bluesbro Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 I bought this one without ever hearing any comments about it and loved it from the get go. So I go into All music guide to check the review, and they gave it one star. ONE STAR!!!??? Who here loves the album? Who cant stand it? Since I never heard any comments prior to this labum, I wonder if this is a 'controversial' album or just another AMG review way off base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neveronfriday Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Forget about (most) amg reviews. If I agreed with them, I'd have to throw half of my collection out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Which album is it? - Jostein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Based on the thread title, I'm guessing "The Solo Album" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 As has been discussed in other threads, AMG's ratings are based on a comparison of this artist's entire body of work with the recording under advisement. The reviewer simply felt that Rollins' solo effort didn't compare very favorably with the balance of his oeuvre. Up oeuvre and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesbro Posted April 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 (edited) Based on the thread title, I'm guessing "The Solo Album" Yeah, that's the one. Live solo sax in NYC. The AMG reviewer need an enema up his oeuvre IMHO. Edited April 18, 2006 by bluesbro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 It wasn't just the AMG reviewer who hated this one iirc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 It wasn't just the AMG reviewer who hated this one iirc. Penguin gives it a bad rating as well (** or **1/2). Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel A Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Penguin gives it a bad rating as well (** or **1/2). **½ in the fifth edition. "A curious failure", "aimless wool-gathering" and "the very opposite of Rollins at his best" are some of the statements from the review. Unfortunately, I have not heard or even been looking for this album (probably because of what the AMG and Penguin said). Several of his Milestone albums get even lower ratings; for example 'The Way I Feel' gets *½ ("plain feeble"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 (edited) Solo saxophone albums are a tricky proposition from the git-go; unlike the piano, you can't play chords (although Coltrane tried), so you have to sustain interest over 40 minutes by playing one note at a time. I've never heard this and was not hunting for it. However, I would LOVE to hear Jackie McLean's solo set from the S.F. Jazz festival a few years ago. It was a double bill with Lacy, also solo, but he's done that before. For Jackie, it may have been the only time. Was this recorded? Bertrand. Edited April 18, 2006 by bertrand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted April 18, 2006 Report Share Posted April 18, 2006 Well, I have this album (in storage) and think it is awful. I can't imagine listening to it a second time. I'll give it away some day to a Rollins' completist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Was that the one recorded at the Museum of Modern Art? If so, I very nearly was there. Me and a friend went to the concert(It was a freebie, so looooong line to get in), waited and waited, they started letting people in, and the person before me and my friend was the last one let in! We wound up heading downtown and caught Lester Bowie and Brass Fantasy(with Howard Johnson & Gravity, a multi tuba band opening for Lester), and they were GREAT! That concert was also free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdogus Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I don't know the album, and it may well be a terrible thing from hell. But I wonder if some of the disappointment doesn't have to do with expectations - on paper, I'd think that a solo Rollins album would/could be very interesting, simply because his recorded output shows Rollins to be such an interesting, endlessly inventive saxophonist. Just thinkin' aloud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 This one's been discussed before, but let me say again that afaic, it's essentially a recording of Sonny practicing. What you get or don't get out of it will probably depend on whether or not you'd like to hear that. Not for everybody (to put it mildly), but to dismiss it out of hand as worthless or some such is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 (edited) I passed over this one, and I'm a big Rollins fan. For me much of the attraction of Sonny is the way way he f*cks with the time, and that's more readily possible when there's a rhythm section to provide the pulse to f*ck with. I can't imagine anything Sonny does as ever being considered "worthless", however............ Edited April 19, 2006 by Free For All Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 What Jim said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 For me much of the attraction of Sonny is the way way he f*cks with the time, and that's more readily possible when there's a rhythm section to provide the pulse to f*ck with. Oooooooooohhhhh.... Could we consider the possibility that the pulse he fucks with (sorry, my * key's not working ) is entirely internal, and that the rhythm section is (mostly) just there to provide "context" for the listener? I think we could! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Would agree with Jim but it's not a concept that I'd buy into. The only solo albums that seem to work are pianos probably for the reasons stated earlier in the thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 For me much of the attraction of Sonny is the way way he f*cks with the time, and that's more readily possible when there's a rhythm section to provide the pulse to f*ck with. Oooooooooohhhhh.... Could we consider the possibility that the pulse he fucks with (sorry, my * key's not working ) is entirely internal, and that the rhythm section is (mostly) just there to provide "context" for the listener? I think we could! That's what I meant (and didn't say very well) - that the rhythm section provides the context for us listeners to appreciate his flexible sense of time. I didn't mean to say his time was dependent on the rhythm section, I'd never imply that. It's intrinsic, and I love the frame of reference that the rhythm section provides to further appreciate that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allblues Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Well, I have this album (in storage) and think it is awful. I can't imagine listening to it a second time. I'll give it away some day to a Rollins' completist. Agreed, my vinyl copy is also in storage for the same reason. I purchased it when it first came out then listened to it twice and put it away. Ironically, I looked forward to hearing it before it was released because I had always enjoyed his unaccompanied solos. I've been listening to all of his albums again, and based on the positive opinions here, may download it from EMusic and give another listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris olivarez Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 I had it and remember being disappointed by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyJazz Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Was that the one recorded at the Museum of Modern Art? If so, I very nearly was there. Me and a friend went to the concert(It was a freebie, so looooong line to get in), waited and waited, they started letting people in, and the person before me and my friend was the last one let in! We wound up heading downtown and caught Lester Bowie and Brass Fantasy(with Howard Johnson & Gravity, a multi tuba band opening for Lester), and they were GREAT! That concert was also free. Have just seen this thread and would like to add that my wife and I (newly married at the time, having just returned from our honeymoon), stood in line and did get to see this concert and yes, it was outdoors at the Museum of Modern Art. Fortunately, Charles McPherson was in line right with us and we got into a very good conversation, the details of which I cannot at all recall at this point in time. (Why have I never kept a diary?!!). Anyway, I do recall the audience as being quite appreciative while I have to admit I did yearn for a more structured program - something I know my wife definitely would have welcomed - that would have inevitably occurred had there been a rhythm section, or even just a drummer, present. Of course, the completist in me did cop the LP of the event, which I admit I never listen to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Of course, the completist in me did cop the LP of the event, which I admit I never listen to. Well, yeah. It's essentially a record of a practice session. Invaluable documentation, not without significant "educational value" for those so inclined, but not something you would (or should) want to return to for repeated "listening pleasure", if you know what I mean. I think the negative reviews are more based on the premise that this was gioing to be (or should have been) a solo concert of Sonny playing tunes. That would have been great, but that's not what happened. Whether or not it should have is an altogether different argument that whether or not what it actually ended up being is lacking in value/merit/whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejp626 Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 My feeling is that the average person, and probably the average jazz listener who is not an acolyte of Sonny Rollins, is going to be very disappointed by this album. That doesn't mean it has no merit or doesn't fill a particular niche. I think one or one and a half stars for this CD is appropriate given the target market of AMG. Curiously, AMG has in the past given quite high ratings to solo ventures by Steve Lacey (which I didn't enjoy either), so I don't think there is a particular bias against solo recordings system-wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hawkins Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 If you're in the mood, I think this is fantastic. As others have said, it's a glorified session of practice/thinking aloud, but fascinating in a particular way as a result. Although it's not tunes, he does play very harmonically, so there are episodes where you do feel he's worrying a familiar sequence over in his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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