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Up for online listening--includes a track from the Cafe Bohemia broadcast with Miles Davis: Rollins '57: Sonny Rollins Takes the Lead

Out Nov 27/Dec 4 from Resonance--this from Zev Feldman's Facebook page: SONNY ROLLINS on RESONANCE! Coming November 27th for Record Store Day Black Friday. I'm honored and thrilled to announce "Rollins in Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings," Resonance Records' first archival release from the Saxophone Colossus himself, SONNY ROLLINS. Released in partnership with the Nederlands Jazz Archief this limited-edition 180g 3LP set and deluxe 2CD set (out Dec 4) is officially sanctioned by Rollins and is comprised of 3 different previously-unissued performances with bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink in May of 1967 at VARA Studio 5 in Hilversum, the Arnhem Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem, and audio from a televised performance at the Go-Go Club in Loosdrecht. "Rollins in Holland" will include an extensive, over-the-top 100-page CD booklet and 24-page LP insert with a treasure trove of never-before-published photos from the actual performances, and essays by yours truly, Aidan Levy (currently writing a biography of Sonny Rollins for Da Capo Press) and my co-producer, the Dutch jazz journalist/producer Frank Jochemsen. I had the pleasure of speaking with Sonny for a wide-ranging interview, which will be included in the booklet, along with an interview Aidan had with Han Bennink and Ruud Jacobs at Ruud's home in 2018. In my interview with Sonny, he said: "I’m so happy that Resonance is putting it out because it really represents a take-no-prisoners type of music. That’s sort of what I was doing around that period of time; that was sort of Sonny Rollins then . . . It was very much me. And I loved it and I loved playing with those guys." There are many, many thank yous in order for this incredible project. I want to start by thanking George Klabin, as always, for his generosity and passion for making this the greatest Sonny Rollins package possible. This project also wouldn't have been possible without the support of Sonny's long-time publicist (and associate producer on this release), Terri Hinte. I'm so grateful for her support and everything she does for jazz. A special thanks goes to my co-producers Frank Jochemsen, who discovered the VARA Studio and Go-Go Club recordings in the Nederlands Jazz Archief archives, and David Weiss, who was a tremendous asset working with our engineers George Klabin and Fran Gala. I also want to thank the other 2 associate producers on the project, Resonance production manager and my right-hand Zak Shelby-Szyszko and Resonance legal counsel and album package editor, John Koenig. Kudos as well to our über talented designer John Sellards for delivering another absolutely stunning cover and package. Finally, I want to thank Michael Kurtz and Carrie Colliton from Record Store Day for their continued support in making these releases possible. More info at ResonanceRecords.org

A Views and Brews on Sonny Rollins posted to NPR and iTunes last weekend: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381443480/views-and-brews KUT Radio is an NPR affiliate in Austin Texas. The live taping featured Alex Coke (saxophone, flute), Derrick Becker (trumpet), Roscoe Beck (bass), Sean Giddings (piano), and Brannen Temple (drums). There is one track from the session on Soundcloud too:

Posting these today in honor of Sonny's 87th birthday: Crossing The Bridge: The Return Of Sonny Rollins Rollins '57: Sonny Rollins Takes The Lead Sonny Rollins: Live In London Sonnymoon: Thelonious Monk And Sonny Rollins Not too long ago I revisited the Prestige box in its entirety... incredible to think that that was only the beginning.

Posted for Sonny Rollins' 85th birthday, last week's Night Lights show delves into the story and music of his early-1960s return to the jazz scene, following a two-year sabbatical. The program page includes video of Rollins' quartet performing live in 1962: Crossing The Bridge: The Return Of Sonny Rollins

A roundup of four Night Lights programs devoted to the year of 1957 for Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, and Sonny Rollins: 1957 Four Portraits In Jazz

This week on Night Lights we honor Sonny Rollins' upcoming 75th birthday (Sept. 7, 2005) with "Sonnymoon," a program of Rollins' recordings with piano giant Thelonious Monk. Monk forged a musical friendship with Rollins when the tenor saxophonist was still in his teens, a friendship that eventually produced some of the 1950s' most compelling jazz records. We'll hear selections from Monk and Rollins' dates for Prestige, their meeting on Monk's Riverside LP Brilliant Corners, and a final studio encounter, recorded for Blue Note in 1957, in which Monk plays musical piano chairs with Horace Silver on the Monk tune "Misterioso." "Sonnymoon" airs Saturday, September 3 at 11:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in California, 12:05 NYC time) on WFIU; it also airs earlier that evening at 10 (8 p.m. California time, 11 p.m. NYC time) as Night Lights makes its debut on Evansville's NPR-member station WNIN. You can listen live on either station, or wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "The Man Before Miles: Freddie Webster."