Albert Ammons was born in Chicago on March 1, 1907. Both of his parents were pianists and he began playing when he was ten. One of his childhood friends, Meade Lux Lewis, encouraged him and they often practiced together on the piano at the Ammons house.
Starting in 1924, Ammons and Lewis began playing together at parties and functions, exploring and mastering the boogie-woogie style. Ammons made his recording debut with Louis Banks’ Chesterfield Orchestra on September 17, 1934. While in a supportive role, Ammons can be heard sounding a bit like Teddy Wilson on one selection and playing a stride chorus on another, not hinting at his growing mastery of boogie-woogie. Two years later, when he recorded with his Rhythm Kings for Decca, Albert Ammons started to make an impact on the boogie-woogie scene.
Ammons recorded four titles with his Rhythm Kings in January, 1936, including one number called “Boogie Woogie Stomp.” That exciting recording helped to launch the beginning of what would become the boogie-woogie craze.
Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis, and Pete Johnson had similar styles and each pianist was quite powerful on uptempo pieces. Ammons and Johnson were among the stars in the very enjoyable film short Boogie Woogie Dream in 1941. The production, which also features Lena Horne and the Teddy Wilson Sextet, has Ammons and Johnson showcased on several numbers including a blazing version of “Boogie Woogie Dream.”
Albert Ammons was well documented during the 1940s, recording piano solos for Commodore (1944), recording some radio transcriptions with Pete Johnson as a duo, accompanying Sippie Wallace (1945), and heading a regularly working version of his Rhythm Kings during 1946-48.
His records, which crossed over to a rhythm & blues audience, sold well. On August 6, 1947, Ammons made his only recordings with his son, the great tenor-saxophonist Gene Ammons.
Albert Ammons’ last recordings were seven songs on January 27-28, 1949, that were made with Lionel Hampton’s octet and big band. That month Ammons played at the inauguration of President Harry S. Truman. But after being in declining health for a few months, Albert Ammons passed away on December 2, 1949, at the age of just 42.
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
