The son of boogie-woogie piano legend Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons was born into jazz royalty, and thrived through several decades of its innovations. Listening to the songs on this playlist is like eating BBQ in a fresh-pressed suit: even at the highest level of sophistication, the flavor of grit and grease always comes through. His tone was throaty but never coarse and never corny. Though Jug's leads can stand alone, he was never better than when paired with a Hammond B3 organ. While his peers ruminated, Ammons tapped new grooves with a streetwise fusion dubbed soul-jazz.