Sonny Rollins: A Night At The Village Vanguard

Live date for Rollins' late 50s trio, freed from the constraints of explicit harmony, is reissued with two other live tracks from the period

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During 1957 and early 1958 Sonny Rollins decided to experiment with a pared-down group, doing without a second horn and more importantly, dispensing with the piano. He felt it gave him greater harmonic freedom and was a natural progression.

With this new trio format he produced Way Out West for Contemporary and The Freedom Suite on Riverside, this live Village Vanguard recording coming between them. The afternoon session had bassist Donald Bailey and drummer Pete LaRoca, whilst Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones were on duty for the evening set. Comparison is difficult as Bailey and LaRoca are only on two tracks, so Ware and Jones have more opportunity to solo, which they make full use of.

Rollins is on top form, using mainly jazz standards and popular tunes of the time, dissecting their melodies, using techniques characteristic of his style and reflecting his quick, fertile imagination: protracted codas; faster than usual tempos and staccato, stabbing phrases; flurries of notes; familiar chord sequences; two-note phrases repeated; passing references to contemporary show tunes, such as The March Of The Siamese Children on Woody ‘N’ You, and I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face on I Can’t Get Started. The melody of All The Things You Are is heavily disguised, only hinted at.

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Most are uptempo, some fiercely so, the exceptions being the gentle, seductive and soulful Softly As In A Morning Sunrise – bassist Wilbur Ware using it for extended soloing – and the ballad I Can’t Get Started. He also engages with the audience, humorously so at the start of Old Devil Moon.

Two live tracks from the same period, both pianoless trios, are added – a version of I Want To Be Happy taped at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival (possibly only issued on Newport Jazz 1958-59 FDC 1024), and St. Thomas, recorded in Sweden the following year, previously on In Stockholm on Dragon DRLP73.

Originally issued as a single album (Blue Note BLP1581) A Night At The Village Vanguard has appeared as a double CD several times. If you want to know why it’s so highly regarded, get it. It’ll soon be apparent.

Discography
CD1: (1) A Night In Tunisia; I’ve Got You Under My Skin; (2) A Night In Tunisia; Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise; Four; Introduction; Woody ’n’ You; Introduction; Old Devil Moon; What Is This Thing Called Love? (74.10)
CD2: Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise; Sonnymoon For Two; I Can’t Get Started; I’ll Remember April; Get Happy; Striver’s Row; All The Things You Are; Get Happy; (3) I Want To Be Happy; (4) St.Thomas (72.14)

Sonny Rollins (ts) with:
(1) Donald Bailey (b); Pete La Roca (d). Village Vanguard, New York, 3 November 1957.
(2) as (1) but Wilbur Ware (b); Elvin Jones (d).
(3) Henry Grimes (b); Roy Haynes (d). Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, 2 July 1958.
(4) Henry Grimes (b); Pete La Roca (d); Stockholm, 2 March 1959.
Poll Winners Records 27354

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