Complete Sonny Rollins In Japan - Victor (Japan), 1973

[JSngry]

Now this, this Ladies & Gentlemen, is what so many of the American studio albums of the time hinted at and should have been.

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=bxg...p;ref=index.php

One of Sonny Rollins' best albums of the 70s -- a Japanese-only live date that features some excellent work on both tenor and soprano sax! The group has a really great feel -- thanks to congas by Mtume and guitar from Yoshiaki Masuo -- both of whom bring some new elements to Rollins' groove, alongside electric bass from Bob Cranshaw and drums from David Lee. Sonny's solos are all well-blown and quite extended -- put together with a strong sense of fire, and a bit less of the hoke that could sometimes show up on other US domestic albums. Tracks are all long, and titles include "Powaii", "Moritat", "Alfie", and "St Thomas". This 2CD version features a full bonus disc of previously unreleased work from the concert -- 3 titles that include "Hold Em Joe", "Sais", and "God Bless The Child".

This is some baaaaad tenor playing, muscular, virile, and no discomfort or doubts present. Carpe diem, y'all.

[Late]

Damn — gonna have to have this one. Anyone know the Japanese prefix for this set? I'll be e-mailing Hiroshi after my self-imposed buying ban is over ...

[kh1958]

That is a really good disc, my favorite post-70s comeback Rollins. Now this presents the dilemma of whether to pay $32 for one CD of additional material.

[JSngry]

Damn — gonna have to have this one. Anyone know the Japanese prefix for this set? I'll be e-mailing Hiroshi after my self-imposed buying ban is over ...

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VICJ-61558

VICJ-61558

[marcello]

I've got this on vinyl.

Great music. I'd buy it on cd for the extra tunes.

[Rooster_Ties]

30-second clips of all seven tracks to be found here: http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2694124 (click on the Japanese title to the right of each little 'play audio' gif ()

Same thing appears to be here, but it wouldn't play the last three clips: http://www.neowing.co.jp/track_for_cdj.html?KEY=VICJ-61558

I'll admit, I'm more than a little tempted by this one, BUT...

I really can't stand "St. Thomas" (sorry, a really damn dorky tune to my ears, if ever I've heard one), and the last track on the bonus disc sounds like another 'calypso' thing too (similarly dorky, IMHO). And the clip of track four (of disc #1) sounds like "Mack The Knife" (though that's not the title given, so did this clip just happen to fall on a quote??). And (bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch - I know), I'm only just curious (at best) about Sonny's soprano playing (to put it very kindly).

So, all in all, this seems more than a tad expensive, given my particular (and personal, to be sure) probable negative reaction to 3 or 4 of the 7 tracks.

If you have any sense at all (as I most probably don't), your mileage will very likely vary.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Rooster_Ties

[JSngry]

And in other news, Clinton wins Pennsylvania.

[Al in NYC]

And the clip of track four (of disc #1) sounds like "Mack The Knife" (though that's not the title given, so did this clip just happen to fall on a quote??).

Yeah, Sonny also plays that same dorky Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht tune on this album:

...probably one to avoid too...

[Claude]

What, no bagpipes?

[Stefan Wood]

Ahh, I wish I hadn't seen this. Ka--ching!!!!

[bluesbro]

Damn, I just had to order this one too.

[bluesbro]

* Paris 1965/Copenhagen 1968

* Tokyo 1963

* Complete Japan 1973

This is looking like a good month

[mikeweil]

CDJapan offers this for US $ 27.46 or € 17.19 plus shipping.

[B. Clugston]

And the clip of track four (of disc #1) sounds like "Mack The Knife" (though that's not the title given, so did this clip just happen to fall on a quote??).

Sprechen zie Deutsch?

"Moritat" is "Mack the Knife."

[RDK]

The first disc (which, oddly, was one of my first experiences with Rollins) remains a favorite.

[bluesbro]

I just got this today from the Bastards!!!

Fast shipping!! This house will be groovin this weekend!

[user0815]

And the clip of track four (of disc #1) sounds like "Mack The Knife" (though that's not the title given, so did this clip just happen to fall on a quote??).

Sprechen zie Deutsch?

"Moritat" is "Mack the Knife."

yes, that's correct.

"moritat" is an older german word for "murder ballad".

the original german title of the tune is "die moritat von mackie messer" which could be translated as "the murder ballad of mack the knife" ... ("messer" is the german word for "knife").

[mjzee]

I have very fond memories of this exact band, as I put them on at my college in Spring 1975. I remember hanging out with Bob Cranshaw before the show.

[JSngry]

The bonus material is nice but...non-essential.

It does give the benefit, however, of more (and more detailed) documentation of the David Lee/Mtume hookup, and that, Dear Friends, is cause for celebration indeed!

Sure wish that The Cutting Edge had been recorded worth a damn...

[JSngry]

Whatever happened to David Lee?

DAMN I dig the way this cat plays/played!

[JSngry]

http://orgyinrhythm.blogspot.com/2008/03/c...two-is-one.html

I knew and played with the late New Orleans drummer 'David Lee', he had many problems in his later years, but music and drumming kept him going until the end.

David Lee, as was the late James Black were both important New Orleans drummers.

Oh well...

[JSngry]

shalom, what is shooting man juices on yo belly? i mean, gee whiz people, let's see this CD do something in a big spot before we start "grooving" to it.

Dude, I bought the LP waaaay back in the day, 1976-77, somewhere in there. Might even be the first Japanese import music I'd ever bought. The opener I kinda snooze on, but everything after that is pure gold in my book.

As for the bonus cuts, as noted above, nice but not essential.

And I really do dig the David Lee/Mtume hookup, and David Lee w/Rollins, period. Big bunches. I'm bummed that he's dead, because I held out hopes of someday findiing him on a "local" level & jamming for a little bit. So much for that one.

Anybody else besides me notice how much Sonny's band from this little window often sounds like what Grossman/Stone Alliance would be getting into just a few days later?

[JSngry]

One man's plodding is another's..."hard" beat. Fair enough.

I would, however, accept "unfocused" for the opener of the LP, what is it, "Kawai" or something like that.

Re> the Grossman/SA comparison, I was referring mostly to the stylistic similarity in the material, although SA brings a more overt..."Elvin" flavor to their pocket, whereas Sonny is more...straight four, walking down the street.

The comparison does crack me up though, because the longest I though that it wasn't until the whole Way Out East thing that SG showed his Rollins tip. In retrospect though, it was there before that. There are similarities between Shapes To Come & Cutting Edge, although I'd not put too fine a point on them.

[marcello]

I agree with the Stone Alliance = hyper comment.

I think Cranshaw sounds great on the Japan set and Sonny is on fire!

David Lee had his own thing, that's for sure.

He rides nice over the whole set.

Edited May 2, 2008 by marcello

[marcello]

I think the difference is that SA is a GROUP and Sonny is a LEADER.

Still love the record.