The Standard Sonny Rollins

[Mark Stryker]

Here's another Sonny Rollins question I've always wondered about. "The Standard Sonny Rollins" (RCA, 1964) contains some unbelievably great playing, but, of course, most of the tunes were intentionally kept short, either through fade-outs, edits or simply brief performances. It's frustrating, especially the fade-outs on, say, "Three Little Words" and "I'll Be Seeing You," where Sonny's inspiration is high and he sounds like he's about to play a zillion choruses but the tunes fade midstream after about two minutes. So, the question: Are there completely unedited masters somewhere of these sessions, where we might someday be able to hear all the incredible shit Sonny continued to play after the fade-outs? (I also wouldn't mind hearing the rest of Herbie Hancock's obviously edited piano solo on "It Could Happen to you.")

Incidentally, when I was hanging around backstage after Sonny's concert in Detroit a couple weeks ago -- he sounded fantastic, by the way -- I heard him refer to this record as "one of my favorites" when somebody asked him to sign a copy. I meant to ask Sonny whose idea it was, his or producer George Avakian's, to program the record with short performances, fade-outs, etc., but I forgot.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Chuck Nessa]

Dream on....

[Dan Gould]

I'd almost wonder, if the intention was short performances, how long did Sonny go anyway? They wouldn't record ten minute takes, or very many of them, if they had enough for the concept of the album. Unless that concept really was imposed afterward.