Where do you listen?
Choose your streaming service
inside the sleeve
Loading…
inside the sleeveITS
⌕
Read About

♫

Facts
Connections
Read more

Discography

Collaborations

Live on Youtube

Explore Further

Selected connections
1966 · Album

Soul in the Night

↑ Sonny Stitt

Soul in the Night

Two Saxes, One Night in Chicago

Two saxophonists trade fours in Chicago and let the tenor and alto do the talking.

Soul in the Night came out on Cadet in 1966, a label better known for its R&B and soul catalog than for straight-ahead jazz. That pairing is part of why the record is easy to overlook. It was not built as a major event, and I am not aware of a strong critical campaign or a chart run behind it. It has mostly lived as a record that committed Stitt and Green fans seek out.

The premise is simple: two saxophonists, Sonny Stitt and Bunky Green, recording together in Chicago. Stitt was one of the most prolific players of his generation, and by 1966 he could move between alto and tenor without losing his bebop vocabulary. Green brought a similar fluency and a rhythm-and-blues-tinged edge. The pleasure here comes from hearing two strong players with overlapping roots push and answer each other rather than blur into one voice.

If you want a starting point for Stitt, this is not it. Start with Moanin' (1958) or his more central Verve and Prestige work. Soul in the Night is a good record for someone already comfortable with his style, who wants a loose, hard-swinging session with no frills and room for the horns to stretch out.

Who's playing
Listen next
By Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt Bud Powell J.J. Johnson 1956
More Bebop
Mozart / Corea 1962
Chick Corea
Recording Info
Track listing
1Soul in the Night4:03
2It's Awfully Nice to Be With You3:47
3Hot Line3:49
4Home Stretch4:50
5The Spies6:16
6One Alone5:48
7Sneakin' Up on You5:30
Musicians
Further Reading
Read more

Where next?

More by Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt Bud Powell J.J. Johnson 1956
Kaleidoscope 1957
New York Jazz 1956
Only the Blues 1958
All 25 albums →
More Bebop
Mozart / Corea 1962
Chick Corea
20/20 1963
George Benson
Doin' Allright 1961
Dexter Gordon
Barry Harris at The Jazz Workshop 1960
Barry Harris
All 89 Bebop artists →

More by this artist

Albums with the same musicians

From the same era

Similar artists

inside the sleeve
Growing
Jazz, explained without pretension.
Read · Follow the connections · Press play
Right now: 7,100+ albums · 440+ artists
Start here
New to jazz? These artists are good places to start.
Loading…
Explore
Nine records worth getting lost in.
Born today
Album of the day
A landmark record, every day.
Read
  • Loading…
Article archive →
Recently added
Purpose
Inside the Sleeve is your companion on a journey through jazz — not a textbook, but something closer to a knowledgeable friend sitting next to you while you listen. Read about an artist, press play, follow a connection, discover an album you didn't know you needed.
Suggestions
Read

Articles

Essays, guides, and lists about jazz and the records that matter.

Loading…

Genre

Key Artists
Further Reading

Essential Albums

Related Genres

In This Genre

About

Inside the Sleeve

Work in progress

Inside the Sleeve grows continuously — new artists and albums are added, essays refined, as visitors explore and our editors follow up on what they find. Content, features, and design are still evolving; use the Report error button on any page to flag something that seems off.

Content

Every artist, album, and release date on Inside the Sleeve is real — verified against trusted sources including MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. We don't invent discographies or fabricate records. AI compiles that verified information into readable prose — essays on artists, albums, and the music itself. We can't manually review every essay before publishing, but every reported error is checked by a human editor.

Inside the Sleeve is not a review site. We're not here to rate or rank — we're here to guide you in. Where an album stands out, we'll say so. Where an artist changed everything, you'll know why. But we won't tear anything down. Jazz history is complex and sources sometimes disagree — if you spot something that seems off, please report it.

Streaming

Inside the Sleeve links to Spotify and Apple Music so you can listen while you read. These are not affiliate links. For Spotify, links open a search on open.spotify.com — we do not have direct links to specific recordings. For Apple Music, direct links are used where available, otherwise a search is opened.

Your choice of streaming service is stored locally in your browser only. It is never sent to our servers.

We're working on deeper Spotify integration, including direct links to specific recordings.

Privacy

Inside the Sleeve does not collect personal data and does not use cookies. We count page visits anonymously using a self-hosted analytics tool — no personal identifiers are stored, and the data never leaves our own server. The only preference stored on your device is your streaming service choice, saved locally in your browser and never transmitted.

When you submit a suggestion or error report, the text you write is stored in our database. No name or email is required or collected unless you choose to provide one.

Third-party services

Spotify and Apple Music are independent services with their own terms of use and privacy policies. Inside the Sleeve is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company.

Support

Inside the Sleeve is free and ad-free. If you enjoy it, a coffee helps cover server costs and keeps the project going.

Amazon

Some book recommendations on Inside the Sleeve link to Amazon. Buying through these links costs you nothing extra — but Amazon pays us a small commission, which goes directly towards keeping the site running. It's a simple way to support the project if you were going to buy the book anyway.

As an Amazon Associate, Inside the Sleeve earns from qualifying purchases.

Questions or feedback? Use the suggestion box on the front page.

Inside the Sleeve — A guide for those who want to go beyond the obvious About & Privacy