Sonny Rollins

[Alexander Hawkins]

Sonny Rollins is a genius. I'm more and more convinced the more I listen, and the more I listen, the more of his stuff I want to own!

For me, he stands alongside Charlie Parker as possibly the greatest melodic improviser the music's produced. He's got one of the most astoundingly inventive minds around.

I can't pin-down a single favourite period of mine; I love all of what I know, if sometimes in different ways.

BUT, having lavished all this praise, I don't really own much after the Impulse! recordings. The way I love listening to the guy play, I suspect I'll probably want to pick up all of it, eventually. However, given my present cash-strapped state, could anyone recommend some good first purchases for the later-period stuff?

Beyond that, though, just opening it up for some good old-fashioned hero worship.

[Alexander Hawkins]

I'd also be curious just to hear if anyone has favourite albums of his full-stop.

I for one have Saxophone Colossus on pretty much non-stop at the moment!

[connoisseur series500]

I love Sonny too.

I have a special attachment towards the Monk cds with Sonny sharing the bill, such as:

Monk, "Brilliant Corners"

Monk, "Thelonius Monk Quintet (with Sonny Rollins)"

Monk, "Thelonius Monk/Sonny Rollins" (Prestige)

Rollins, "Volume 2" RVG edition

Listen to Rollins smoke "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" on "Tenor Madness."

A good collection of his Milestone stuff is "Silver City."

I gotta go back and listen to Sonny again. It's been a long time...

[pryan]

I'll second the SILVER CITY 2-cd set rec, for a good representation of his Milestone output (or at least most of the "cream of the crop" of the Milestone years). There's a really good mix of tunes on it as well (ballads, up-tempo, some disco-like material, etc.); if you're looking for some intense stuff, you'll find it with "G-Man"; if you're looking for a introspective, ethreal ballad, you'll find it with "Cabin in the Sky". Those are just a couple of examples. This one seems to fit your bill perfectly, Red.

[catesta]

I listened to Sonny Rollins Plus Four over the weekend, and have to say it is one of my all time favorites.

I've always enjoyed Saxophone Colossus, and Tenor Madness.

[Joe G]

I was listening to The Sound of Sonny over the weekend. The interplay between Sonny and Roy Haynes had me laughing out loud a couple of times. Another fantastic album.

[Alexander Hawkins]

'The Bridge' as well is another real favourite of mine, come to think of it.

I love the Sound of Sonny, too! I know what you mean about that stuff going on with Roy Haynes.

[Chuck Nessa]

Worktime.

[sidewinder]

The 'Complete Prestige' set is, for me, documents the cream of Sonny's output. There's a level of inventiveness, spontaneity and general overall brilliance in these sessions that (for me at least) he's never surpassed. This set is a dream from start to finish and the music, much of it 50 years old now, still sounds amazingly fresh. Landmark material ...

I still particularly treasure the old twofer set 'Sonny Rollins' put out by Prestige around 1973. That double album is just incredible

I like some of the Impulse sessions also - 'Alfie' and 'On Impulse' in particular. 'East Broadway Rundown' has never grabbed me as much - maybe though I should give the disk a spin and reconsider ..

Of the more recent material, 'Nucleus' is probably my favourite. I've been less than enthused by some of the Milestones but was gratified when I saw Sonny live to see that he could still pull out of the hat the occasional jaw-dropping ballad cadenza amongst the carribean riff material that he favours these days..

:rsmile:

Edited June 9, 2003 by sidewinder

[tonym]

I'd just like to say how much i love his stuff on Colossus and Tenor Madness. His solos on 'When Your Lover Has Gone' and 'My Reverie' are fantastic. He's got that sort of relaxed- urgency that goes down so well when playing with those 'in the pocket' rhythm sections. And his sound? Well, he can produce everything there can't he? All of it unmistakeably Sonny.

Fact: relating to another thread over at AAJ. I wanted to call our first son Sonny. My wife etc., thought i was insane.

[Alexander Hawkins]

All of it unmistakeably Sonny.

Tony, this is the thing, I reckon!

He could play anything, any style, and it still always sounded like him. That guy on that deconstruction of 'Oleo' with Don Cherry is so obviously the same guy who starts out of the blocks on 'Strode Rode', is so obviously the same guy as on 'Sonny Side Up', is so obviously the same guy as on 'East Broadway Rundown', etc. However much the context and feel may differ, it's always absolutely instantly recognisable. A genuine personality on his horn.

[JSngry]

SILVER CITY is the thing to get to get your feet wet in the Milestone output. Although they left a few things out that I'd have included (and vice-versa), it's a darn fine rebuttal to the argument that the Milestone years have produced nothing but epemera. It only SEEMS that way because far too often there's only been one cut per album, if that, that is worthy of the Rollins legacy. Why that is has been a matter of much discussion, and frankly, by now I've givien up trying to figure it out myself. I just buy the albums and see how they turn out.

Often enough, they get better with repeated listenings, but Late's suggestion to explore the "grey market" (ie - commercially released bootlegs) issues is a good one. The most recent that I know of is a thing on Jazz Door called JUST ONCE that is more than worth getting over any moral compunctions you might have about purchasing such material. Steal it if it'll make you feel any better.

For sure though, NEXT ALBUM is pretty much a universally acclaimed "classic" and has been since the proverbial DAY ONE (although in true Rollins/Milestone fashion, you have to sit through a seemingly interminable plodding funk tune before you get to the rest of the album), and I myself find that repeated listenings to DON'T ASK, G-MAN, DANCING IN THE DARK, and FALLING IN LOVE WITH JAZZ have been beneficial. Of his most recent albums, +3 gets a lot of raves that I'm not sure I'd unanimously agree with, but it's home of the previously (and justly) lauded "Cabin In The Sky" and the rest of it is really, REALLY good, the only drag being a 12 minute version of "I've Never Been In Love Before" that features everybody at length EXCEPT Sonny, in pretty botring solos at that, and what kind of a way is THAT to end an otherwise top-shelf album? But I'll go ahead and say that this is one to have on its own too, that little caveat notwithstanding. I've also really, REALLY been digging GLOBAL WARMING & THIS IS WHAT I DO lately. These are the albums where Sonny's age begins to show in his tone, and confronting the reality that someday we won't have Sonny rollins to kick around anymore is a sobering proposition, and no doubt for Sonny as well, as he improvises on the albums with an imaginative sobriety that is unlike anything else he's ever recorded even if the usual maddening production issues occur yet again.

At least that's how I hear it - there are those who will tell you that Sonny Rollins has stagnated as a player and has cranked out variation after variation of the same tired record for 30 years now. I'll agree that the records have often been frustrating (to say the least), but to imply that there has been no growth or evolution in the man's playing is something that I just do not hear. I can hear at least 4 distinct stages through the Milestone years, and this most recent phase might be one of his most significant - Sonny's into his 70s now, and how many players of his generation AND his caliber have remained fully functional and probing this far into the game? It's an incredibly PHYSICAL manner in which Rollins plays, and a man his age HAS to pace himself. If he was to play all out all night, he'd likely be dead by the end of a tour (I'm not exaggerating either. Trust me, the physical energy required to produce a tone like Sonny's of the last 15-20 years is not something to underestimate at all. A bigger, FULLER sound has probably never been produced on the instrument, and that's all about physical effort. Factor in the mental/spiritual/etc things involved in anybody's improvisation, especially Sonny's, and the charges of him "picking his spots" can be seen as much as a of survival as anything else, and Sonny has ALWAYS been about the survival. Probably a bad career move, though...)

Anyway, the playing on both GW and TIWID is verry craggy, full of odd trhythmic twists and note choices that nobody but Rollins could/would make, all of it delivered with a dry wariness that is not dissimilar to the "there-but-not-there" quality of ON IMPULSE, but with the raised stakes of it coming from a man who sounds like he's confronting his mortality on more than just a conceptual basis, if you know what I mean. How else could you explain something like "Did You See Harold Vick"? This is a Rollins improvisation that is as "out" as ANYTHING he's recorded, but the deadly serious mischief of earlier years is all gone - this is an OLD MAN playing, telling us a story, and like a lot of old folks, he sounds like he doesn't really give a rat's ass any more WHAT you think of him, if you like him or not, so he's just going to tell it like he sees it, without any more facades of "niceness". It's an improvisation that is simultaneously grotesque, fascinatingly intricate, and stark harsh beauty in the way that so many thngs are when they've been stripped of the artrifice that social consensus deems appropriate.

It's another chapter in the ongoing saga of Sonny Rollins, and possibly the beginning of the final chapter. If Rollins' is a saga of immense frustration for the fan, there is also much to be learned about how to stay alive and sane in a world that today, perhaps more than ever, seems set up to destroy the spirit that has always been at the core of Sonny Rollins' music. One of those lessons might indeed be that you play your cards close to your vest and just let out what you REALLY know in bits and pieces because although most of us claim to want the "truth", can we really, REALLY handle it on a constant, sustained basis? Could Sonny Rollins have had a viable career by playing everything he knows everytime out and on every record? That kind shit went out of style a long time ago, in case you haven't noticed! Besides, look at the physical implications - Trane did it, and look at what it did to him...

Is Sonny Rollins somehow a coward or a copout because he has consistently chosen to pull back from the edge when the edge was one of no return? Because he has chosen for the last several decades to wear the mantle of "The World's Greatest Living Improvisor" in an ofen mocking manner, knowing full well that if he were to play everything he knew all the time that he'd clear the house in under an hour (I'm serious about this!)? Because he has chosen a life for himself rather than for his "fans"? I guess the answer depends on if you're Sonny Rollins or not.

I'm not, so all I can say with certainty is that I'll be following the story as long as it lasts. I long ago gave up hope of there being another unfettered masterpiece from Rollins - those days are gone, and in more ways than one. MANY more ways, and not all of them Rollins' doing. But I still hear enough in enough of the records (and the live stuff I can get a hold of) to know that Sonny Rollins KNOWS in a way that very, VERY few artists do, and that if the only way to get a taste of what he knows is to get it in drips and drabs, then I'll take it. It's not his job to answer all the questions for everybody who wants to know - just giving some well-placed pointers, some, this-is-what-I-do, science-dropping "let those who have ears, hear", is enough. ESPECIALLY these global warming times slimes days. Some questions you got to answer yourself.

Did you see Harold Vick?

[pryan]

Some great thoughts there, Jim. I've kinda been wondering about his most recent albums; I'll have to check them out sooner or later.

Sidewinder, is that twofer the one w/ THE SOUND OF SONNY and THE FREEDOM SUITE? I have that and it is indeed excellent. That's on deck for later tonite, thanks for reminding me.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Thanks for taking the time to put that down, Jim - penetrating and insightful as ever. The physical frailty point is well taken. On the one occasion on which I was lucky enough to see Sonny live (a year-and-a-half ago), that contrast between the increasingly slight man, and his massive tone and physically involved presence was especially stark.

[BruceH]

I love Sonny Rollins too----one track by Monk w/Rollins that really stands out for me is "Work" on one of the Prestige albums.

Also Way Out West is an album that I've worn smooth through overplaying, but I'm still not tired of it.

[brownie]

The Sonny Rollins at Village Vanguard album is the one that turned me into

a worshipper. The trio of Rollins, Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones produced

amazing music those VV nights.

My other favorites have been mentioned but I also have a fondness for the

Sonny Rollins Brass album on Metrojazz. Not really his best but I got my Rollins

education with that one.

[marcoliv]

One of my fav's from Rollins is "...And the Contemporary Leaders"

i got recently Vol.2 RVG'ed and his stuff with Monk is like heaven

peace

Marcus Oliveira

[Alexander Hawkins]

Late,

Thanks for the link to that Giddens conversation - really interesting read!

I'm off to buy some more Rollins.

[David Ayers]

Well, now is the time to buy that Prestige set (albeit maybe without booklet or box) from Zweitausendeins.

Rollins is one of the very few real improvisers in jazz, in that he creates very structurally, something that very few supposedly free musicians can do. He is one of the few who can change key by making a surprise transition. This handling of keys is the essence of the harmonic system, but most jazz substitutes predictability for surprise, and most free music (er, best not go there, ed.)

[chris olivarez]

It's amazing that he has lasted this long but he is more than just a survivor(though there is something to be said about that especially in Sonny's case). Sonny Rollins has been, is now and forever will be one of the true giants and he takes a back seat to no one.

[connoisseur series500]

Inspired by this thread, I decided to listen to Silver City once again. Wow, I like almost every track! I know it is uneven as much of Sonny's later work is, the guy is still fantastic at half-best!

I'm now thinking about buying every individual Milestone once I get some money.

Truly one of the greats.

[EKE BBB]

Great Sonny!

I like his sharp or even harsh tone, and his melodic capacity!

My first choices would be:

-Tenor madness / Saxophone Colossus (Prestige)

-The Freelance years box-set (Riverside and Contemporary)

-A night at the Village Vanguard / Newk´s time (Blue note)

-SR meets Hawk! / The bridge (RCA)

-Alfie (Impulse)

and his work with Monk and Clifford Brown, too...

[Alexander Hawkins]

I love the stuff with Clifford too! That 'Sonny Rollins + 4' date is wonderful.

[Roundsound]

No one has mentioned Sonny making the sax trio cool. Was any player working without piano before him. A more obscure live session is on the Dragon Europe CD of 1959 or so.

It appears that Sonny's tone is much different now then in the 50' to 65.

Sonny's concerts invaribly mix 2 long calypso songs and songs with repititive backgrounds in which he improvises in front. The concerts that I've seen include a long solo break, which is usually incredible.

Why does Cranshaw play electric bass?

[danasgoodstuff]

Roundsound,

I think Cranshaw plays electric bass for the same reason Sonny uses a pickup on his sax: to make sure they are heard in one shot concerts in venues that they, in many cases, have never played before. Many places don't know how to mike an acoustic bass properly and the're hard to travel with too. Sonny's fondness for strolling while playing is another reason for his using a pickup. They could, of course, record one way and tour another, but I think doing both the same makes more sense.