Customer Reviews

Here's To The People

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'd add a half-star to my rating if allowed. This late career offering, from 1991, is just under one hour in length, and has only a few minutes in which Sonny goes a bit too avant-garde or free form for my more traditional tastes. For the most part, the tunes are well-chosen and the standards highly recognizable yet still improvised and therefore unique. The first two tunes, "Why Was I Born?" and "I Wish I Knew" might be Sonny's joke on us, a "call and response" pairing. Clearly, he was born to play jazz saxophone, and wonderfully, over a 40-year span. This album is not as perfectly accessible and pleasant as "Saxophone Colossus" and I recommend that one as an introduction to Rollins. However, for those who like him and have other CD's by him, don't be afraid of this one. Whether it is worth the current retail price is a matter of personal taste and budget. I lucked into my copy at a steep discount, so I'm quite happy with it. The thing becomes more enjoyable with repeated play, which is always nice to know. Playing with Sonny are Clifton Anderson on trombone, Mark Soskin on piano, Steve Jordan and Jack DeJohnette on percussion, Jerome Harris on electric guitar and Bob Cranshaw on electric bass. I prefer the acoustic versions of those instruments, but you might prefer electric. In addition to the opening selections already mentioned, I have a special fondness for Sonny's treatment of "Someone to Watch Over Me." Neither of the two prior reviewers liked this as much as I do, but the guys don't say exactly why. My suggestion is to listen to the samples and look at the cost and make up your own mind.

Maybe it's not up to the level of "Saxophone Colossus" or "The Bridge," (then again, maybe it IS) but it's still wonderful music with more inspired, meaningful playing than you'll hear in 99% of other recordings by other people. And Jack DeJonette is a streamlined locomotive with so much momentum. And this is a wonderful recording. How anyone puts this recording down at all is beyond me. Yes, there's electric bass; but it is beautiful here. Give it all a chance. I love it.

Those expecting Saxophone Colossus might be surprised but I don't think you'll be dissapointed. Feels like East Broadway Rundown minus Elvin Jones. The rhythm section drives more than it swings but it compliments Sonny well. Good combination of upbeat tunes and ballads and similar melody and improvisation balance. Probably more of a 4 star effort but I'm hoping to bring the average up. Definitely worth a listen.

After initially ignoring this August, 1991 CD because Rollins' rhythm section included an electric bass (played by Bob Cranshaw), I reluctantly listened to it after reading a strongly positive capsule review by Peter Niklas Wilson in his book Sonny Rollins: The Definitive Musical Guide . Wilson notes that, in addition to Cranshaw, Rollins is supported by Clifton Anderson on trombone, Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Mark Soskin on piano, Jerome Harris on guitar, and Steve Jordan on drums.

For Niklas, "the inclusion of young trumpet lion Roy Hargrove was more than a mere marketing ploy. In the ballad 'I Wish I Knew' and the up-tempo number 'Young Roy' ( a Rollins original like 'Doc Phil' and the album's title track), Rollins egages in real dialogue with the trumpeter, an honor rarely enjoyed by other horn players. Hargrove seems a little timid in 'I Wish I Knew'-- who wouldn't be intimidated by Rollins' larger-than-life presence? -- but seems more at ease in the exchanges in 'Young Roy.'

Yet as much as he admires the playing of Roy Hargrove, Wilson reserves his highest praise for the saxophone master himself: "But the most stunning title on this spirited album is the Jerome Kern composition 'Why Was I Born.' a non-stop tenor feature. This is Rollins as he is rarely heard in the studio, inspired and risk-taking from the first second to the last, in a tour de force of melodic invention, harmonic ingenuity, rhythmic energy, and sheer joy -- a marvel of the art of improvisation that should convince even the most ardent fan of Rollins' '50s recordings that the gentle giant was still going strong in the '90s."

Highly recommended for fans of both Sonny Rollins and Roy Hargrove. A very enjoyable CD, especially on the two tracks where Sonny and Roy play together.

This is a average one for Sonny. But the tonne quality still in gd.. but I prefer he put much more rock on this will be better... !!

The 70's killed jazz. From gritty dirty blues to feel good mushy she she fee fee foo foo.