Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver - The 1959 European Tour Recordings

  I’ll leave to the likes of Joe Lovano and Branford Marsalis to sing the praises of the saxophone colossus, Sonny Rollins. It’s long been an article of faith among the intense Rollins fans to hold the sax, bass, and drums trio format that was his main setting from 1957-1959 in the highest esteem. The existence of recordings from the trio’s brief European tour was no surprise; they had all been bootlegged. But Freedom Weaver - The 1959 European Tour Recordings presents the first authorized release of this material. The bassist throughout is Henry Grimes. Pete La Roca started the tour on drums, was replaced by Joe Harris on one occasion, and later by bebop pioneer Kenny “Klook” Clarke. The repertoire is a mix of standards (including a few he never otherwise recorded), a handful of jazz compositions, and a few of Rollins’ original tunes. The first thing we hear, appropriately enough, is St. Thomas, one of Rollins’ most endearing songs. It’s the only surviving piece from a March 2 concert in Stockholm. The rest of the first CD is given over to two performances in the same city on March 4. Joe Harris plays on the evening show at the Södra Teatern. La Roca is back behind the drum kit the next day in Zürich. The aim of producer Zev Feldman was to present these tracks in chronological order, but he got blindsided by late-appearing information. Although the printed material credits three performances in Laren, The Netherlands on disc 2 as occurring on March 7, an errata sheet included with the booklet reveals that the Laren concert took place on February 21, at the very start of the tour. The balance of the second disc was recorded at a concert in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 9. Blumenthal notes that “[T]ensions that make the music crackle with energy proved insurmountable on a personal level,” and La Roca left the tour the next day. Luckily, expatriate Kenny Clarke was available. We get to hear him on the third disc, with three lengthy tunes recorded at a club appearance in Aix-en-Provence, France. Right from the start of Dizzy Gillespie’s classic Woody ‘n’ You, we can hear the difference that a new drummer makes. There’s a taste of that effect when Harris takes over for those 3 tracks on disc 1, but the presence of Clarke really moves things onto a new level. As well as Rollins has sounded up until now, he sounds even better here, more relaxed and exploratory. The 56-page booklet, copiously illustrated, includes notes by Bob Blumenthal, plus interviews that Feldman conducted with Marsalis, Lovano, James Carter, James Brandon Lewis, and Peter Brötzmann. Perhaps the best thing is the commentary by Rollins himself. He reflects on the trio format, and on the 1959 tour specifically. He notes that sax, bass, and drums afforded him “the best opportunity to do whatever I could do, whatever that was that had some resonance with people.” About Grimes, he says that he “seemed to not be afraid of playing without a piano, whereas a lot of bass players need a piano.” He has nice things to say about La Roca and Harris, but he saves most of his praise for “Klook,” whom he describes as “one of my giants.” Listening to these tracks from the past, the notoriously self-critical Rollins has to say “that they do have merit” and that they “do have a certain flair.” Fans of the great Sonny Rollins have had to put with inferior sounding examples of these songs for decades, so it’s a wonder that this sounds as good as it does. If you love to hear Sonny Rollins, and who doesn’t, don’t miss this release. 

Resonance HCD-2065 [CD; also on vinyl]; Sonny Rollins (ts) Henry Grimes (b) Pete La Roca, Joe Harris*, or Kenny Clarke# (d); Disc 1 (68:39) : Stockholm, Sweden, March 2, 1959: St. Thomas; Stockholm, March 4: There Will Never Be Another You/ Stay As Sweet As You Are/ I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star/ How High the Moon/ Oleo/ Paul’s Pal; Stockholm, March 4 : Sonny Rollins interview/ It Don’t Mean a Thing*/ Paul’s Pal*/ Love Letters*. Disc 2 (57:43): Zürich, Switzerland, March 5: I Remember You/ I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star/ It Could Happen to You/ Oleo/ Will You Still Be Mine?; Laren, Holland, February 21: I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star/ I Want to Be Happy/ A Weaver of Dreams; Frankfurt, West Germany, March 9: It Don’t Mean a Thing/ Cocktails For Two/ I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star/ I Want to Be Happy. Disc 3 (52:26): Aix-en-Provence, March 11: Woody ‘N’ You#/ But Not For Me#/ Lady Bird#. www.resonancerecords.org

Sonny Rollins: Rollins In Holland

Like many fans of the magisterial tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, I’m particularly enamored of his work in the demanding trio format, as exemplified on classics from the Fifties like Way Out West (Contemporary), Freedom Suite  (Riverside) and A Night At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note). The latest Resonance release of the Sonny Rollins Trio in 1967 is more than worthy of being held in the same respect. The two-CD or three-Lp set Rollins In Holland finds Rollins working with bassist Ruud Jacobs and the marvelous drummer Han Bennink in three different settings over a May weekend. Four tracks recorded at a studio in Hilversum start the program, followed by two pieces performed at the Go-Go Club that night for the nationally televised Jazz met Jacobs show, a program hosted by Ruud Jacobs’ brother Pim, a pianist. An extended version of Three Little Words, recorded two days earlier at a concert in Arnhem, concludes the first disc. Disc two is given over to the balance of the Arnhem concert, where a high-energy Rollins is in an expansive mood bolstered by the impeccable support of Jacobs and Bennink. Rollins was in top form for these performances, in what he describes as “a take-no-prisoners type of music.” While Rollins is generally thought not to be too interested in his past work, in a lengthy interview with producer Zev Feldman, he is unfailingly enthusiastic and informative about these recordings and the playing of Jacobs and Bennink. “It was a great, high point in my life,” he says. The feeling was mutual, as Jacobs, who passed away in 2019, was, throughout his life, very proud of playing with Rollins, and Bennink in an 2018 interview in the booklet says that for him, it was “the ultimate. Still.” That interview is part of the 98-page booklet that accompanies the discs, with a bounty of period photographs, a long essay by Rollins’ biographer Aidan Levy, who also did the interview, and, dear to a tape archivist’s heart, pictures of the tape boxes for these recordings plus the fascinating story about the discovery of the tapes (they were unlabelled!) by Dutch journalist and researcher Frank Jochemsen. In addition to the immense pleasure of soaking up the great jazz that’s spread out over the two discs, the sequencing gives the attentive listener an unusual opportunity to note how Rollins’ playing adapts to the immediate situation. In the studio, he tends to be terse. With an audience, he loosens up just a bit for the TV broadcast. Finally, there’s the concert, where the benefits of spontaneous creation amid supremely sympathetic companions really shine. Absolutely recommended. 

Resonance HCD 2048; Sonny Rollins (ts) Ruud Jacobs (b) Han Bennink (d); Hilversum, the Netherlands, May 5, 1967 (disc 1, tracks 1-4), Loosdrecht, the Netherlands, May 5, 1967 (disc 1, tracks 5 & 6), and Arnhem, the Netherlands, May 3, 1967 (disc 2); Disc 1 (63:26): 1.Blue Room/ 2.Four/ 3.Love Walked In/ 4.Tune Up/ 5.Sonnymoon For Two/ 6.Love Walked In. Disc 2 (66:45): 1.They Can’t Take That Away From Me/Sonnymoon For Two/ 2.On Green Dolphin Street/ There Will Never Be Another You/ 3.Love Walked In/ 4.Four. resonancerecords.org