SONNY ROLLINS TRIO - Live in Europe 1959 Complete Recordings
Essential Jazz Classics EJC55693
Sonny Rollins tenor saxophone; Henry Grimes bass; Pete La Roca drums CD1 CD2 (tks 1-7)
Joe Harris drums CD2 (tks 8-12)
Kenny Clarke drums CD3
One of the great pleasures in jazz is listening to Sonny Rollins playing with just bass and drums. All the tracks here, featuring him in such a setting, were recorded in Europe in 1959 and they present Rollins before he embarked on the first of his sabbaticals. When someone asked why he stopped playing for three years, Rollins explained that he did not feel that he was playing well enough. Rollins has always been intensely self-critical but these performances across Europe show a soloist who, although he might not be pleasing himself, was creating music of matchless worth. On the first two CDs no track is longer than ten minutes. Rollins announces each tune as if for radio and the length of the pieces suggests that he was working to time limits. On CD3 recorded in Aix-en-Provence he is backed by Kenny Clarke and the three tracks are substantially longer.
Not being able to rely on a chordal instrument like a piano or guitar worries some improvisers: not Rollins. It is as if he is liberated and you hear that from the first track the glorious ‘St Thomas’. This apparently was the first live recording of this famous tune. At times he duets with La Roca as he goes into his stream of consciousness improvising, always keeping to the architecture of the tune. He also pulls in fragments of tunes from shows or classical licks.
Rollins’ enveloping sound is magisterial and seems full of assertiveness and confidence. There is nothing disturbed or eccentric in his music just a great big humanitarian heart. Any Rollins audience knows that it is in safe hands. At times though on ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ he sounds tentative but that is only temporary.
The choice of material has always been important to Rollins. He picks tunes from the great shows of the past that will be known to his audiences. That is brave because everyone who knows the pieces can listen and decide how original and inventive the improvisation is. On ’Stay As Sweet As You Are’ Rollins is reflective and almost romantic.as he weaves his way through the tune embellishing and energising the melody.
Kenny Clarke fires up the group on ‘Woody’N You’. This track runs for over fifteen minutes and it contains Rollins at his most passionate and driven. He is reaching out in his explorations and your musical brain is captured as you follow the twists of his musical logic. This is more testing music, much more austere, and a tribute to the audience. Kenny Clarke provides a wonderful foil as he duels with Rollins.
Some of the music from these CDs has been available in various bootleg forms but it is good to have them here and in acceptable sound. There is a booklet which concentrates mainly on the times and occasions that Rollins recorded each tune.
Supreme self-confidence is the main feature of Rollins’ performance here. It is difficult to believe that he would go away to reassess his work, after this Aix-en-Provence date and would not record again until 1962.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Essential Jazz Classics EJC55693
Sonny Rollins tenor saxophone; Henry Grimes bass; Pete La Roca drums CD1 CD2 (tks 1-7)
Joe Harris drums CD2 (tks 8-12)
Kenny Clarke drums CD3
One of the great pleasures in jazz is listening to Sonny Rollins playing with just bass and drums. All the tracks here, featuring him in such a setting, were recorded in Europe in 1959 and they present Rollins before he embarked on the first of his sabbaticals. When someone asked why he stopped playing for three years, Rollins explained that he did not feel that he was playing well enough. Rollins has always been intensely self-critical but these performances across Europe show a soloist who, although he might not be pleasing himself, was creating music of matchless worth. On the first two CDs no track is longer than ten minutes. Rollins announces each tune as if for radio and the length of the pieces suggests that he was working to time limits. On CD3 recorded in Aix-en-Provence he is backed by Kenny Clarke and the three tracks are substantially longer.
Not being able to rely on a chordal instrument like a piano or guitar worries some improvisers: not Rollins. It is as if he is liberated and you hear that from the first track the glorious ‘St Thomas’. This apparently was the first live recording of this famous tune. At times he duets with La Roca as he goes into his stream of consciousness improvising, always keeping to the architecture of the tune. He also pulls in fragments of tunes from shows or classical licks.
Rollins’ enveloping sound is magisterial and seems full of assertiveness and confidence. There is nothing disturbed or eccentric in his music just a great big humanitarian heart. Any Rollins audience knows that it is in safe hands. At times though on ‘There Will Never Be Another You’ he sounds tentative but that is only temporary.
The choice of material has always been important to Rollins. He picks tunes from the great shows of the past that will be known to his audiences. That is brave because everyone who knows the pieces can listen and decide how original and inventive the improvisation is. On ’Stay As Sweet As You Are’ Rollins is reflective and almost romantic.as he weaves his way through the tune embellishing and energising the melody.
Kenny Clarke fires up the group on ‘Woody’N You’. This track runs for over fifteen minutes and it contains Rollins at his most passionate and driven. He is reaching out in his explorations and your musical brain is captured as you follow the twists of his musical logic. This is more testing music, much more austere, and a tribute to the audience. Kenny Clarke provides a wonderful foil as he duels with Rollins.
Some of the music from these CDs has been available in various bootleg forms but it is good to have them here and in acceptable sound. There is a booklet which concentrates mainly on the times and occasions that Rollins recorded each tune.
Supreme self-confidence is the main feature of Rollins’ performance here. It is difficult to believe that he would go away to reassess his work, after this Aix-en-Provence date and would not record again until 1962.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
