This is without a doubt one of the best Sonny Rollins albums ever made. Not to mention the fact that saxophone colossus is the perfect name for Sonny Rollins. It was recorded in 1956 with Rollins on tenor saxophone, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Max Roach on drums. Let's talk about the tunes.
The first tune is St. Thomas, a calypso style piece inspired by Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The melody is melodic and catchy and repeats twice before Rollins goes into his permutations-improvised lines that change slightly but have a profound change in the rhythm and melody of the song. Max Roach plays a stunning drum solo here. His drums sounded like they were tuned perfectly for this song, especially the tom-toms. This gives the piece that island feeling. Then Rollins re-enters with the band and takes off with more lines. It's hard to describe exactly what Rollins sounds like. I could easily say Charlie Parker and perhaps he was influenced by his contemporary John Coltrane but Rollins simply sounds like himself. Tommy Flanagan's piano tone is bright and upbeat-perfect for the song. Then they bring it back home, repeating the head and ending it.
Next, we have You Don't Know What Love Is. A total ballad. Every straight ahead jazz album has to have a ballad or two, ami right? The tempo is slow but still driving for a ballad. Rollins' sax sings sweetly here as opposed to fast bebop lines. Flanagan's piano comping gives the piece weight, essentially being the meat and potatoes of the band. Doug Watkins' bass anchors the whole thing with the piano, making sure nothing gets offtrack. This might be a bit of a stretch but I actually hear melodies from other jazz tunes here-particularly Body and Soul.. I heard that Sonny liked to use everything he heard in his improvisation. As musicians we all take everything we've heard and use it for ourselves, sometimes stumbling into our own styles in the process.
Then, there's Strode Rode. This one's an uptempo bebop tune that has a bluesy melody for the head. Once Rollins begins his extemporaneous improvisation its just him and the bass for a bit. The bass player stands out here because he's playing a fast walking bass line with style. Then the piano comps along. Max Roach focuses more on the cymbals here-albeit adding lots of tom-tom fills. There's a part near the end where Rollins and Roach take turns trading licks. Rollins plays a line then the whole band drops out and Roach plays tasteful licks with his monster chops. Roach's solos on this album were legendary. Rollins wasn't the only star in this line-up.
The next tune is Moritat. This one has an upbeat melody and tempo that sings sweetly. It sounds like some kind of show tune to my young jazz ears. We know as jazz listeners that a lot of great jazz standards came from Broadway. Although the opening of this piece has a lot of charm the improvisation gets a little fluffy-that is until the end when Rollins and Roach trade licks again. Rollin's lines get more technical but still retain that harmonic and melodic style. The end breaks down with a straight drum solo from Roach. This solo could be a template for jazz drumming. He does everything a great jazz drummer does. I can't explain it because I'm not a drummer but I know it when I hear it. You probably can too. After the drum solo there's the first bass solo of the album. This song also has many familiar melodies in it. I think it's a strong suit of Rollins that when you hear his work you can hear a lot of other famous tunes and melodies. Here I can hear the standard Mack the Knife. The way Rollins focuses on melodies keeps the listener focused on the structure of the song rather than fancy technical skills. Although this group possesses both.
Lastly, we have Blue 7. It starts with a slow walking bassline and eventually the drums join in-mostly hitting the cymbals focusing on beats two and four. It's a blues for sure. Rollins throws out a lot of fast technical licks among the soulful bluesy stuff. The entire rhythm section shines here. It's pretty difficult for me not to bob my head or tap my foot as I listen. The highlight of the piece is when Roach goes on another drum solo excursion. It doesn't feel forced and it doesn't seem unnecessary when he takes many solos. It's so bloody good that you can't help but marvel at the rhythmic variety. This song has so much going on for it in terms of structure I would find it hard to believe that it wasn't recorded live without sheet music.
This album has a lot of variety and a lot to offer, even to this day. It still sounds fresh and engaging even in the current climate of jazz. This is everything a great jazz album should be and more. Great tunes, focus on melody, phenomenal solos, and a plethora of different styles. As I like to say, "It's all good." I have this album on my Ipod and CD and every once in a while I have to go back and re-listen to it. It's always great to listen to something over and over again and notice different things and the inner nuances of the musicians. This album has gotten rave reviews from all the major jazz publications and you can see why. Albums like this give me inspiration as a musician. I wish I could've seen Sonny Rollins perform live before he went into retirement. I almost had the chance to see him at CSUN college a few years back but the show was cancelled for unknown reasons. I suspect they weren't able to sell enough tickets or Rollins' health was too poor. Either way it's great knowing that the saxophone colossus is still alive and well. He's the only guy from this lineup that's still alive and kickin'. The masters have all left us but we can still look to the past and use their work as a template for the future.
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