From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sun Sep 22, 2002  2:05 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Albert Ammons
 
ALBERT AMMONS

Born 23 September 1907, Chicago, Illinois
Died 5 December 1949, Chicago, Illinois

Boogie woogie pianist.
Albert Ammons was one of the big three of late-'30s boogie-woogie along with
Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis. Arguably the most powerful of the three
(he had a thundering, rock-steady left hand), Ammons was also flexible enough
to play swing music. Influenced by Pinetop Smith and Jimmy Yancey, Albert
played in Chicago clubs from the 1920s on. Just as his friend Meade Lux Lewis,
a near-contemporary, Ammons suffered from a long period of neglect before he
would ride the tidal wave of enthusiasm for boogie woogie which swept America
in the late thirties and early forties. Both Lewis and Ammons supplemented
their meagre income by driving a taxi. To make sure his drivers would be on the
job and not off to some cabaret or bar, their boss bought a piano, to be put in
the canteen.
Starting in 1934, he led his own band (the Rhythm Kings) in Chicago, and he
made his first records in February 1936 (for Decca), including what is probably
his most famous number, "Boogie Woogie Stomp", an adaptation of "Pinetop's
Boogie Woogie". In 1938, Ammons appeared at Carnegie Hall (the "Spirituals
To Swing" concert) with Pete Johnsonm and Meade Lux Lewis, an event that
contributed greatly to launching the boogie woogie craze. This resulted in a
long-standing residency at New York's Cafe Society, magical duos with Pete
Johnson (Boogie Woogie Man, Sixth Avenue Express, etc.) and numerous
recording sessions. Albert Ammons worked steadily throughout the 1940s,
recorded for Mercury from 1945 on, sometimes partnered with his son, the
outstanding tenox sax player Gene Ammons (1925-1974). He played at
President Harry Truman's inauguration in 1949, but he died later that year,
after a few years blighted by ill-health He was only 42.

Further reading (apart from Peter Silvester's book):
Chr. I. Page, Boogie Woogie Stomp : Albert Ammons and His Music. Cleveland :
Northeast Ohio Jazz Society, 1997.
Recommended CD's:
Albert Ammons : Blues & Boogie Woogie King - Jazz Archives 125 (EPM 159142)
Boogie Woogie Man (Topaz Jazz TPZ 1067)
Back Beat : The Rhythm Of The Blues (Mercury 510 286-2) 1946-48 recordings.