Sonny Rollins Before and After
I'm feeling really out there. I hate to admit that I didn't know old Sonny Rollins was still walking the planet. For some reason, I thought he had died some years ago, but I couldn't find an obit out there and I see that he won a Granny for lifetime achievement this year.
I personally love Sonny's early playing the most, before he went out there and spent all that time on that bridge. I do like that album from '63 The Bridge. Still, his earlier playing was just so remarkable and spontaneous. Like those mono Village Vanguard sides, the Sound of Sonny, Way Out West, Freedom Jazz Suite, Saxophone Colossus, etc. This music has been inspiring me (and many others) for years. I just got the complete Prestige recordings box set and it's full of the cuts that made his reputation.
There were some albums he did later, after the Bridge, that I thought were very disappointing (like East Broadway Rundown).
It's just an opinion, so it's not worth much really. However, if someone really digs some of his later recordings, let me know what they are.
Reply To Post [Report Abuse]