Customer Reviews

Our Man in Jazz (24bt) (Mlps)

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

 

 

If Sonny Rollins had continued in this direction, he might not have been eclipsed by John Coltrane as the most influential tenor saxophonist. This album is one of David S. Ware's personal favorite jazz albums. East Broadway Rundown is also free and an excellent cd but what makes this one different is that it is live. Sonny Rollins has been deemed by critics to be at his best live (after seeing him live, I would support this). Also, with the members of Ornette Coleman's groundbreaking quartet (except of course Ornette) backing him up, the album has the same manic energy and unpredictability of early free jazz. It still is grounded in hard bop, because Sonny Rollins while wanting to absorb the "new thing in jazz" was still somewhat of a traditionalist. However, this is his most creative and innovative playing and is a standout among the myriad of albums he has recorded.

I'd been casually looking for this album since a friend turned me onto it in 1990. Why it's not more readily available (perhaps it finally is now) is beyond me. It's been worth the wait.

I love piano-less trios and Sonny's put out many good dates, my favorites being "Way Out West" and "East Broadway Rundown". I'm adding "Our Man In Jazz" to that list. I see it as kind of a midway point between the two, here freeing things up from blowing changes to doing free-ish improvisation. He's joined by two of Ornette Coleman's sidemen Don Cherry and Billy Higgins, along with Sonny's longtime bassist Bob Cranshaw, who is still in his touring band and on many of his current records. Though the Ornette vibe is here (personally a good thing) it doesn't dominate: this is definitely a Sonny record. And his playing is great. The opening track "Oleo" clocks in at 25 minutes (it doesn't feel like it) and most of that is Sonny with a never ending well of ideas. Don Cherry's playing, whose wonderful style I can pick out in about 3 notes, is in good form here too. Bob Cranshaw plays electric bass these days in Sonny's band at Sonny's request "because electric bass has more definition" but his upright playing here has a beautiful tone and he's solid as a rock. Billy Higgins signiture playing shines here too, as usual. Henry Grimes plays bass on the last three tracks which are very nice, though brief, 12 of the records 66 minutes. I don't think those tracks are on the original vinyl release.

In addition to the actual music the recording is superb. That these are live club recordings from 1962 is remarkable, Sonny in the right ear, Cherry in the left and the rhythm in the center, all crystal clear. I found myself wishing modern jazz records sounded like this, a little darker, without artificial reverb.

It's an adventurous record no doubt so if you're in the mood, get it!

for some reason this cd is written off as either a mistake by rollins in approaching the avant-garde, or a well-meaning but failed experiment. listen again. listen closely. this band certainly has not meshed to the degree that it could have, but this is some seriously fine music. and maybe if critics & listeners back then had bigger ears, the band could have stayed together & become one of the truly greats. sonny is together, firing off line after line, smoking & sometimes approaching blue flame. listening to his tone here it seems to me that perhaps albert ayler & sonny were drinking from the same spring. there's no overblowing & explorations of the higher register, but this is "out" playing within the limits of the horn. cherry plays some snake-like lines but seems a bit inhibited or not totally comfortable yet w/in the band. billy higgins as always is billy-higgins-hot, & both cranshaw & grimes are kicking on bass. it makes me yearn for those "rollins meets cherry discs" with the same band live in europe. one can only imagine the incredible music that would have followed had this band stayed together. check it out & dream of what might have been, & be thankful that this disc exists. by the way, it is one of david s. ware's all-time favorite recordings. that in itself should say enough.

Sonny Rollins was not the man to check out if you're interested into the fre-jazz movement (and I'm hardly an expert on the matter), but this is quite an interesting album!

Although Billy Higgins and Don Cherry are the free-jazz musicians to watch at the time, fresh from collaboration with Ornette Coleman, Rollins, in his "post-bridge" (and, I guess, post-"The Bridge") phase was a remarkably strong player, capable of bringing to the free-jazz movement some traditional style virtuosity and power...

I repeat, I am one of those guys who don't even pretend to actually understand free jazz, but I like this album, and Sonny's contributions (perhaps because I'm a conservative at the core) are the things that really shine here....

Like Olivier and Monroe in "The Prince And The Showgirl", Sonny Rollins and Don Cherry may as well be playing in separate clubs even though they share the same stage at the Village Gate. Sonny was the Olivier of improvising, a total master sitting alone atop the mountain singing, playing, wailing, preaching, pleading, laughing and questioning. Don Cherry isn't his equal, contributing more through his punchy and short sounding tone than the inventiveness and propulsion of the lines he plays. This and "Sonny Meets Hawk" was the apotheosis of Rollins' free jazz playing, becoming more interested in pure sound ( as Ayler, Shepp and Sanders would) as opposed to chord changes. Rollins still surprises and startles with his very high level of melodic, harmonic and especially rhythmic invention, leaving in the dust anyone who tries to come close. The sound quality is exceptional, well balanced, fat, resonant, rich, detailed and nicely ambient.

Rollins nearly always sounded better in live recordings. Apparently "A Night At The Village Vanguard" is his favourite record. "Our Man In Jazz" may not gel together as beautifully as the earlier Vanguard performances, but it's a thrilling account of Rollins at a turning point in his playing, side by side with Don Cherry and backed by a sterling rhythm section of Bob Cranshaw and Billy Higgins.

This is one of the most exciting improvisational jazz sax albums you will ever here. This album contains Rollins suspended between melody and sheer bop improvisation. An extraordinary album of freedom and excitement - possibly the best Sonny Rollins album you will hear.

1962 was a stunning year for Sonny Rollins-- after reemerging from a sabbatical from music and leading a quartet featuring guitarist Jim Hall (resulting in the albums "The Bridge" and several months later, "What's New"), he spent the summer playing in a pianoless quartet featuring trumpeter Don Cherry and drummer Billy Higgins (along with Rollins' bassist Bob Cranshaw). Part of the reason for Rollins taking a break from music is that he felt in the face of performers like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, he needed something more. This recording, symbolic of Rollins' attempt to find that more, is a good example of this.

Admittedly, Rollins isn't quite comfortable in this environment-- certainly not the extent he would be leading a similar quartet four years later ("East Broadway Run Down"). It could also be the song selection that contributes to this tentativeness-- two of Rollins' older pieces get updates ("Oleo" and "Doxy") and standard "Dearly Beloved" gets a reading. "Oleo" is exciting, fast, and fluid, and extremely loose, perhaps a bit too much. Still, while the horns feel a bit out of place, Cranshaw and Higgins both take completely brilliant solos, particularly Higgins, who references the theme and plays with space and time in a delicate fashion. "Doxy" fares much better, a bit shorter in length, jaunty and playful, Cherry and Rollins both solo effectively and with a great excitement and fluidity to their performance and again Cranshaw, who seems to be really benefiting from the environment, solos superbly. But as exciting (if a bit uneven) as these pieces are, "Dearly Beloved" is kind of a mess-- it starts off ok, with the rhythm section swinging and Rollins a bit more lyrical, but when the rhythm section opens up, the piece pretty much melts apart.

This release is augmented by three bonus tracks-- all standards, read in the studio early in 1963 and given brief performances by the same quartet, but with Henry Grimes sitting in instead of Cranshaw. Rollins and company tackle the stnadards with quite a bit of fire-- in particular "I Could Write a Book" gets a great reading, but all of them seem to end before they get anywhere. Still, these were pretty hard to find (only previously being issued on a split album), and they are decent performances and nice to have.

Rollins never quite sounded comfortable tackling free jazz, nonetheless, this recording is a good one, and worth the investment for fans of any of the gentlemen in the ensemble.

The reviewer above who gave this album three stars is more detailed and knowledgeable than I, but I definitely agree with his assessment as opposed to the more glowing five-star reviews. It is clear that in 1962, Sonny Rollins, like John Coltrane, felt pressure from those creative artists who had found their way to free jazz - artists like Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. This was Rollin's attempt. But the playing is awkward and listless. Sonny Rollins is one of the most powerful and commanding voices in jazz, but here he sounds uncertain and tentative. Contrast this to his amazing Village Vanguard sessions from five years earlier or with later performances where he really found his voice. It's telling that Don Cherry solos badly on this album. Cherry was the ultimate free jazz sideman, contributing during this period to groundbreaking work from Albert Ayler and Ornette Coleman. Here is sounds uninspired and lost.
This album is a curiosity but certainly not vintage Rollins. Whereas the Village Vanguard sessions never grow old, this album quickly wears out its welcome.
(The guy who said that if Rollins had continued in this direction, he might have eclipsed John Coltrane is smoking something. Coltrane was not the earliest breakthrough artist in free jazz, but his contributions are profound, almost sacred. Rollins is one of the greatest jazz voices, but was never comfortable with free jazz. There's no shame in that. We are blessed by his talent as well.)

Five AMAZING Stars!! I would easily give it a SIX. Totally enjoyable, approachable "free jazz". This is Sonny Rollins exploring the "New Thing" with members of the Ornette Coleman Quartet: Don Cherry on pocket trumpet and Billy Higgins on drums, with Rollins stablemate, Bob Cranshaw, on bass. It was recorded live at the Village Gate before a very appreciative audience during Rollins tenure with RCA Victor. This music is INCREDIBLE and thank goodness RCA had the good sense to just "roll the tape" and catch all of the magic for The Future Ages of Jazz.

Seemingly unrehearsed, the group takes a well-known song and dissects each, with theme statement and solos depending on individual and group intuition and interaction. And the musicians, especially Rollins, are smoking throughout. The main "Piece D'Resistance" is Sonny's own "Oleo", a BREATHTAKING 26 minute exploration of every aspect of this wonderful song. Musicians rotate their solos without regard to time or structure and it succeeds beautifully. I won't give away the surprise but the "Oleo" morphs into something really special. The re-statement of the theme, at song's end, is phenomenal. "Dearly Beloved" continues the inventiveness with the opening sequence being especially beautiful between Rollins and Cherry. And "Doxy" is it's own universe of bluesy excellence. Higgins and Cranshaw perform yeoman duties throughout in keeping "free" time which allows the Rollins and Cherry to roam at will with the drums and bass 'following' the proceedings.

This is really great jazz, played without elaborate structure. Bare-bones and getting to the essence of each song, without the harsh histronics of some of the "New Thing" music of that time. It may take you a couple of trips through this CD to figure out what is going on, but when you do the payoff will be enormously rewarding. In particular, the second part of "Oleo" will have you holding your breath in wonder. This is a Six Star Winner that will mesmerize you for years to come. ENJOY!!