Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1 Review by Stephen Cook

...Upon listening to this, his fine debut for the label, not to mention classics like Saxophone Colossus and Sonny Rollins Plus Four, one almost takes for granted the tenor giant's ability to reel off a nonstop flow of breathtaking solo lines while keeping an overall thematic structure intact. And even though it's not as classic sounding as other Blue Note titles like Vol. 2 or Newk's Time, Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1 will satisfy Rollins fans comfortable with a mostly loose and free-flowing set; the hard-swinging originals "Bluesnote" and "Sonnysphere" certainly fit the bill, while the loping blues "Decision" and easy swinger "Plain Jane" up the ante with fetching head statements. Topping things off, Rollins includes one of his singular Broadway song interpretations with the Finian's Rainbow ballad "How Are Things in Glocca Mora."..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHzJjmKPPV4&list=RDhHzJjmKPPV4&start_radio=1

#sonnyrollins #donaldbyrd #wyntonkelly #generamey #maxroach #bluenote #jazz

Horace Silver, Horace Silver Trio, 1956 on Blue Note

BLP 1520, originally released in 1956. Horace Silver on piano with Art Blakey on drums and three different bass players on different cuts: Gene Ramey, Curly Russell, and Percy Heath. Compiles recordings from two earlier 10″ releases: 1953’s New Faces – New Sounds and 1954’s Vol. 2. Sabu Martinez joins on “Message from Kenya.”

Excellent hard bop album – maybe lesser known than the Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (BLP 1518) also released in 1956. Recorded at WOR studios in New York.

My copy is part of the Vinyl Me Please Anthology The Story of Blue Note Records, second edition. You can tell it’s the second edition because the labels correctly identify it as mono, where the first edition had stereo labels.

#1950s #1956 #ArtBlakey #BlueNote #CurlyRussell #GeneRamey #HoraceSilver #HoraceSilverTrio #jazz #PercyHeath #TheStoryOfBlueNoteRecords #vinyl #vinylMePlease #VinylMePleaseAnthology #vinylcollection