SONNY ROLLINS - Rollins in Holland
Resonance Records
Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Ruud Jacobs, bass; Han Bennink, drums
Disc One -
Tracks 1-4 are studio recordings from May 5, 1967 (Hilversum)
Tracks 5 & 6 recorded live at the Go-Go Club on May 5, 1967 (Loosdrecht)
Track 7 recorded live at Academie Voor Beeldende Kunst, Arnhem on May 3, 1967
Disc Two -
4 tracks recorded live at Academie Voor Beeldende Kunst, Arnhem on May 3, 1967.
Sonny Rollins in the sixties played with a freedom that he did not equal in subsequent years. It started with the sessions with Don Cherry. It was probably the influence of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. It was as though Rollins began to question his own playing and its relevance. He spent time in the sixties at an ashram in India developing his philosophy and spirituality. Significantly, the best playing was in clubs rather than the studio. He did not make any commercial, studio based recordings for six years. The ‘informal’ albums that were recorded at Ronnie Scotts in 1965 had the spontaneity, the wildness, the daring to take chances, with Rollins the adventurer, jettisoning tunes, changing tack, real improvisation freed from restrictions.
It was never the same later on when Rollins played concert halls and was hidebound by the licensing restrictions of the halls and venues. His playing then was a pale facsimile of the work of the sixties.
In 1967 Rollins played in London and around the UK. After a date in Nottingham he went over to Holland for a short tour. It is the music from that tour that we have in the album. Bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink were chosen to accompany him. There was some concern about the compatibility of Bennink and Jacob who came from different traditions: Bennink was from the European avant-garde and Jacob was more mainstream. Bennink describes the first time they played together in the club in Arnhem , no rehearsal at all. They just got up and played even though they had just met the saxophonist for the first time.
Rollins recently described this music as ‘a take no prisoners type of music’. ‘Since the nature of our group concept was one of solely improvisation, we were very much aided by the crowd—the audience. And I think in general that’s true. Very often in those days the audience played a big part in my improvisation, in that even though I wanted to eliminate them from my consciousness, the fact that they were there and were lending some kind of enthusiastic background was essential.’
‘Rollins in Holland’ captures some of the great sixties spirit. The first four tracks were recorded at the Vara Studio in Hilversum on May 5th: “The Blue Room,” “Four,” “Love Walked In,” and “Tune Up.” The May 3rd show in Arnhem has more freedom. Two of the five songs — ‘Three Little Words’ and ‘Four’ — are more than twenty-two minutes long, a third, ‘Love Walked In,’ is nearly twenty minutes; the jam on ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ into ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ is just under fifteen; and the combination of ‘TheyCan’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘Sonnymoon For Two’ is nine and a half minutes.
Resonance Records are now experts in locating and remastering jazz sessions that were either lost or mislaid.. Not only that, they accompany the music with backup documentation that deepens the appreciation of the music. They excel themselves here: we have interviews with Han Bennink, Ruud Jacob and Sonny Rollins. The future biographer of Rollins, Aidan Levy, contributes a 9,000-word essay that covers the live and studio sessions in detail. The recording quality varies but nothing detracts from the music.
This is a young man’s music. The energy courses through all the tracks with Rollins at his most uninhibited. It is supporting the often heard assertion that you have not heard Rollins unless you have caught him in a club. Well, you can hear him here.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Resonance Records
Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Ruud Jacobs, bass; Han Bennink, drums
Disc One -
Tracks 1-4 are studio recordings from May 5, 1967 (Hilversum)
Tracks 5 & 6 recorded live at the Go-Go Club on May 5, 1967 (Loosdrecht)
Track 7 recorded live at Academie Voor Beeldende Kunst, Arnhem on May 3, 1967
Disc Two -
4 tracks recorded live at Academie Voor Beeldende Kunst, Arnhem on May 3, 1967.
Sonny Rollins in the sixties played with a freedom that he did not equal in subsequent years. It started with the sessions with Don Cherry. It was probably the influence of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. It was as though Rollins began to question his own playing and its relevance. He spent time in the sixties at an ashram in India developing his philosophy and spirituality. Significantly, the best playing was in clubs rather than the studio. He did not make any commercial, studio based recordings for six years. The ‘informal’ albums that were recorded at Ronnie Scotts in 1965 had the spontaneity, the wildness, the daring to take chances, with Rollins the adventurer, jettisoning tunes, changing tack, real improvisation freed from restrictions.
It was never the same later on when Rollins played concert halls and was hidebound by the licensing restrictions of the halls and venues. His playing then was a pale facsimile of the work of the sixties.
In 1967 Rollins played in London and around the UK. After a date in Nottingham he went over to Holland for a short tour. It is the music from that tour that we have in the album. Bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink were chosen to accompany him. There was some concern about the compatibility of Bennink and Jacob who came from different traditions: Bennink was from the European avant-garde and Jacob was more mainstream. Bennink describes the first time they played together in the club in Arnhem , no rehearsal at all. They just got up and played even though they had just met the saxophonist for the first time.
Rollins recently described this music as ‘a take no prisoners type of music’. ‘Since the nature of our group concept was one of solely improvisation, we were very much aided by the crowd—the audience. And I think in general that’s true. Very often in those days the audience played a big part in my improvisation, in that even though I wanted to eliminate them from my consciousness, the fact that they were there and were lending some kind of enthusiastic background was essential.’
‘Rollins in Holland’ captures some of the great sixties spirit. The first four tracks were recorded at the Vara Studio in Hilversum on May 5th: “The Blue Room,” “Four,” “Love Walked In,” and “Tune Up.” The May 3rd show in Arnhem has more freedom. Two of the five songs — ‘Three Little Words’ and ‘Four’ — are more than twenty-two minutes long, a third, ‘Love Walked In,’ is nearly twenty minutes; the jam on ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ into ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ is just under fifteen; and the combination of ‘TheyCan’t Take That Away From Me’ and ‘Sonnymoon For Two’ is nine and a half minutes.
Resonance Records are now experts in locating and remastering jazz sessions that were either lost or mislaid.. Not only that, they accompany the music with backup documentation that deepens the appreciation of the music. They excel themselves here: we have interviews with Han Bennink, Ruud Jacob and Sonny Rollins. The future biographer of Rollins, Aidan Levy, contributes a 9,000-word essay that covers the live and studio sessions in detail. The recording quality varies but nothing detracts from the music.
This is a young man’s music. The energy courses through all the tracks with Rollins at his most uninhibited. It is supporting the often heard assertion that you have not heard Rollins unless you have caught him in a club. Well, you can hear him here.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
