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I found this one at my local Best Buy today and got to listen to the first track (13+ minutes) on my way back to work. Mesmerizing. I can't wait to listen to the rest!

I'm in agreement with the opinions stated thus far: you've gotta go cold turkey. Try to cut down on drinking a bit as well. When an alcohol buzz kicks in, its hard to resist the craving.

I couldn't attend the show, and now I am kicking myself. I've been hearing all over town that this was one of Sonny's best performances in quite some time. My friend's co-worker said that of the 7 or 8 times he's seen Sonny Rollins since the sixties, this one was the best. Here's an article from Tribune critic Howard Reich: Jazz giant Sonny Rollins runs roughshod over cliches By Howard Reich Tribune arts critic For a jazz icon such as tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, it cannot be easy to compete against your own legend. How does the man who recorded "Saxophone Colossus" and "The Bridge," the musician who practically personifies the jazz life — in all it glories and travails — possibly withstand comparisons to his earlier triumphs? How does he walk onstage and once again play Sonny Rollins as the world expects to him to be played, instantly producing the heroic solos and brilliant technical feats that his name has come to signify? In some previous performances, Rollins essentially has gone through the motions, giving listeners the thunderous crescendos and buoyant calypso beats that they remember from his recordings, right on cue, almost by rote. But the intermissionless, two-hour marathon Rollins played over the weekend in Orchestra Hall was different, as spontaneous and mercurial a set as he has given Chicago in years. Switching restlessly from tenderness to tempestuousness, from serene melody to far-out dissonance, from the skittering bebop rhythms of his youth to the high-flown soliloquies that remain his stock in trade, Rollins erased lingering doubts about the enduring vibrancy of his art. For at nearly 75, he reminded listeners that he still can skirt expectations, that he still can be more than a mere impersonation of himself. Though every set-piece he and his sextet played Friday night held fascinating turns of musical thought, his most startling work unfolded in a vast transformation of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square." Listeners who have followed Rollins' career through the decades already know that he has found entire worlds of sound in familiar, traditional popular songs. But his monumental reassessment of the gorgeous ballad practically turned into a recital unto itself. From the song's opening notes, Rollins summed up the essentials of his style: the down-home blues sensibility, the grainy and gloriously unvarnished tone, the rasps and growls and cries that recast a classic tune in deeply autobiographical terms. Floating lyrically above the beat one moment, hitting swing rhythms hard the next, Rollins' first volleys on "A Nightingale Sang" tapped a lifetime of hard-won knowledge and hard-earned technique. Then he really started to work. Signaling the rest of the band to stop playing, Rollins ventured into a head-tripping, genre-defying, stream-of-consciousness cadenza that freely bounded among styles and idioms and vernaculars. Throaty low notes, surging rhythms, long and winding phrases, telegraphic little riffs, shards of melody and bursts of dissonance — the man nimbly unfurled it all, proving that he still can think as fast as he can play. Suddenly "A Nightingale Sang" re-emerged as "Time After Time," then tipped its hat to "Chicago" and "My Kind of Town" before wending its way back to a motif that Rollins had articulated a few minutes earlier. Yet this outpouring of tone and idea, this illuminating insight into the way Rollins conceives sound, cohered as a bona fide solo. Hungrier to play than this listener has heard him in a long time, Rollins relentlessly interrupted — or, to put it more politely, assisted — solos by his sidemen. The lithe and silken lines that the inspired Chicago guitarist Bobby Broom played throughout the evening would have been appealing in their own right, but they became that much more interesting when answered by Rollins' muscular provocations. Similarly, the statements of trombonist Clifton Anderson, electric bassist Bob Cranshaw, drummer Steve Jordan and percussionist Kimati Dinizulu often received a shot of adrenaline from the maestro. Though a little less amplification would have helped listeners savor the grit and expressive power of Rollins' timbre, there was no denying the vigor of this performance, a tour de force by any standard — even Rollins'.

I've done that before.

I really like Branford's working of "Rose Petals". Some really intense playing.

I love "Desire" as well. In fact, its the album that got me into Dylan!

I think that between the "Blood On The Tracks" peak and his recent "Time Out Of Mind/Love & Theft" peak, his best albums are "Slow Train Coming" and "Oh Mercy".

Come back and visit us soon!

I have it and quite enjoy it, but then again, I'm an Elvin Jones whore. Just about anything he plays on, I'm gonna enjoy. This disc has some real nice cuts with Antoine Rooney and Mike Brecker. The piano Carlos McKinney plays the hell out of "Wise One". Elvin sounds great as ever. I recommend it.

Beautiful. Thanks for posting the pics, Mark!

I'd say the Blue Note box set is one of his better ones in that dept. I'd give it a 2 on the gruntophone index.

I have been fortunate to meet both jazzshrink and cannonball-addict once a piece, and meeting and becoming friends with sheldonm and ejp626 has given me the chance to go to shows in Chicago with people who actually like jazz! Makes the experience so much more fulfilling. Thanks guys! I look forward to meeting many more board members, both Chicago area dwellers and beyond.

I got 67.....

No kidding.

I love the alternate of "One Finger Snap" from Emperyan Isles.

He might be thinking about "Never Let me Go". Both that and "Inside Out" are much more "out" then the box set though.

I was playing this Conn really freakin' loud last night and have had the tunes in my brain all morning. Sometimes I think that I like this session even more than "Unity". Its one of those perfect moments in recorded jazz history. Every track is a gem. I can't get over that part of the head of "Plaza De Toros" where Sam Rivers is just fluttering that eerie soundscape while Grant Green hypnoticly picks at those two notes with Larry and Elvin throwing down that dirty Latin groove. Just beautiful. What a great album, with great tunes and great playing by all. Definitely one of Grant Green's finest hours. Sam Rivers is just a monster breathing fire all over the place, and Elvin so casually demonstrating why he's the greatest ever. I like Larry Young so much more than any other organist....there's just something so interesting about his music. It just grabs me and won't let go.

Man with the Golden Arm - good point comparing it to Light Made Lighter, one of my favorite Blue Series releases. Luc's Lantern sounds even more inside than that one to me, but definitely in the same vein of more accessible piano trio sessions. reyles, thanks for the heads up about the quartet disc! I didn't even know about his one. I love O'Neal's Porch, so I'll definitely be picking this one up. I feel like I really need to listen to Luc's Lantern some more. I'll do that this weekend and comment some more next week.

I picked this one up a couple of days ago. I've only gotten the chance to give it one listen (which I admit was not a 100% attentive one). My first impression is that its a good, if not great, session. Its very different from his other releases being that is very much in the straight-ahead mold, with very little of the more "downtown" sound Parker is known for. It has some very strong playing by the piano player Eri Yamamoto and drummer Michael Thompson....both new names to me. It also features lots of "up front" playing by Parker (not so much in terms of solos, but in the comping), which is a treat to hear in this more mainstream context. I guess really the only reason I wasn't quite that taken by the session is that alot of the compositions seemed to have a similar mood to them, which is strange for William Parker. But I really feel I need to listen to this one more times to form a solid opinion. Anyways, just wanted to get some discussion started about this one. Anyone else heard it?

I agree with the general consensus of the other posters. Get it ASAP! Its one of my favorite box sets.

No kidding....those were some good ribs.

I guess I take my singlehood for granted sometimes! Stay in touch Eric.....I'll be seeing Hutcherson for sure, and will try to see Stefon Harris, though I'm not so sure about the Blackout band.

jazzmessenger, PM me if you decide to come into town. I'll likely see all three of those shows.

All I can say is its about damn time Dewey Redman got in there! He's been scheduled several times recently, but it has never actually happened. I'm excited to see him on the schedule and am really looking forward to seeing him. I wonder if Joe knows that Stefon Harris' Blackout is an electric/fusion band. I doubt he would have booked them if he did.