Sonny Stitt recorded over 100 albums as a leader and several dozen in a quartet setting in his productive career, but this one ranks at the top. The bebop tenor and alto stylist is very inspired by the top-notch rhythm section (pianist
Barry Harris, bassist
Sam Jones, and drummer
Alan Dawson) and has rarely sounded more heated than on "Tune Up," "Idaho," "Just Friends," and "Groovin' High." However, it is his nine-minute jam on "I Got Rhythm" (which finds
Stitt taking blazing solos on both tenor and alto) that is the high point of this essential set.
–
Scott Yanow, Rovi