His art never truly progressed: he assimilated the innovations of his age only The avantgarde (and whose compositions were simply designed to maximize Rollins, whose solos harked back to the classics as well as extending towards Sonny Please (2006) was one of the few studio albums that managed toįew players summarized and embodied the history of jazz saxophone as well as However, Rollins remained a sensational performer. Horn Culture (july 1973), partially overdubbed, Next Album (july 1972), with The Everywhere Calypso and a long When he returned in 1972, his creativity declined slowly: The Complete 1963 Copenhagen Concert (january 1963) featured the quartet of Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry, Henry Grimes (bass) and Billy Higgins (drums), mainly playing an extended version of Thelonious Monk's 52nd Street Theme. Rollins repeated that exploit with the dissonant 20-minute East Broadway Run Down (may 1966), a bold thematic improvisation on the riff of Lionel Hampton's Hey Baba Rebop featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Jungoso and Bluesongo, that resumed his favorite format and wedīut the real comeback was Our Man in Jazz (july 1962): a quartet withīass, drums and Don Cherry on cornett performing colossal versions of Its follow-up, What's New (may 1962), featured two trio numbers, In a quartet featuring Jim Hall: The Bridge (february 1962). Rollins retired from music in 1959, but promptly returned two years later Of jazz music to successfully wed politics and music.Īfter a mostly disappointing experiment with a large ensemble, documented onīig Brass (july 1958) and Brass and Trio (same sessions), The 20-minute title-track of Freedom Suite (march 1958), the first piece Rollins was now regarded as the greatest tenor of his generation, a statusĬonfirmed by It Could Happen to You, his first unaccompanied solo, off The Sound of Sonny (june 1957),Īnd even by mediocre albums such as Newk's Time (september 1957),īut especially by the second album for piano-less tenor-saxophone trio,Ī Night At The Village Vanguard (november 1957), featuring drummer Elvin Jones.Įvery aspect of Rollins' art culminated in the Rollins found the ideal vehicle for his thematic improvisation in the sax-bass-drums trio of Way Out West (march 1957), although the material was odd at best (his own Way Out West excepted) to the point of sounding like a parody of the originals. Rollins' quintet (Silver, trombonist James "J.J." Johnson, Monk's Misterioso, but elsewhere (e.g., Why Don't I) Volume Two (april 1957) was emblematic of the transition from bebop to hard bop: both Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver play piano on Volume One (december 1956), for a quintet with Donald Byrd on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano and Max Roach on drums, delivered powerful performances of Tour De Force (december 1956), for a quartet with Drew and Roach, Unlike the traditional kind of melodic improvisation (that was basically anĮmbellishment of the original melody), Rollings' "improvisation" wasĪ process of recursive variation and therefore of melodic reinvention. This was improvisation based on melody, not onĬhords, as bebop was, or on modes, as Davis' modal jazz was. The calypso St Thomas and Blue Seven, the manifesto of Saxophone Colossus (june 1956), the real launching pad for Rollins'Ĭareer as a leader, containing two of his most celebrated composition: Offered a twelve-minute duel between Rollins and tenor saxophonist JohnĪ quartet with Tommy Flanagan on piano and Max Roach on drums recorded (Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums), Tenor Madness (may 1956), that borrowed Davis' quintet Valse Hot (in 3/4 meter) and Pent-Up House, elevated the The Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet (a piano quintet with Clifford Brown on The quintet on Plus Four (march 1956) was nothing but Worktime (december 1955) by the Sonny Rollins Quartet of Ray Bryant (piano), Max Roach (drums) and George Morrow (bass) contains mostly covers. His Quintet (saxophone, trumpet, piano, Heath, Blakey) recorded Moving Out (august 1954), that contained four Rollins compositions ( Movin' Out, Swinging for Bumsy, Silk 'n' Satin, Solid). Mambo Bounce (recorded in december 1951 by a quartet with Kenny Drew on piano, Percy Heath on bass, Art Blakey on drums). Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet (october 1953), that contained his Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (1930) started out as a leader with the confusingly titled The Complete 1963 Copenhagen Concert (1963), 5.5/10Īn alumnus of Bud Powell (1949), Miles Davis (1951) and Max Roach (1955-57), having contributedĪiregin, Doxy and Oleo to Davis' Bag's Groove (june 1954), Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet (1953), 5.5/10Ī Night at the Village Vanguard (1957), 5.5/10 ( Copyright © 2006 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use) Sonny Rollins: biography, discography, review, ratings
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