Essential Sonny Rollins: The Rca Years CD

Live Recording

Personnel: Sonny Rollins (saxophone); Jim Hall (guitar); Coleman Hawkins (saxophone); Don Cherry (cornet); Herbie Hancock (piano); Bob Cranshaw (bass guitar); Roy McCurdy, Stu Martin (drums); Candido Camero (congas).
Those not willing to make the leap of purchasing the six-disc COMPLETE RCA/VICTOR RECORDINGS will find an excellent distillation of that box set in the beautifully compiled two-disc set THE ESSENTIAL SONNY ROLLINS: THE RCA YEARS. Rollins began recording for RCA in the early 1960s, following a much-discussed hiatus from the studio, during which time he could sometimes be found at night on New York City's Williamsburg Bridge reeling off free improvisations. In fact, one of Rollins's best albums from the RCA period is called THE BRIDGE (which pairs him with the stupendous guitarist Jim Hall), and several cuts from that release are featured here.
While Rollins continued to explore free jazz on RCA albums like THREE IN JAZZ, where he teamed with members of Ornette Coleman's quartet, the album SONNY MEETS HAWK! finds Rollins going toe-to-toe with old-guard great Coleman Hawkins. The musicianship, naturally, is at a fever pitch throughout this entire set (from both Rollins and his well-chosen sidemen) ad, while Rollins was always a bold modernist, his work from this period, specifically, is some of his most exciting and adventurous. THE ESSENTIAL is a wonderful, economical sampling of a key phase of his career.
This handy double-disc set is a streamlined compilation from the six-CD box of Sonny Rollins Complete RCA Victor Recordings. Rollins' tenure with the label coincided with his return from an extended period of inactivity between 1962 and 1964. Before his fine Impulse outings, Rollins began exploring the fringes of modern jazz playing outside. These various situations are represented here to a degree. Obviously, the most notable cuts come off The Bridge, one of his seminal outings, and from What's New?, both of which featured guitarist Jim Hall. The more "out" material here comes from Our Man in Jazz and Three in Jazz with Ornette Coleman's sidemen Billy Higgins and Don Cherry -- the latter album also featured vanguard bassist Henry Grimes. Grimes also appears on Sonny Meets Hawk!, where Rollins challenged the great elder tenor to move to the left as far as possible, and Coleman Hawkins took the challenge. Pianist Paul Bley appears on these recordings as well as Grimes and bassist Bob Cranshaw. Rollins also recorded his own original take on standards for the album the The Standard Sonny Rollins, which is represented here as is Now's the Time with Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter with drummer Roy McCurdy. For the price, this is a decent set, though Rollins fans will have everything on it. There are more suitable introductions on the Prestige label, but this collection does capture the great tenorman at a very adventurous crossroads in his career. ~ Thom Jurek