Customer Reviews

This Is What I Do

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is his best studio recording in years. Other than the presence on Jack DeJohnette on a couple of tracks, this is Sonny's regular working group. Stephen Scott and Clifton Anderson play a few short, pleasant solos, but Sonny dominates the recording from beginning to end. No barnburners, (all of the tunes are medium to medium-slow tempo), but the Sonny's playing is the warm, lyrical, and filled with imagination and humor. Even though a studio recording will probably never match his playing for those of us that have heard him in a club or concert hall, this one comes close.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Mr. Rollins isn't that he's still producing albums at the age of 70, but that he's still producing amazing, innovative albums. This is no exception.

It starts out with a mid-tempo calypso-like tune which is quite remincesent of his old stanard, St. Thomas. Rollin's playing over this is lively, inventive, interesting, and fresh sounding. Part of the appeal isn't what he plays, but how he plays it. His tone is powerful and awe-inspiring, yet he plays with restraint, and keeps his characteristic playfulness and expressiveness that he's famous for. I'm not saying, however, that his playing is devoid of substance- on the contrary, his playing is full of rich ideas and lines. He achieves the ultimate goal of all jazz musicians- his playing is almost lyrical, telling a story, often not distinguishing itself from the melody of the tune.

I know I'm gushing praise, but I don't do it that often. I doubt there's anyone qualified enough to make any major complaints against this seemingly perfect album. I know I've put this in my collection along with Tenor Madness and Saxophone Colossus, and it keeps finding its way onto my stereo over and over again. I really can't say enough good things about this album, I'd just tell you to buy it as soon as possible.

What can I say, the title of the album says it all...This is what I do. And he does, with exceptional wit and authority. The album starts of with a great calypso hook, "Salvador". Then Sonny plays a rear and enjoyable sweet ballad titled "Sweet Leilani" with a graceful touch. After the groovy "Did You See Harold Vick?" and an elegant ballad "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square", Sonny ventures into the world of Charles Mingus with a nice tribute original titled, "Charles M.". He exits the album with a sensitive yet stylistic, "The Moon of Manakoora." All in all this album plays beautifully and Sonny really shows strength on improvisation with controlled crooning. At 70, he plays better than most of the young guns today. He is still the master of the sax. Anyone who enjoys Sonny Rollins or Jazz in general will be truly satisfied with this CD.

This album is a testimony to the beneficial effects of adversity. In it, Sonny Rollins, who has not had a particularly easy or uncomplicated life, blows pure music from a beautiful soul, and his ensemble follows right along.
Others have reviewed the album tune for tune, so I won't do that other than to say that the seemingly simple lyricism is not so simple after all. As in the playing of Miles Davis, each note counts, not only in its melodic placement and rhythm but above all in its texture.

If CDs had grooves, my copy of this album would have long been worn out.

Sonny Rollins continues to remind us that improvisation has so many different and equally pleasing approaches. This album is not simply a dense package of rapidly passing notes. It is truly the communication of the joy, humanity and spirit of a remarkable man. This album is one of Sonny's best recorded performances because it captures the spirit of Sonny's live performances. This is a man who still has incredible technique, but who chooses to hold it in reserve while he explores every possible variation and nuance of the meoldy and harmony of the songs he has chosen to perform. Never has the sax had a sound more like and as expressive as a human voice.

FIVE HUGE STARS!! "This is What I Do" is a HUGE CD and it's a Grammy Winner to boot. It's the continuation of Sonny Rollins' production of outstanding albums, decade after decade: from "Saxphone Colossus", "Freedom Suite", "The Bridge", "Our Man in Jazz","East Broadway Run Down", "Don't Stop the Carnival", "Global Warming", and many more, he does it over and over. "This is What I Do" is simply amazingly inventive and totally enjoyable from beginning to end by Jazz' Premier Elder Statesman.

Only Sonny Rollins could find fertile improvisational utility in esoterica like "Sweet Leilani"(delivered as a bluesy New Orleans funeral march) and "The Moon of Manakoora" (a starkly beautiful hip ballad) in the same CD. I have played these two songs over and over and they are breath-taking on each pass. "Salvador" finds Rollins in his full 'hide in plain sight' mode, changing the song with each pass over the main theme, giving a graphic demonstration of true thematic improvisation. The group, especially Stephen Scott and Clifton Anderson, is wonderful. Bob Cranshaw continues to be Rollin's solid bedrock on electric bass. And Jack DeJohnette is still THE MAN on drums.

Finding the 'quotes' from songs on the CD is fun because they are well hidden, but accessible. Can you find "I'm Just Wild About Harry" four times on "Did You See Harold Vick?" How about Scott's quote of "Shimmy Like Your Sister Kate" on "Sweet Leilani"? It's wild!!

6 decades into his wonderful career, I wish Sonny many more years of great production and CD's like "This Is What I DO". For Rollins, age is no factor. And if you have the chance to see him live, do it: it's one of Jazz' great experiences and it'll blow your mind. Don't miss this CD. Five HUGE Stars!!

If you enjoy listening to melodic ideas, and improvisations on a theme, you'll like both Rollins' and Scott's work on Salvador, a very joyful tune. The Harold Vick song is a wonder; how Sonny comes up with all those ideas based on a simple four note/five note pattern, only heaven knows.

Many players are hard to connect with; they drive too fast, and try to say too much. These guys tell stories, using phrases, sentences, paragraphs and spaces.

This album, like most of Sonny's work, flows with joy. It brings a sunny day into your living room, no matter the time of year. Anyone who has ever seen Sonny live knows this man exudes charity, clarity and a love for the beauty of mankind. Coming towards the end of his career, 'This is What I Do' is an excellent re-cap on the jazz master's past accomplishment. An updated, more modern feeling 'Saxaphone Collossus'.

I got several of Sonny Rollins' recent albums a few weeks ago after having bought "Sonny, Please" about 18 months previously. Of course, I already owned several classic Rollins CDs from the 50s and 60s. I gave 5 stars to "Sonny, Please", "Without A Song: The 9/11 Concert", and "Road Shows, Vol. 1", so I'm definitely not one of those naysayers who claim that Sonny is all washed up and should retire. He can definitely still blow that horn - even now, 9 years after this album was recorded. But I just don't like this album as much as the other 3 and can only give it 4 stars.

The main problem for me is that Sonny fails to fully utilize his trombonist (and nephew), Clifton Anderson. Other than one brief solo on "Charles M.", Sonny only lets him play some harmony or contra point during the opening and closing themes. Anderson is a good trombonist as evidenced by his work on the other albums where Sonny let him do more. Frankly, if Sonny is going to record with a quintet and feels that the other horn player isn't good enough to play solos, then he should either leave him out or find somebody else to fill the chair. I'm sure that Anderson isn't as gifted a soloist as Rollins and know that people buy these CDs primarily to hear the star, but I find the alternation between soloists a nice change of pace and would have enjoyed a few more solos by Anderson. This is especially true on "Did You See Harold Vick?" which I think Sonny drags out too long. I also feel that the ballads "Sweet Leilani" and "The Moon of Manakoora" are too similar.

I guess Sonny has never really enjoyed sharing the limelight with other horn players. While he did play with trumpeters Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham (in the group lead by Max Roach) earlier in his career, after he became a big star his famous recordings all featured quartets or trios. But wouldn't it be great to hear him team up with Wynton or Branford Marsalis? Or with Wayne Shorter or Curtis Fuller?

Sonny does play with his famous deep sound and emotion on all the tunes and does plenty of inventive improvising.

This Is What I Do~ Sonny Rollins is a more great saxophone playing from the "immortal" Sonny Rollins. Listening to this album is soothing and it is like therapy for the soul. I am not going to say that I am a Jazz expert by any means. However, I do like good music and this certainly is it. Higly recommended indeed and it gets 4 well deserved stars.