This album and its companion The Big Sound (OJCCD-651-2), epitomize the affirmative spirit of tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons's many blowing sessions for Prestige in the late Fifties. Ammons assembled an extravagant cast of woodwind stars (Jerome Richardson, flute; Paul Quinichette, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; and, on alto sax for nearly the only time in his recorded career, John Coltrane); and let them loose to flourish over the tough groove of the rhythm section and the writing and organizational skills of its pianist, Mal Waldron. The album is a classic if only for the boundless Coltrane alto on the title track and the poetic balladry of Ammons and Coltrane on "It Might as Well Be Spring."

Ammon Joy, Groove Blues, Jug Handle, It Might as Well Be Spring

with John Coltrane, Jerome Richardson, Pepper Adams, Paul Quinichette, Mal Waldron, George Joyner, Arthur Taylor