to fame as a key soloist with Billy Eckstine's orchestra during 1944-1947, trading off with Dexter Gordon on the famous Eckstine record Blowing the Blues Away. Other than a notable stint with Woody Herman's Third Herd in 1949 and an attempt at co-leading a two tenor group in the early '50s with Sonny Stitt, Ammons worked as a single throughout his career, recording frequently (most notably for Prestige) in settings ranging from quartets and organ combos to all-star jam sessions. Drug problems kept him in prison during much of 1958-1960 and, due to a particularly stiff sentence, 1962-1969. When Ammons returned to the scene in 1969, he opened up his style a bit, including some of the emotional cries of the avant-garde while utilizing funky rhythm sections, but he was still able to battle Sonny Stitt on his own terms. Ironically the last song that he ever recorded (just a short time before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer) was "Goodbye." ~ Scott Yanow