BLP 1558

Sonny Rollins - Volume 2

Test Pressing

Released - September 1957

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, April 14, 1957
Jay Jay Johnson, trombone #1,2,4-6; Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Horace Silver, piano #1,2,4-6; Thelonious Monk, piano #3,6; Paul Chambers, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.1 Why Don't I
tk.4 Wail March
tk.6 Reflections
tk.7 Poor Butterfly
tk.11 You Stepped Out Of A Dream
tk.12 Misterioso

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Why Don't I?	Sonny Rollins	14/04/1957
Wail March	Sonny Rollins	14/04/1957
Misterioso	Thelonious Monk, Denzil Best	14/04/1957
Side Two
Reflections	Thelonious Monk	14/04/1957
You Stepped Out of a Dream	Herb Nacio Brown, Gus Kahn	14/04/1957
Poor Butterfly	Raymond Hubbell, John Golden	14/04/1957

Credits

Cover Photo:	FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover Design:	HAROLD FEINSTEIN
Engineer:	RUDY VAN GELDER
Producer:	ALFRED LION
Liner Notes:	ROBERT LEVIN

Liner Notes

WHENEVER Max Roach introduces the members of his exciting quintet, he saves Sonny Rollins for last and describes him as, “The man whom we believe to be at the top of the heap of modern tenor saxophonists.”

I doubt that many will argue this point. Certainly no one can deny Sonny his position as the leader of an entire school of contemporary, modern tenor men; Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, J. R. Monterose, Billy Mitchell, John Coltrane, Charlie Rouse, Phil Urso and scores of others have, in part, been shaped by Sonny’s dynamic musical personality.

But, “being considered an influence . . . bugs me. I’ve got a lot of work still to do, a lot of work.” Sonny spoke those words in a Down Beat interview conducted by Nat Hentoff in November of i 956 and it is this sincere attitude of dissatisfaction and discontent with what he has done before that has been responsible for his continued growth and advancement.

Sonny of course is not without his influences. Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Lester Young are the most apparent. He has assimilated the ideas and techniques of those three masters with his own and has gradually and with much studying and “woodshedding” (for Sonny is a perfectionist) evolved a voice that is unmistakeably his; a powerful, biting, voice, persuasive, uncompromising and always stimulating.

Of Parker, an early friend and mentor of Sonny’s, he says, “Bird made a deep impression on me on tenor. I heard him play it very seldom, but his ideas, his drive, the way he could create moved me very much. As soon as he started to play on tenor or alto, he’d create the complete mood and would carry everyone, including the rhythm section, along with him. That’s the mark of a true soloist. He was very sure and definite.”

Sonny too is “sure and definite” and he too possesses that rare quality that enables him to “carry everyone”, sidemen and listeners alike, along with him. Few artists, past or present, have been able to achieve the “deep-down” warmth and drive that, as it was with Bird, is inherent in Sonny’s music. Born and raised in New York City, Sonny began his professional career with the colorful Babs Gonzales. He has since worked with almost every artist of any repute in modern jazz; Parker, Bud Powell, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Todd Dameron, Kenny Dorham, Clifford Brown, Art Farmer and Roach, among many others.

Of the magnificent Thelonious Monk little can be said that has not already been said. You have to listen to Monk to believe all the seemingly impossible superlatives anyhow and if you have not yet picked up on the two Blue Note albums by this "Genius of Modern Music", BLP1510 and BLP1511, do so. Monk and Sonny are two of the most important individuals in jazz today. They are both firmly rooted in jazz tradition, which is to say that the earliest forms of jazz; spirituals, gospels, etc. are, at the least, the basis of almost everything they play. At the same time their vast conceptions and scope encompass and transcend much of what is going on at present. Monk is heard on this recording on two tracks (two of his most provocative originals) and the unique blending of sound and ideas he achieves with Rollins spells “creativeness” in the true meaning of that all too carelessly used word. These men will leave a pronounced mark on all future generations of jazz.

Jay Jay Johnson’s brilliant trombone is the other horn on this date and the rather unusual tenor-trombone voicing he provides is quite refreshing. Jay Jay, now out of the rather strict and narrow context of the disbanded “Jay & Kai” group, is given more than adequate space here to expand on his always potent thoughts. Johnson was the first trombonist able to play the intricate changes of the Bop style and Leonard Feather has said that “Jay Jay is to the trombone what Charlie Parker was to the alto sax.”

Horace Silver and Art Blakey have been written about almost as extensively as they have recorded. They are both unanimously considered to be among the top performers on their respective instruments.

Paul Chambers is a young, oft-recorded and gifted bassist who has gained a great deal of attention within the past year primarily for his work with the Miles Davis quintet.

The first side opens with Why Don’t I? a light, happy swinger by Rollins. Sonny, Jay Jay and Horace solo in that order with Blakey coming up front towards the end to exchange a brace of exhilarating fours with the horns.

The exuberant mood is extended into the next track, another Rollins tune; Wail March, which quite shockingly turns out to be just that — a wailing march! Drum Major Blakey “postures” briefly before Sonny and Jay Jay begin the quick, strutting unison theme. Jay Jay falls out abruptly, at double time, to demonstrate his fantastic technical prowess. Then a return to the theme which is followed by a similarly fleet and driving Rollins. Silver’s excursion is o typical Silver excursion, swinging and, well, swinging. Blakey gets a chance to flex his snares too before the band moves out.

Misterioso, o slow blues which follows, is Monk’s tune (he recorded it previously with Milt Jackson, John Simmons and Shadow Wilson on BLP 1510) and this particular rendition is one no modernist collector should be without. the sparkling performances alone are enough to justify many hearings but the fact that both Monk and Silver are present gives this number special interest and meaning. Silver is a descendant of Bud Powell, the other great early Bop pianist who has made even more of an impression on contemporary piano players in point of stylistic influence, than Monk who’s style is just too difficult and personal. Monk opens with the intriguing, ascending theme with Sonny and Jay Jay joining him in a restatement. Then Sonny’s solo, which from the opening note is hard, passionate and deeply moving, one of his best on record. Monk does the comping behind Sonny then Jay Jay comes in with Silver backing him. Silver solos next and is succeeded by Chambers who makes way for a set of exchanges between Sonny, Art and Jay Jay. Horace remains until the two final melody choruses; then Monk takes over again and closes in unison with Sonny and Jay Jay. The Blue Note supervisors deserve credit for arranging this. It is an extremely intelligent example of perceptive a & r work.

Monk’s Reflections, is o pensive, moody ballad with a simple and beautiful melody line. Sonny and Monk are the soloists and the groove affected is suggested by the title. No two other musicians are more suited to playing together than this pair of giants. Their depth and energy is incredible.

The standard, You Stepped Out of a Dream, uptempo all the way, features a typically intense and searching Rollins. Johnson, Silver, and Chambers (bowed) solo in an equally effective fashion.

Poor Butterfly, the very pretty old song that has suddenly become popular again is treated in a properly sensitive way and at an easy, relaxed tempo with poignant solos by Sonny, Jay Jay, Horace and Paul.

This is Sonny Rollins’ second album for Blue Note as a leader. (He appeared with Bud Powell, BLP 1503 and Fats Navarro, BLP 1531 and BLP 1532). The first one, BLP 1542, features Max Roach and Don Byrd.

Sonny was listed as one of the new arrivals of the year in the 1957 Metronome Yearbook. The honor was belated when you consider that he has been on the scene since 1948. But it is a significant and happy sign that Sonny and others like him are finally beginning to be recognized as artists with something that is truly meaningful to say.

—ROBERT LEVIN

Photos by FRANCIS WOLFF
Cover Design by HAROLD FEINSTEIN
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER

RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes

A NEW LOOK AT VOLUME TWO

Conjunctions of peak artistic inspiration, emerging recording technology, music-industry fashion and economic circumstance have taken place more than once in jazz history. Sonny Rollins found these forces in alignment for roughly three years between late 1955 and 1958. The 12-inch, 33 1/3 rpm "long-playing" record was a hot new format, numerous independent jazz labels were actively recording what was clearly a new post-Parker brand of modernism, and Rollins was a young musician with much to say - and - after fulfilling his obligations to the Prestige label at the end of 1956 - no exclusive contract. The situation led Rollins to produce one of the most magnificent bodies of recorded music in jazz history, just as different circumstances had yielded concentrated creative bursts from Charlie Parker 10 years earlier and Louis Armstrong 20 years before that.

It would be nonsense to suggest that Blue Note's Alfred Lion inspired miracles in the studio that Rollins was unable to duplicate on Prestige, EmArcy, Riverside, Contemporary, Verve or Metrojazz. There is simply too much brilliant Rollins documented on these labels, under his name and with others. Still, Rollins was exceptionally consistent on his Blue Note albums. The present disc is one of his masterpieces, and a pivotal statement of the saxophonist's transition to full-time leadership.

Rollins was working as a sideman for the majority of this golden studio age, primarily for Max Roach in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet and the successor band with Kenny Dorham that the drummer formed after Brown's death. The saxophonist also continued to appear with Miles Davis, subbing for and for a time replacing John Coltrane, who originally landed the Davis gig in 1955 when Rollins was unavailable. Rollins also remained close with his mentor Thelonious Monk, playing on the late-1956 sessions that comprise Brilliant Corners. Monk reciprocates here with stunningly assertive and creative playing on two of his own compositions. The musical argument he conducts with Rollins over a flourish that the saxophonist introduces to the melody statement of "Reflections," and the propulsion that Monk's comping generates behind the tenor solo on "Misterioso," signify a daunting challenge that place Rollins's own assurance and imagination in even greater relief. The presence of Art Blakey enhances the divine tensions even further, lending additional inspiration to both the leader and his special guest. Monk, Blakey and the slightly younger J.J. Johnson — who gave Rollins two of his earliest recording opportunities, each of which included examples of the teenage Rollins's compositions - were the innovators who encouraged Rollins during his early years on the New York scene, and their majestic contributions acknowledge the respect they retained for the former prodigy.

Horace Silver and Paul Chambers were part of a later wave of modernists who arrived in New York in the early 1950s. Each had recorded with Rollins before and they rise to the challenge of the heady company here, with Silver earning extra praise for sharing piano duties with Monk on "Misterioso." A caveat should be added to original annotator Robert Levins comments regarding Silver's lineage as a modern piano soloist, as his use of space and brittle touch reveal that Monk as well as Bud Powell provided a cornerstone of the Silver style.

While the two tracks featuring Monk are the album's most famous performances, all of the music is outstanding. The two Rollins compositions, though rarely performed in the succeeding decades, are excellent examples of the pithy, logical melodic thinking that carries over into his combustible yet coherent improvisations. As with the Monk tunes and the standards, the originals inspire audacious tenor playing. The exchanges on several tracks, with Rollins invariably entering early or playing through the beginning of Blakey's breaks, are, as always, a sign that he was at his most committed.

This album cover gained an odd kind of attention when it was "quoted" by pop singer Joe Jackson. As iconic as the Francis Wolff photo may be, it is the music that has made Sonny Rollins Vol. 2 one for the ages.

- Bob Blumenthal, 1999