Gene Ammons - Legends Of Acid Jazz
Prestige: PRCD-24188-2

Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, sax
George Freeman, Paul Weeden, g
Harold Mabern, p, el p
Ron Carter, b
Idris Muhammad, Billy James, d
Leon Spencer, Don Patterson, org

Tracks 1-6 originally issued as The Black Cat (Prestige 10006); tracks 7-12 originally issued as You Talk That Talk (Prestige 10019); tracks 13-14 originally issued as The Soul/Jazz Giants (Prestige 7791).

Recorded 1962-1971

Review by Scott Yanow
As is often the case in this CD reissue series, the music has little to do with acid jazz, but it does feature a few organists. Tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons is heard on music that [bad word] two complete LPs from 1970-71 ([i]The Black Cat[/i] and [i]You Talk That Talk[/i]), plus a pair of titles from a 1962 date only previously out on a sampler. [i]The Black Cat[/i] is an interesting if erratic set that finds Ammons (along with guitarist George Freeman, Harold Mabern on electric piano, bassist Ron Carter and [bad word] Idris Muhammad) playing everything from the pop tune "Long Long Time" and George Harrison's "Something" (both of those tunes have unimaginative strings) to "Jug Eyes" and the boppish blues [bad word] " As You Talk That Talk is a reunion with fellow tenor Sonny Stitt (they are joined by Freeman, Muhammad and organist Leon Spencer), but it has a major problem. Stitt uses the electrified Varitone saxophone throughout the date, and his horn sounds even stranger than on his other Varitone dates, like a cross between an electric guitar and a dated keyboard; very eerie and odd. Ammons plays well enough (including on two throwaway numbers from 1962 with organist Don Patterson, guitarist Paul Weeden and [bad word] Billy James), but overall, the music on this CD is dated and very much of the period. There are many more rewarding Gene Ammons reissues currently available.

Gene Ammons - The Black Cat! (1970)
1.The Black Cat
2.Long Long Time
3.Piece To Keep Away Evil Spirits
4.Jug Eyes
5.Something [bad word] 
Personnel:
Gene Ammons (ts)
Harold Mabern (p, el-p)
George Freeman (g)
Ron Carter (b)
Idris Muhammad (d)
Bill Fischer (arr -2,5) 9 violins (-2,5)
Review by Stewart Mason
One of Gene Ammons' best late-period albums, 1970's [i]Black Cat[/i] is a bluesy, low-key album and [bad word] anomaly: a primarily acoustic soul-jazz album! Ammons was experimenting heavily with the amplified, feedback-laced electric saxophone during this period, but for Black Cat he sticks to his familiar unamplified tenor, playing raunchy gutbucket lines over Ron Carter's warm, deep-toned bass, Idris Muhammad's laid-back [bad word]  and Harold Mabern's twinkling piano (yes, piano, not the soul-jazz clichй Hammond organ). Most of the time, only guitarist George Freeman is plugged in, but even he plays with clean-toned restraint. The centerpiece tracks are the funky soul-jazz blues "Piece to Keep Away Evil Spirits" and the more danceable, groove-oriented "Jug Eyes," which would [bad word] two of Ammons' most popular tracks, but the surprises are a pair of pop covers, Gary White's "Long Long Time" (popularized by Melanie and Linda Ronstadt) and the Beatles' "Something." Most soul-jazz covers of pop songs sound like boring, uninspired feints towards radio airplay, but Ammons turns both of these melodic ballads into solo showcases for himself and Mabern that show off both players at their finest.

YOU TALK THAT TALK
Review by Stewart Mason
good old-fashioned duet album by Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, longtime friends who recorded several albums together, 1971's [i]You Talk That Talk[/i] lacks the can-you-top-this cutting contest duels that the tenor saxophonists could occasionally engage in on-stage. Instead, a relaxed, swinging vibe prevails, as Stitt and Ammons trade [bad word] over a loose, funky backdrop provided by organist Leon Spencer and Ammons'