Music : Night At The Village Vanguard
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724349979529
Format: Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Label: Blue Note Records
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Blue Note Records
Release Date: September 14, 1999
Sales Rank: 7057
Studio: Blue Note Records
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Editorial Review:
Album Description:
The mid-fifties was an astonishing period for this saxophone genius. And for all his great work in this era, this daring album and "Saxophone Colossus" remain his crowning achievements. With just bass (Wilbur Ware) and drums (Elvin Jones) in support, Rollins creates tenor saxophone improvisations of increible beauty and inexhaustible creativity. Twenty years after the initial album, a double album containing the rest of the releasable material from this magic night at the Village Vanguard was issued. With the recent re-discovery of the original tapes, the performance has been assembled as it happened and beautifully remastered by original engineer with superb depth of sound. Several of Sonny's stage announcements have been added to master for the first time.
Amazon.com:
In 1957, Sonny Rollins was at an early creative peak, already a masterful improviser who could range from hard-bitten bop blues to broad or sly humor, all conveyed with a swaggering virtuosity and bullying warmth. One of the first jazz musicians to develop the extended solo, Rollins would turn tunes inside out rhythmically, often building a solo around complex variations on a tune's melody. The Vanguard recordings come from a period when Rollins found maximum freedom in a trio pared down to the essentials of tenor, bass, and drums, and the multiple takes here testify to his fluent invention. Disc 1 of this set is highlighted by two takes of "A Night in Tunisia," the first recorded at a matinee with bassist Donald Bailey and drummer Pete LaRoca, the second and faster version at the evening performance with regular accompanists bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones. The second CD continues the evening performance with Ware and Jones. It's a uniquely gifted threesome, with each musician seeming to invent new ways to swing, without a note or a musical opportunity wasted. Both Rollins and Ware reveal their relationship to Thelonious Monk in the ability to create complex, arresting music out of shifts in rhythmic inflections. It's especially apparent in the second version of "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise." In this context, Jones has an opportunity to show just how melodic a drummer he was. The two versions of "Get Happy" demonstrate Rollins's ability to make complex and witty music out of the most banal material, while "What Is This Thing Called Love" is a tour de force of sustained group invention. --Stuart Broomer
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
There have been many famous recordings done at this famous club in NYC, but this is the most memorable alongside the Bill Evans Trio in '61. But this was the first and perhaps the best of Sonny Rollins' live trio recordings. One could say "Way Out West" as another fine example of Sonny's freer approach to improvisation but there's no contest when he is caught live without the inhibiting environment of a studio. I've worn out both Volumes One & Two so this 2 CD set is a "blessing in disguise" (to use one of Sonny's future titles). Elvin has never sounded more rawer and spontaneous and Ware is just about the most perfect bassist Sonny has ever had not discounting Bob Cranshaw or Ray Brown. If you want an introduction to his music, you can start here!! Either "Sonnymoon for Two" or "Ole Devil Moon" can set you off.
Rating: -
If someone were to ask me, "what is jazz?" I might postulate, "A NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD by Sonny Rollins." Leave it to BLUE NOTE. On November 3, 1957 Jazz History was being made at The Village Vanguard by Sonny Rollins, Elvin Jones, and Wilbur Ware. (Pete La Roca, and Donald Bailey replace EJ and WW on one take.) This monaural LIVE set could quite possibly be the most impressive feat of Live Jazz Improvisation on The Planet Oyth. This was one of Rollins' first public appearances as the leader of a combo and the very first recording of jazz inside The Vanguard.
These sides are going to puzzle some of the novices or non-musicians of jazz appreciation. You need to get past the mono sound recording. (What, none of you listen to Charlie Parker?) This is not background jazz to be played at your next trendy cocktail party. (Buy some Cal Tjader or Martin Denny CDs for that.) But, you Squares might want to invite over some real beatnik jazz freaks, open some wine, and blow a little boo. (Speaking of beatniks, Kerouac worked and recited at The Vanguard.) This music requires active participation on the part of the listener. If you are attentive, you're in for a real treat.
To quote Rollins in a recent interview: "Jazz is a surprise, informed by your fundamentals in music. I'm a subconscious player."
No truer words were ever spoken. It's as significant a declaration today, as it might have been back in 1957. Here, Sonny Rollins & Co. are laying ... Read More
Rating:  -
I have always loved early Sonny Rollins, until I purchased this CD. Just too much soloing, and not nearly enough of the band.
Rating: -
Just as there is a top shelf reserved for the greatest jazz studio-recorded albums, there is also a special place reserved for the greatest live performances captured on tape. Jazz itself is a form that is often at it's fullest expression when experienced with the spontaneity and creative fuel that only a live show offers. Just think for a moment of some of the legendary live performances that have added to the cannon of jazz recordings: Yusef Lateef's "Live at Pep's", Ahmad Jamal's "Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958", Art Blakey's "At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1", Bill Evans's "The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961", Duke Ellington's "Ellington At Newport 1956", Charlie Parker and company's "Jazz at Massey Hall" , Charles Mingus' "Mingus at Antibes", John Coltrane's "Live at Birdland", Miles Davis' "In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete", Eric Dolphy's string of albums at the five spot, , Roland Kirk's "Bright Moments", Shelly Manne's "At the Blackhawk, Vol. 1", Art Pepper's "The Complete Village Vanguard Sessions", and the list goes on and on. Well with Sonny Rollin's "A Night at the Village Vanguard" we get an album that not only belongs on that list, but that should be right at, or near the top of it. Firstly this is due to the importance of the album, which rests with the fact that it was the first album to be recorded live at the Village Vanguard, a feat copied many times over to great effect by the best in the business. According to ... Read More
Rating:  -
I have to agree with Minh's review here. I've bought quite a few recordings on which Rollins played, one of which I would consider to be one of highest fidelity jazz albums I own (The Bridge), some which sound very good (with Miles on Bag's Grove in 1954 and with Monk in 1953 and 1954) and some (with Bud Powell in 1949) which don't. Rollin's tone is one of the most beautiful of any tenor I've heard--as distinctive as his phrasing--and it's a shame it's not captured here. I'd rate the sound quality as inferior to the 1949 recodings with Bud Powell; in fact, I'd place the sound quality somewhere between 1937 and 1945. I would think that recordings made in 1957 and released as part of the RVG series in 1999 would sound better, even club recordings. However, they are what they are, and as original historical documents they're not likely to be improved much until we're able to virtually recreate recordings based on the 'bones' of the originals (like building a fleshed out T-Rex based on fossils, which I'm sure some will object to). But for now enjoy this great slice of history. Just be forewarned.
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