Sonny Rollins discoveries

[Hardbopjazz]

In a recent interview in "Hot House", Sony Rollins mentions 3 newly discovered, trio recordings from Carnegie Hall, 1957, tucked away in the valuts of the library of congress. He plans on releasing them soon on his label.

Anyone have more info on this? Was this talked about on here before? Also, what other gems might be in the vaults of the library of congress waiting to be unearthed?

[Chuck Nessa]

It is from the same concert as the Monk/Coltrane release of a couple years back. It was discussed HERE.

[Cliff Englewood]

Chuck, how did you resist the urge to go, "Sony Rollins mentions"?????

Could it be you're losing your touch?????????

Edited September 7, 2007 by Cliff Englewood

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

saw this really budget cd for 5 big ones today: 1st 3 cuts is sonny/don cherry in stolkholm, the last three are sonny/don w/ our man higgins, i think it said NYC-- they do the Star Spangled Banner/Oleo/St. Thomas on that part i remember-- of the dates was 63, the other 62, or was it 64 and 63--- anyways i think the cd was labled WITHOUT A SONG-- really cheapo label, but do you guys know about these dates, is it radio b'cast material prob? i dont buy a lot of sonny really but i kind of want it just to see what master higgins does on st. thomas!!!

[Kalo]

I recently heard a talk given at the Berklee School of Music by Larry Applebaum, who in his capacity as Studio Engineer/Supervisor at the Library of Congress discovered the Carnegie Hall tapes of the concert featuring Monk/'trane, Rollins, etc.

He brought along some of his finds, including one of the Rollins Carnegie recordings (IIRC, there were only two longish tracks by Rollins - one tune each from that day's two concerts), which sounded great. He mentioned that Rollins had tentative plans to release the performances at some point.

Applebaum also brought along some video finds, including the only footage ever shot inside Birdland, for the Steve Allen show, featuring Basie's band, as well as an NET broadcast of Cecil Taylor's group, from a program hosted by Martin Williams. Wild!

I took a lot of notes, and I'll write them up here when I get a chance. Next time I get to Washington, I plan to visit Applebaum at the Library. There's gold in them there halls!

[bretprimack]

Here's the exact story:

Last year, Larry Applebaum from the Smithsonian contacted me, saying he found some material from Sonny's 57 debut, at Carnegie Hall. He sent Clifton Anderson, Sonny's trombonist and nephew, the disc. Clifton didn't have time to listen to it, and Sonny prefers not to listen.

So they sent it me.

Three great tracks, Mack The Knife, Some Enchanted Evening, Sonnymoon for Two, played by Trio that included Wendell Marshall and Kenny Dennis.

I told Sonny he'd like the music. And that I had an idea, why not return to Carnegie Hall, 50 years after the fact, with another Trio to re-visit the same material. Then release both on his Doxy Records.

Sonny liked the idea, and next Tuesday night, September 18th, is Sonny's 50th Anniversary Concert at Carnegie Hall. The first half includes a Trio with Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes, playing those same three tracks. The 2nd half of the concert, Sonny's regular group plays, with some new material written by Sonny, including JJ for JJ Johnson.

Listen to highlights from the '57 concert: http://sonnyrollins.com/media/sonnyrollins...saryconcert.mp3

Watch the Podcast, 50 Years Later: http://www.sonnyrollins.com

And please check out Sonny's redesigned website: http://www.sonnyrollins.com

If you're in the NYC area, there are still some seats available.

[clifford_thornton]

Cool! Thanks for the story.

[erhodes]

saw this really budget cd for 5 big ones today: 1st 3 cuts is sonny/don cherry in stolkholm, the last three are sonny/don w/ our man higgins, i think it said NYC-- they do the Star Spangled Banner/Oleo/St. Thomas on that part i remember-- of the dates was 63, the other 62, or was it 64 and 63--- anyways i think the cd was labled WITHOUT A SONG-- really cheapo label, but do you guys know about these dates, is it radio b'cast material prob? i dont buy a lot of sonny really but i kind of want it just to see what master higgins does on st. thomas!!!

There are 7 live recordings of the Rollins-Cherry band from 1962-63 in addition to "Our Man In Jazz":

8/7/62, NYC

1/15/63, Copenhagen

1/17/63, Stockholm

1/19/63, Paris (2 concerts)

1/20/63, Rome

1/29/63, Stuttgart

Billy Higgins is the drummer on all of them. Henry Grimes is the bassist on the '63 dates. Bob Cranshaw is on the '62 session. All of this material except Rome has been bootleged numerous times on both lp and cd: Moon, Landscape, Bandstand, JazzUp, Jazz Anthology, Unique Jazz, Jazz Connoisseur, Magnetic. The sound on all of them is fair to poor whatever the source. None of them sound like "Our Man In Jazz", mostly but not entirely due to the audio quality. I've never seen a bootleg of the Rome date but there is a five minute clip of "52nd Street Theme" on Youtube with Sonny wearing a white dinner jacket.

As long as I'm at it, there are three studio tracks by the Grimes edition of the band from 2/20/63 that RCA has issued on various compilations.

[erhodes]

Applebaum also brought along some video finds, including the only footage ever shot inside Birdland, for the Steve Allen show, featuring Basie's band, as well as an NET broadcast of Cecil Taylor's group, from a program hosted by Martin Williams. Wild!

The Taylor was shot at the Village Gate on September 10, 1965. The audio was issued on Ozone 19 as was the Mingus material from the same broadcast. There are two Taylor tracks: "Number One" and "Octagonal Skirt and Fancy Pants". I believe Taylor plays around inside the piano using a birdcage.

Glad to hear that the video has survived. Does he also have the Mingus?

[clifford_thornton]

saw this really budget cd for 5 big ones today: 1st 3 cuts is sonny/don cherry in stolkholm, the last three are sonny/don w/ our man higgins, i think it said NYC-- they do the Star Spangled Banner/Oleo/St. Thomas on that part i remember-- of the dates was 63, the other 62, or was it 64 and 63--- anyways i think the cd was labled WITHOUT A SONG-- really cheapo label, but do you guys know about these dates, is it radio b'cast material prob? i dont buy a lot of sonny really but i kind of want it just to see what master higgins does on st. thomas!!!

There are 7 live recordings of the Rollins-Cherry band from 1962-63 in addition to "Our Man In Jazz":

8/7/62, NYC

1/15/63, Copenhagen

1/17/63, Stockholm

1/19/63, Paris (2 concerts)

1/20/63, Rome

1/29/63, Stuttgart

Billy Higgins is the drummer on all of them. Henry Grimes is the bassist on the '63 dates. Bob Cranshaw is on the '62 session. All of this material except Rome has been bootleged numerous times on both lp and cd: Moon, Landscape, Bandstand, JazzUp, Jazz Anthology, Unique Jazz, Jazz Connoisseur, Magnetic. The sound on all of them is fair to poor whatever the source. None of them sound like "Our Man In Jazz", mostly but not entirely due to the audio quality. I've never seen a bootleg of the Rome date but there is a five minute clip of "52nd Street Theme" on Youtube with Sonny wearing a white dinner jacket.

As long as I'm at it, there are three studio tracks by the Grimes edition of the band from 2/20/63 that RCA has issued on various compilations.

I remember having a couple of these on maybe Jazz Anthology LPs? Sound was pretty rotten.

Too bad, because that band is sick...

[bertrand]

The Library of Congress and the Smithsonian are two different things.

[clifford_thornton]

I thought Appelbaum worked for LOC.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

wait is OUR MAN IN JAZZ live????

[AllenLowe]

so as I undersand it, Clifton Anderson did not have time to listen to one of the major musical findings of the last ten years?

hmmm...might be why that CONTEMPORARY Sonny Rollins group continues to produce large amounts of snoozing -

and the concert next will week will only have Sonny with a decent group on those same tunes? Can I purchase tix for just the trio portion? pro-rated, of course -

I love Sonny, and this will probably just get everybody mad, but why does he continue to live in musical oblivion? Does anybody every tell him the truth? To my ears, even the much-touted thing recorded by Carl Smith sounds like a musical digression - on the way to somewhere that he just never gets to anymore -

sorry to be so negative but this shi* drives me nuts - the guy hasn't made a decent reocrd in 35 years - it's like watching Ezra Pound write graphic novels -

Edited September 11, 2007 by AllenLowe

[Tom Storer]

so as I undersand it, Clifton Anderson did not have time to listen to one of the major musical findings of the last ten years?

Come on, can you blame him for avoiding that painful comparison?

[AllenLowe]

good point -

[lubbee]

And now Sonny won't release the recording from the concert last fall. He says his own playing is not up to snuff. By that standard, he's have to delete nearly every recording for the last 40 years! Christian McBride vs Bob Cranshaw playing lame quarter notes with that awful electric buzz and Roy Haynes vs whoever is ambling aimlessly in Sonny's group? I just saw Roy and his group was great as was his playing.

Sonny the enigma rolls on. Instead of the Carnegie Hall concert he's releasing a DVD of his current group. What a shame. Sonny said in a recent interview that he does not listen to either his won recordings or even, for the last 20 years or so, other music. This explains, perhaps, the complete absence of development during that time. His groups never get any better no matter who is in them or how long they play together. Compare with Phil Woods, for example. Sonny says he doesn't listen to what is happening behind him, either, which explains the absence of self-criticism. Compare with Lee Konitz who says he listens to EVERYTHING happening behind him in order to "lay the right notes" down. Listen to the next to last tune on the last record. Could he have listened to that and put it out? Was that any better than the Carnegie Hall trio? Of course not. It's too bad. I don't think we'll hear Sonny playing with Christian or Roy again, not to mention any other great musicians. Clifton Anderson may be a really nice guy who obviously can play the trombone well enough to do ensemble work. But would anyone want to hear him instead of Steve Davis, or Herwig, or Wycliff or any other trombonist? But that's the way Sonny likes it with no one on his level. But the consequence of that approach is that the music is almost always awful, as the listener tries to do what Sonny does, not listen to the rest of the group except insofar as the comp is even and unobtrusive. It's too bad given the greatness of Sonny's gifts.

[Chuck Nessa]

Artists are a pain in the ass.

[AllenLowe]

hey, who's this lubbee guy? good post; he speaks the TRUTH -

except for that Phil Woods stuff -

Edited March 15, 2008 by AllenLowe

[Sam Sherry]

Sonny says he doesn't listen to what is happening behind him, either . . .

Are you sure? Can you point us toward that quote?

[JSngry]

hey, who's this lubbee guy? good post; he speaks the TRUTH -

Apparently the truth, like the dollar, ain't what it used to be...

[AllenLowe]

c'mon now, it's been clear since about 1980 that Sonny does not listen to anything going on around him - or he'd have had a nervous breakdown years ago -

come back lubbee and help me out here -

I'm s

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k

i

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g

Edited March 15, 2008 by AllenLowe

[danasgoodstuff]

For my money, Sonny need not listen to anything but his own heart and mind, certainly not to you or I. The concert I heard shortly after carneige Hall was fine and I'd be happy to have a recording of that or something similar. Clifton in particular had as lovely a sound as i've ever heard come out of a trombone...

[flat5]

"Our Man In Jazz" is my favorite Rollins album. Yes, it is live.

[Aggie87]

Come back and chat some more, lubbee and Sam Sherry. Curious first posts.