Calling all Sonny fans...
Wild Bill Jones | Interstate 10 | 11/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"You need this one. I took off a star because the sound is not the greatest, although if you are interested in Sonny, it will do you just fine. For me, the reason to pick this one up, beyond the excellent material with Don Cherry, is the inclusion of three truly fantastic bonus tracks, one of which is a burning trio version of "I Want to Be Happy" from Newport '58 with Roy Haynes on drums. The other two were recorded in Berlin in 1965 and have Sonny Rollins in the company of Milt Jackson, Kenny Drew, Percy Heath, and Art Blakey. To a jazz fan, all that needs to be said is that the performances are equal to the expectations raised by the personnel. This is Sonny at his hardest swinging, and you'll want his exchanges with Milt Jackson on "Sonny's Blues" to go on forever."
A Night on Tour in Germany...
jive rhapsodist | NYC, NY United States | 01/11/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ten days after the Jan. 19, 1963 Paris Concert, we are lucky enough to have this recording from Stuttgart. Rollins is in good form, if somewhat less exuberant than in Paris. Don Cherry, on the other hand, has one of his greatest of all nights. His solo on Green Dolphin Street manages to be completely oblique and swinging in the pocket at the same time. He has the gift of being able to play in the zone between symmetry and asymmetry with total freedom - something Rollins was using this group as a Master Class for learning. You can hear the difference in the way Grimes and Higgins play for the two front liners. There's just much more playfulness in the way they play for Don. Maybe this was a cause of tension. After all, it's Rollins' group. Who knows? I wish there was some documentation of the group dynamics during this tour. Rollins never again tried to go this far in terms of stretching form, and I find that a pity.
Higgins is really on fire here, with all kinds of quasi Afro - Cuban subdividing. Grimes, in his solo, displays the kind of impenetrable interiority that has marked his work since his amazing comeback. It's interesting to already hear that here (not at all when he's accompaning, by the way). The quasi - free group playing is really not as stellar as in Paris.
Sonnymoon For Two here is an heroic 22 and a half minutes long. Don owns it again, although his sound is in danger of breaking up. Embouchure was never his strongest suit. Rollins seems disconcerted, not sure of where to go. He pulls out some of the great moments of the Live At The Village Vanguard solo, but too early, without building up to them. The other 3 try to draw him into uncharted areas, but it's not clear that he wants that. This solo, for all of its mastery, is unfocused compared to Rollins' best. The "fours" near the end between Rollins and Higgins are really exciting, but not very deep.
But let's be clear, the chance to study the ebb and flow of the band, night after night, is invaluable. The magic didn't really happen in Stuttgart. But what I'd give, in 2010, to hear group playing on this level. There are still many great players. But who's dedicated to taking swing as matière primaire, and then expanding from that? Because at every moment this music swings like crazy.
The bonus tracks...I Want To Be Happy, from 1958: Fabulous virtuosity, including a real workout for the pitch Bb (4 Octaves!) at around 1:25 and a Klezmer quote at 1:40. I can totally (again!) understand why he would want to work with Cherry and with freer music, because you can feel his desire to take that motive that he worries to death and break it free from its moorings, transpose it all over the place, and like that. But he doesn't, and I think he couldn't.
Then a different kind of virtuosity on Oleo and Sonny's Blues. An "All - Star" session w/ Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, Kenny Drew, Percy Heath. Wonderful playing. But absolutely unengaging for me. Festival Jazz."
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1