Gene Ammons - Late Hour Special

Late Hour Special Review

 

by Scott Yanow

Originally released by Prestige while tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons was serving a long prison sentence for possession of drugs (the label effectively kept Ammons' name alive by regularly coming out with "new" material), this album was reissued on CD in 1997. The distinctive tenor is heard on three numbers with a quartet/quintet also including pianist Patti Bown, bassist George Duvivier, drummer Walter Perkins, and sometimes Ray Barretto on conga, and on four cuts as part of a ten-piece group arranged by Oliver Nelson. Flugelhornist Clark Terry gets a couple of choruses on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and Bown has several solos, but Ammons is the main star throughout. In addition to performing his own "Lascivious" (a blues), he sticks to standards, infusing each tune with soul and swing. A fine outing, although with brief (35 & 1/2 minutes) playing time.

Gene Ammons 

Late Hour Special       

1. "The Party's Over" (Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne) - 5:42
2. "I Want to Be Loved (But Only by You)" (Savannah Churchill) - 3:57
3. "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington, Ted Persons) - 4:28
4. "Lascivious" (Gene Ammons) - 4:27
5. "Makin' Whoopee" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) - 5:00
6. "Soft Winds" (Benny Goodman) - 5:48
7. "Lullaby of the Leaves" (Bernice Petkere, Joe Young) - 5:34

• Recorded at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey on June 13, 1961 (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7) and September 5, 1962 (tracks 1, 4 & 6)

• Gene Ammons - tenor saxophone [Quartet tracks with Patti Bown (tracks 1, 4 & 6); Big Band tracks with Richard Wyands (2, 3, 5 & 7)]
• Hobart Dotson, Clark Terry - trumpet (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7)
• Oliver Nelson - alto saxophone, arranger (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7)
• George Barrow, Red Holloway - tenor saxophone (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7)
• Bob Ashton - baritone saxophone (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7)
• Patti Bown (tracks 1, 4 & 6), Richard Wyands (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7) - piano
• George Duvivier (tracks 1, 4 & 6), Wendell Marshall (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7) - bass
• Walter Perkins (tracks 1, 4 & 6), Bill English (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7) - drums
• Ray Barretto - congas (tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7)  

Late Hour Special is an album by saxophonist Gene Ammons compiling sessions recorded in 1961 and 1962 and released on the Prestige label in 1964.^[3]

From Wikipedia