East Broadway Run Down [Original recording reissued]

Sonny Rollins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 15, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Impulse-GRP Records
• ASIN: B000003N7O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,451 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stage Presence Personified, June 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: East Broadway Run Down (Audio CD)

This recording got 5 stars in Downbeat in 1966+/-. All of the players sound great. Rollins' first solo on the title cut is commanding and gigantic. These players are all so strong. Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. They really play with shapes. There are no cliches here. I've had this recording since 1967 and I'll say this, if you like the Coltrane Quartet, you'll get another angle on Garrison/Jones of the same vintage with an equally commanding saxophonist (if that is possible re:Coltrane). Enjoy.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb sidemen; excellent performance; a bit outside!, July 10, 2001

By 

Douglas Groothuis "Douglas Groothuis" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: East Broadway Run Down (Audio CD)

Sonny scored John Coltrane's rhythm section for this gig! The agile, power-house Elvin Jones is on drums and the great Jimmy Garrison is on bass. They smoke throughout and mix nicely with Newk's improvizations. Trumpet master, Freddie Hubbard, a fluid improviser with a clear tone, appears only on the title song.

Sonny never fully embraced the "new thing" (or "free jazz") of the later sixties, as did Coltrane and Ornette Coleman before him. That's fine; it is no blemish on his superb career. Nevertheless, the title track (20 minutes long) is a bit "outside"--and wonderfully so. It begins with a minimal head repeated a few times by the front line and then leaves space for exploration. The absence of piano diminishes melody, but opens up possibilities for everyone involved. There are some strange, rather haunting, but satisfying sections where Sonny plays his detrached mouthpiece, or so Nat Hentoff tells us in his liner notes (which are quite well done, as usual).

"Blessing in Disguise" is about 12 minutes of more straightforward post-bop--without the always rewarding Mr. Hubbard. Sonny uses his monster lower register for the head, which is infectious. His tone is consistently muscular without being overbearing.

"We Kiss in a Shadow" is the most melodic piece and more of a ballad. It is executed perfectly by the trio.

Few saxophonists can thrive and servive in the stripped down, naked-to-the-world format of drums, bass, and horn. (Trane did, of course, in "Chasin' the Trane" ("Live at the Village Vanguard") and on several of the cuts on the "Lush Life" recording.) Mr. Rollins not only survives in it, but thrives, and even soars, as the last two pieces here demonstrate. His energy, creativity, and interplay with the other musicians works this wonder.

I'm coming to appreciate Newk almost as much as Trane. The strength of his tone in every register, the thematic improvizations, the sense of humor and intelligence (including the quotes from other songs, even classical pieces!)--all inspire respect and trigger delight in the soul. Thank you, Mr. Rollins for developing your God-given talents so marvelously and sharing them so generously.

Douglas Groothuis

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolute Monster from Rollins and Company!!, September 1, 2001

By 

Peter Harrison (TAMPA EFF ELL A) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: East Broadway Run Down (Audio CD)

Let's see- Put together Sonny Rollins with the great Freddie Hubbard (alas only on Track One- But What a Track One!), and Coltrane's Killer Rhythym Section- the wonderful Jimmy Garrison and the magnificent Elvin Jones, and what do you get? An Absolute Monster of a Jazz Masterpiece! If you love Jazz like I do, (and why else would you be reading this?), GET THIS CD NOW!! Worth it for the awesome twenty minute title track alone, and only enhanced by the other two excellent pieces. An Essential Recording of the American Art Form that is Jazz! Trust me, this is a smoking, highly addictive aural experience you'll never forget!!! Happy Birthday (Sep 7, 1930), Mr. Rollins!! Now stop reading and start listening to East Broadway Run Down! Cheers!