Jazz Articles about Sonny Rollins

Various Artists: The Prestige Records Story

by Douglas Payne
October 1, 1999

From 1949 through 1971, Prestige Records was among the most famous and successful of the independent jazz labels. Perhaps only Blue Note, which had its reign during roughly the same period, provided Prestige with significant competition. Both maintained strong, unique identities--even shared many of the same musicians and, in most cases, engineer Rudy Van Gelder. But Blue Note lavished more money on rehearsals and their albums sounded more planned than those that came from Prestige. Still, it was the spontaneous ...

Various Artists: The Prestige Records Story

by Robert Spencer
October 1, 1999

This is much more than the history of just one label: this is a primer of modern jazz. The sweep of Bob Weinstock and Prestige Records, particularly in the Fifties and early Sixties, was so broad that this collection encompasses a large part of the jazz that mattered in those days. There is a stunning roster of the biggest names possible, including Miles Davis, Gil Evans, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Eric Dolphy, and Dexter Gordon. There's ...

Sonny Rollins: The Complete Prestige Recordings

by Robert Spencer
August 1, 1999

1999 AFIM Indie Awards (Association for Independent Music) nominee for best Mainstream Jazz recording: Sonny Rollins's Global Warming. Lifetime Achievement Award winner at the Second Annual Jazz Awards, held in New York in mid-June: tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Top tenor saxophonist in Down Beat's 47th annual International Critics Poll: Sonny Rollins.

Subject of two forthcoming books: Sonny Rollins. Hugh Wyatt and Eric Nisenson have both penned Sonny studies. According to Fantasy Records, “though neither is an 'authorized' biography, Rollins cooperated ...

Sonny Rollins: The Standard Sonny Rollins

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 1, 1999

I tend to think of Sonny Rollins in terms of his tenures with the various labels he has recorded for over the past almost 50 years. In the '50s it was Prestige, Blue Note, Riverside, and Contemporary. The saxophonist would then drop off the scene in the early '60s, followed by a brief stay with RCA Victor that was followed up with three albums for Impulse and then his lengthy and often disappointing stay with Milestone. Clearly, the RCA period ...

Sonny Rollins (OJC: No Problem

by Douglas Payne
May 1, 1999

This 1981 session finds tenor sax giant Sonny Rollins breezing through a lively program with special guests Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and Tony Williams on drums. Neither Hutcherson nor Williams were actively leading their own sessions during this period, so it's nice to hear them here with Rollins. However, once the tenor man is done expressing himself, it is guitarist Bobby Broom who most dominates the overall sound (longtime Rollins bassist, Bob Cranshaw, is the third Bob here, heard on ...

Sonny Rollins: No Problem

by AAJ Staff
April 1, 1999

Many of Sonny’s later albums are gentle breezes, a spot of happy singing without the tense surge of his earlier work. No Problem is a good example of this: Sonny had made pianoless albums before ( Way Out West, Freedom Suite ), and albums where guitar replaced piano ( The Bridge ), but this sounds like none of those. Think of this as a vacation, with simple pleasures and sunny rhythm. Some don’t like Rollins from this era, but this ...

Sonny Rollins: Global Warming

by Douglas Payne
May 1, 1998

Those who write about Sonny Rollins often do jazz listeners a great injustice. There is an expectation for historical, precedent-setting music. When a new Rollins disc is issued, hopes are shattered and mighty swords of regret are drawn. Usually it's because the music does not somehow measure up to the brilliant work this tenor giant did in the fifties and sixties. Or, the argument goes, Rollins' recent recordings simply can't match the powerful creative intensity of his live performances. On ...