1955 live album by Sonny Stitt and Eddie Davis
The Battle of Birdland (also released as Tenor Battle at Birdland and Jaws N' Stitt at Birdland ) is a live album by saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Eddie Davis recorded at Birdland in New York City in 1954 and originally released on the Roost label.[ 1]
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic [ 2]
Scott Yanow , in his review for Allmusic , calls the album "a spirited and typically competitive jam session".[ 2] The All About Jazz review stated "both tenormen were in the prime of their great careers at this stage and the music is wonderful... this recording is a particularily [sic ] rare and memorable item indeed".[ 3]
All compositions by Sonny Stitt except as indicated
"Jaws" (Eddie Davis) – 9:55 "I Can't Get Started " (Ira Gershwin , Vernon Duke ) – 7:21 "Marchin'" – 8:45 "S.O.S." – 7:50 "Whoops!" 8:17 additional track on CD release "All the Things You Are " (Oscar Hammerstein II , Jerome Kern ) – 8:23 additional track on CD release "Rollercoaster" – 9:06 additional track on CD release "Don't Blame Me " (Dorothy Fields , Jimmy McHugh ) – 7:51 additional track on CD release
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release.
As leader or co-leader Sonny Stitt/Bud Powell/J. J. Johnson (1949–50) Stitt's Bits (1950) Kaleidoscope (1950–52) Jazz at the Hi-Hat (1954) The Battle of Birdland (and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis , 1954) Sonny Stitt Plays Arrangements from the Pen of Quincy Jones (1955) Sonny Stitt Plays (1955) New York Jazz (1956) For Musicians Only (with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz , 1956) 37 Minutes and 48 Seconds with Sonny Stitt (c.1956/57) Only the Blues (1957) Personal Appearance (1957) Sonny Stitt with the New Yorkers (1957) Burnin' (1958) Sonny Stitt (1958) The Saxophones of Sonny Stitt (1958) A Little Bit of Stitt (1959) Saxophone Supremacy (1959) Sonny Stitt Blows the Blues (1959) Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (1959) Sonny Stitt Sits in with the Oscar Peterson Trio (1959) Sonny Side Up (with Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins , Verve , 1959) Sonny Stitt Swings the Most (1959) The Hard Swing (1959) The Sonny Side of Stitt (1959) Previously Unreleased Recordings (1960) Sonny Side Up (Roost , 1960) Stittsville (1960) Stitt in Orbit (1960–62) Sonny Stitt at the D. J. Lounge (1961) The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt (1961) Feelin's (1962) Low Flame (1962) Rearin' Back (1962) Sonny Stitt & the Top Brass (1962) Stitt Meets Brother Jack (with "Brother" Jack McDuff , 1962) Move on Over (1963) My Mother's Eyes (1963) Now! (1963) Primitivo Soul! (1963) Salt and Pepper (and Paul Gonsalves , 1963) Soul Shack (with "Brother" Jack McDuff, 1963) Stitt Goes Latin (1963) Stitt Plays Bird (1963) My Main Man (and Bennie Green , 1964) Shangri-La (with Don Patterson , 1964) Sax Expressions (1965) Sonny Stitt / Live at Ronnie Scott's (with Dick Morrissey , 1965) Soul People (with Booker Ervin and Don Patterson, 1964–69) Broadway Soul (1965) Inter-Action (and Zoot Sims , 1965) Night Crawler (with Don Patterson, 1965) Pow! (with Bennie Green, 1965) The Matadors Meet the Bull (1965) Deuces Wild (1966) I Keep Comin' Back! (1966) Soul in the Night (and Bunky Green , 1966) What's New!!! (1966) Parallel-a-Stitt (1967) Little Green Apples (1968) Soul Electricity! (1968) Come Hither (1969) Night Letter (1969) Black Vibrations (1971) Turn It On! (1971) 12! (1972) Constellation (1972) Goin' Down Slow (1972) Tune-Up! (1972) Mr. Bojangles (1973) The Champ (1973) Satan (1974) Blues for Duke (1975) Dumpy Mama (1975) Mellow (1975) My Buddy: Sonny Stitt Plays for Gene Ammons (1975) Forecast: Sonny & Red (with Red Holloway , 1976) I Remember Bird (1978) Stomp Off Let's Go (1976) Sonny Stitt with Strings: A Tribute to Duke Ellington (1977) In Style (1981) The Last Sessions (1982) AndGene Ammons WithDizzy Gillespie WithDon Patterson With others