SONNY ROLLINS - Road Shows Volume 3
Doxy Records
Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone; Clifton Anderson: trombone; Stephen Scott: piano (1); Bobby Broom: guitar (2, 4, 5); Peter Bernstein: guitar (3); Bob Cranshaw: bass; Kobie Watkins: drums (3. 4, 6); Perry Wilson: drums (1); Steve Jordan: drums (5); Victor Lewis: drums (2); Kimati Dinizulu: percussion (1, 2, 5); Sammy Figueroa: percussion (3, 4, 6)
The third volume of Rollins live recordings is testament to the belief that he creates better on stage than he does in the studio. There are numerous records to prove it. He has been playing since the nineteen forties and his fame has increased steadily since that that time. Some of the bootlegs, Ronnie Scott's in the sixties, are amazing even with the execrable sound. He is now a jazz institution, a kind of living museum. His dedication to improvisation has been total. Never been a part of the avant garde, the arrival of Coltrane and Coleman in the sixties caused Rollins to re-evaluate his approach but he did not really change just continued on his course of muscular, melodic, hard edged playing.
This album, as its title implies, is made up of concert recordings, between 2001 and 2012 in Saitama, Japan; Toulouse, Marseille, and Marciac, France; and St. Louis. The material ranges from a war horse such as "Don't Stop the Carnival;" to the kind of standard that no one else ever touches like the Noel Coward's "Someday I'll Find You".
The musicians like bassist Bob Cranshaw are the ones that have accompanied Rollins over the years, rarely spectacular, always dependable.
If you know your Rollins there is nothing here that will surprise you except that a man in his early eighties can create such dynamic music. It is all here especially the long unaccompanied sections like "Solo Sunny". For eight minutes Rollins weaves humorously, innumerable quotes from standards into his solo. That one solo is the essence of Rollins, brilliant, stretching back across the years, engaging with the audience.
Then there is the tone. The Rollins tone, made up of influences from people like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, is sometimes harsh, sometimes tender as it explores all the highest and lowest notes on the horn. That, allied to a musical mind, can range from the noble to the jokey. If you came across music like this played by an unknown, you would marvel at it. That it is played by one of the masters of jazz still challenging himself is wondrous. This is an album, easily the best of the Road Shows that most will enjoy, relish and return to.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Doxy Records
Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone; Clifton Anderson: trombone; Stephen Scott: piano (1); Bobby Broom: guitar (2, 4, 5); Peter Bernstein: guitar (3); Bob Cranshaw: bass; Kobie Watkins: drums (3. 4, 6); Perry Wilson: drums (1); Steve Jordan: drums (5); Victor Lewis: drums (2); Kimati Dinizulu: percussion (1, 2, 5); Sammy Figueroa: percussion (3, 4, 6)
The third volume of Rollins live recordings is testament to the belief that he creates better on stage than he does in the studio. There are numerous records to prove it. He has been playing since the nineteen forties and his fame has increased steadily since that that time. Some of the bootlegs, Ronnie Scott's in the sixties, are amazing even with the execrable sound. He is now a jazz institution, a kind of living museum. His dedication to improvisation has been total. Never been a part of the avant garde, the arrival of Coltrane and Coleman in the sixties caused Rollins to re-evaluate his approach but he did not really change just continued on his course of muscular, melodic, hard edged playing.
This album, as its title implies, is made up of concert recordings, between 2001 and 2012 in Saitama, Japan; Toulouse, Marseille, and Marciac, France; and St. Louis. The material ranges from a war horse such as "Don't Stop the Carnival;" to the kind of standard that no one else ever touches like the Noel Coward's "Someday I'll Find You".
The musicians like bassist Bob Cranshaw are the ones that have accompanied Rollins over the years, rarely spectacular, always dependable.
If you know your Rollins there is nothing here that will surprise you except that a man in his early eighties can create such dynamic music. It is all here especially the long unaccompanied sections like "Solo Sunny". For eight minutes Rollins weaves humorously, innumerable quotes from standards into his solo. That one solo is the essence of Rollins, brilliant, stretching back across the years, engaging with the audience.
Then there is the tone. The Rollins tone, made up of influences from people like Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, is sometimes harsh, sometimes tender as it explores all the highest and lowest notes on the horn. That, allied to a musical mind, can range from the noble to the jokey. If you came across music like this played by an unknown, you would marvel at it. That it is played by one of the masters of jazz still challenging himself is wondrous. This is an album, easily the best of the Road Shows that most will enjoy, relish and return to.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny