Gene Ammons

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Gene Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as Jug and The Boss, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist from Chicago. He was the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons and studied music at DuSable High School with Walter Dyett. He began performing professionally in 1943 with King Kolax, and in 1944 he joined Billy Eckstine’s band, where he played with Charlie Parker and Dexter Gordon; the group was famous for a saxophone duel on "Blowin’ the Blues Away." After Eckstine went solo in 1947, Ammons led his own group with Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt at Chicago’s Jumptown Club. In 1949 he joined Woody Herman’s Second Herd, and in 1950 formed a duet with Sonny Stitt.

The 1950s were a busy, productive period for Ammons. He made acclaimed recordings like The Happy Blues (1956) and played with many great musicians, including Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Mal Waldron, Art Farmer, and Duke Jordan. His career was interrupted by two prison sentences for narcotics possession (1958–1960 and 1962–1969). He recorded for several labels—Mercury, Aristocrat, Chess, Prestige, Decca, and United—with Prestige becoming his main home for the rest of his career. After his 1969 release from Joliet, he signed a very large contract with Prestige.

In 1950 Chess Records released his "My Foolish Heart," one of the first records on the newly formed Chess label; Muddy Waters followed with "Rolling Stone." Ammons died in Chicago in 1974 at age 49 from bone cancer and pneumonia and was buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. He helped co-found the Chicago school of tenor saxophone with Von Freeman, and his warm, powerful tone blended bebop ideas with blues and R&B, helping to birth the soul jazz style of the 1960s and influencing later players.