Gene Ammons是为次中音萨克斯风的好手，擅长的风格是bop和soul jazz，出生於风城芝加哥，他将芝加哥的蓝调带入bop和soul jazz。 父亲Albert Ammons是一位Boogie-Woogie的钢琴好手，他对Gene Ammons的音乐教育影响很大。1943年时加入King Kolax所领导的乐队演奏，后来转到歌手Billy Eckstine的乐队，是乐队里萨克斯风的要角。1950年与萨克斯风手Sonny Stitt组织乐队（1950-52年），他们的双萨克斯风很受欢迎，Gene Ammons很擅长於双萨克斯风的组合，他也曾与Sonny Rollins做双萨克斯风的专辑。 1958年因吸毒的关係而入狱，在狱中仍继续创作，狱方的通融还让他完成专辑The Big Sound，这是一张非常出色的专辑。出狱之后的60年代是Gene Ammons创作丰富的一段时间，但他还是因毒品问题再次入狱，中间断断续续有作品推出，直到1969年才出狱。
by Scott Yanow
Gene Ammons, who had a huge and immediately recognizable tone on tenor, was a very flexible player who could play bebop with the best (always battling his friend Sonny Stitt to a tie) yet was an influence on the R&B world. Some of his ballad renditions became hits and, despite two unfortunate interruptions in his career, Ammons remained a popular attraction for 25 years.
Son of the great boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons (who was nicknamed Jug) left Chicago at age 18 to work with King Kolaxs band. He originally came to fame as a key soloist with Billy Eckstines orchestra during 1944-1947, trading off with Dexter Gordon on the famous Eckstine record Blowing the Blues Away. Other than a notable stint with Woody Hermans Third Herd in 1949 and an attempt at co-leading a two tenor group in the early 50s with Sonny Stitt, Ammons worked as a single throughout his career, recording frequently (most notably for Prestige) in settings ranging from quartets and organ combos to all-star jam sessions. Drug problems kept him in prison during much of 1958-1960 and, due to a particularly stiff sentence, 1962-1969. When Ammons returned to the scene in 1969, he opened up his style a bit, including some of the emotional cries of the avant-garde while utilizing funky rhythm sections, but he was still able to battle Sonny Stitt on his own terms. Ironically the last song that he ever recorded (just a short time before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer) was Goodbye.