Customer Reviews

Sound of Sonny

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

 

 

"The Sound of Sonny" is Sonny Rollins' first and only recording with one of my all-time favorite bop pianists, Sonny Clark. While this date was cut for Riverside (during three days in June of 1957), the lineup of Clark, either Paul Chambers or Percy Heath on bass and Roy Haynes on drums makes you think it would be a Blue Note session. In fact, Sonny was with Blue Note at this time and "The Sound of Sonny" was recorded in between "Volume 2" and "Newk's Time." Regardless of labels, this disc is a classic. Like most Sonny albums from this period, 80% of the material here is standards. However, it is a perfect blend of familiar and seldom heard standards, up-tempo grooves and touching ballads. Of particular interest here is Sonny's first unaccompanied solo recording ("It Could Happen To You"). The CD also features a bonus selection not on the original vinyl release, "Funky Hotel Blues," which along with "Cutie" are the album's only Rollins compositions. I know there a lot of classic Sonny Rollins discs from 1955-58 to choose from (it was arguably his greatest period), but "The Sound Of Sonny" ranks right up there with the best of them.

I have to respond to the last reviewer's comments about the sound quality of this disc. Riverside masters were hit and miss at times, but I apparently have a copy of an entirely different album than the one he describes. It's not the greatest master I've ever heard, but it's far from "unlistenable" as he claims. I'm hearing Rollins' tenor right out front with strong bass a fairly stong bass pressence.

But of course, it's the music that matters most and this release contains all the wit and imaginative improvisational fun that are the hallmarks of his recordings of this period. Sounds OK to me.

I owned this on cassette and thought I'd replace it with a better quality CD. Boy, was I wrong. The sound here is so poor that it makes the CD almost unlistenable. It sounds like the CD was made from the studio track that included bass and piano only. Sonny sounds like he is in another room, and it's really just awful. I think the original release was on Riverside, so look for that instead. This is a travesty, and not worth the price, if you can believe that!