BNJ-61015

Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard Volume 3

Released - February 21,1985

Recording and Session Information

"Village Vanguard", NYC, evening set, November 3, 1957
Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Wilbur Ware, bass; Elvin Jones, drums.

tk.8 Four
tk.9 Woody 'N You
tk.15 I'll Remember April
tk.16 Get Happy
tk.18 All The Things You Are
tk.19 Get Happy (short version)

See Also: BLP 1581 BN-LA-475-H2

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
All The Things You Are	J.Kern-O.Hammerstein	November 3 1957
Woodyn' You	Dizzy Gillespie	November 3 1957
Four	Miles Davis	November 3 1957
Side Two
I'll Remember April	Raye-DePaul-Johnston	November 3 1957
Get Happy	H- Arlen-T. Koehler	November 3 1957
Get Happy (Alt. Take)	H- Arlen-T. Koehler	November 3 1957

Liner Notes

The factors surely contributed to the success of these recordings. Sonny, who is notoriously uncomfortable in recording studios, was captured in live performance for the first time; it was also the first location recording at the Vanguard. The nightclub atmosphere certainly contributes to the rough-and-tumble mood; but whatever the ultimate cause, the musical effect is often overwhelming. When these men mesh, the end product is music of enormous strength and beauty. After years of living with and listening to the earlier Vanguard album, I still find performances like "Old Devil Moon" and "Striver's Row" (to cite only my two favorites) overwhelming experiences, and after several listenings I begin to get a similar feeling from much of the music here.

"Woody'n You" from this album is a fine example of the trio at its best. Rollins begins his solo stealthily by inspecting the introductory vamp for a chorus, then proceeds to expand his melodic vision. He jumps freely between both ends of the tenor's range, receiving excellent support from Wilbur and Elvin. The bass solo and fours are meaty, and the journey back to the theme suggests a riffing big band.

One needn't blow-by-blow this music to death, however, there is much for the listener to extract for his or herself, and some excellent analyses of Rollins already in print. Those not familiar with Gunther Schuller's "Sonny Rollins and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation" (in the aforementioned Jazz Panorama) or "Sonny Rollins Spontaneous Orchestration" (in Martin Williams' The Jazz Tradition) are urged to check out these essential studies. Let me simply note three general points about the Rollins style. First, Sonny's methods are various and ever-shifting, Long strings of eighth notes give way to gentle tuggings at the original melodic shape. Staccato honks and growls follow rhythmically precise pirouettes around simple melodic phrases or complex linear developments. Whirlwind fanfares are jammed amidst straightforward theme statements. Pet licks which other players rarely alter get examined and thematically transformed over entire choruses. All of this and more takes place during these performances.

Second, there is much humor here, for Sonny is one of the supreme musical wits. This talent has unfortunately been misunderstood by more sober-minded critics and musicians. "Because of the humor in my music, people have accused me of not really playing, of just playing around," Sonny has lamented, "In fact John (Coltrane) told me that about 'Tenor Madness' (a 1956 tenor battle between the two giants); he said 'Aw, man, you were just playing with me."' Yet Sonny's humor is anything but frivolous, No better example exists than "Can't Get Started" on A Night at the Village Vanguard, during which Sonny calls the entire ballad tradition into question by alternating straight and serious romantic lines with bellicose, slapstick quotes; the process is not unrelated to the later and more extreme ballad work of Albert Ayler.

Sonny's fondness for humorous references also pervades the present tracks, with allusions made to such disparate material as "Manhattan," "Pop Goes the Weasel," "You Are Too Beautiful." "Love in Bloom" and "The Star Spangled Banner." The citations can take more subtle and serious forms as well, like the suggestion of a Charlie Parker solo from "Bird of Paradise" at the opening of "All the Things You Are"; or Elvin's drum intro to "Four," a far cry from the Art Blakey preface on Mlles' recording yet clearly with that original in mind.

Finally, perhaps the strongest sensation generated by Rollins and the entire trio is one of incredible rhythmic power, Sonny's broken-field running out of endless ideas. Ware's throbbing and Jones' thrashing create quite a juggernaut; and the three continually achieve such ecstatic moments as the beginning of the third solo chorus on "Night in Tunisia," where the percussive stresses of all the instruments seem to merge into one voice. For a lesson in the building and releasing of rhythmic tension, hear the first version of "Get Happy," then consult the alternate take for a totally different tempo and approach. Like everything else in the album, both are bursting with emotion and both swing like mad. This absolute intensity is the direct result of Rollins' daring, his burgeoning improvisational powers, the trio format and the "right" bassist and drummer.

I can hear Sonny now, laughing about the fuss people are bound to make over this album and putting down almost all of his past work: "There aren't many of my recordings that I like... My wife hates any kind of reissue; she thinks it's the worst thing that could happen to someone." But while November 3, 1957 may indeed have been just one night in the life of Theodore Walter Rollins, it was a special night which saw an exceptional gathering of forces. All those who love Rollins' music will agree that it is good to have these ten tracks around. for they represent the best "new" Rollins recordings in a decade.

Sonny's return to performing in 1972 after several years of sabbatical, and his desire (expressed one year later) to "play as much as I can," is equally gratifying. There is much monumental on nights that few of his albums can touch. I recall a 1963 evening when Sonny and his band of the time (Don Cherry, Henry Grimes and Billy Higgins) tore up a St Louis club called Gino's; more recently, in February 1975, Rollins was back at the Village Vanguard pouring out more brilliant solos. Those of us who consider ourselves Rollins fans will never stop listening, because we have learned that this self-effacing giant can reach such rare and beautiful heights in any given performance. Like the music in this album, from 1957. Or maybe tonight.

- By Bob Blumenthal 1975