By my count, saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded Sunday just three times in five years and then never bothered with it again in the studio. Interestingly, when you line up his three Sundays, you sense he shelved the bouncy parlor song once he felt he had aced it. And wow, did he ever.
Sunday dates back to 1926, when parlors in homes featured an upright piano, and family and friends gathered around the pianist to sing, often coming up with harmonies.
The song was something of an outlier. Unlike many hummable tunes of the day that became massively popular, this one wasn’t written for a stage musical. It was dashed off one evening by four friends, probably on a Sunday in Los Angeles.
With composer Chester Conn at the keyboard and lyricists Jule Styne, Bennie Krueger and Ned Miller sitting or standing around him, the wordsmiths competitively came up with lines. As one sang a lyric, another might have waved him off with a better one until they were all happy with the catchy result. Only then did they realize they had something special.
Sunday has been recorded 544 times by jazz artists and vocalists, but the first was waxed by Abe Lyman’s California Orchestra in July 1926, with an unidentified vocalist (most likely Frank Sylvano). The song’s perky gait and easy-going pacing give you a feel for the youthful, mischievous jazzy decade…
And now to Sonny Stitt. His first rendition came in December 1959 for his Verve album, Saxophone Supremacy. It was a bright and breezy rendition recorded in Los Angeles. The quartet featured Sonny Stitt (as), Lou Levy (p), Leroy Vinnegar (b) and Mel Lewis (d)…
Next, Stitt played the song as a sideman on Art Blakey’s A Jazz Message for Impulse in July 1963, with Stitt (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Art Davis (b) and Blakey (d). It is slowed down a tick, giving Stitt more time to weave around. Tyner’s piano is so elegant…
Finally, here’s the third version, from Stitt’s Soul Shack, recorded for Prestige in September of the same year at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in New Jersey. The band: Sonny Stitt (ts), “Brother Jack” McDuff (org), Leonard Gaskin (b) and Herbie Lovelle (d). For me (and probably Stitt), this Sunday is glorious and glamorous, with Stitt as smooth as can be. Over and done…
On the second and third (tenor) versions, Stitt’s melody statements sound remarkably like Lester Young—no surprise.
The first version (alto) is in Bb concert; the second (tenor) is in F concert. That means that Stitt used the same saxophone fingerings on both versions. Clever man, eh?
My first read of yours - thanks for sharing this.