Tag: Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (1957) {Deluxe Edition 2018}
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 01:25:10 minutes | 5,52 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Mora.jp | Booklet, Front Cover | © Contemporary

“Way Out West”, originally recorded for the Contemporary label in 1957, qualifies as an all-time Sonny Rollins classic. Culled from a 3 A.M. session with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne, the material collected here demonstrates why Rollins was considered the top tenor saxophone in jazz at the time of the recording. This Deluxe 60th Anniversary edition celebrates this landmark album in Rollins’ career with a full second LP of rare and previously unreleased bonus material and new liner notes by Grammy-winning writer Neil Tesser.

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz  | Time – 34:31 minutes | 686 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Front Cover | © Impulse!

This 1965 session marked Sonny Rollins’s debut recording for the Impulse! label and ranks among his best releases. This collection of standards showcases Rollins’s sax playing but his band has also been lauded for an exceptional performance here, notably pianist Ray Bryant.

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins And The Contemporary Leaders (1958/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 44:30 minutes | 1,5 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Booklet, Front cover | © Contemporary Records/Concord Music
Recorded: October 20, 21 & 22, 1958 at Contemporary Studio, Los Angeles

Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded for the Contemporary label, featuring performances by Rollins with Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar, and Shelly Manne with Victor Feldman added on one track. It was the last record Rollins produced before a hiatus from recording and performing in public, before his return with The Bridge in 1962.

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet (1956/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 37:25 minutes | 1,48 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

This album, not released until 1956, contains the first recordings Sonny Rollins made for Prestige as leader in 1951 and 1953. Rollins is backed on four songs by the Modern Jazz Quartet (John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke), eight other tracks feature Heath with Kenny Drew and Art Blakey, while Miles Davis plays piano on the closing number I Know. Several of these songs appeared in 1952 on 10 inch vinyl entitled Sonny Rollins Quartet.

Sonny Rollins – Tour De Force (1957/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 33:29 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

Released in 1957 on Prestige, Tour De Force includes the final recordings Sonny Rollins made for the label. The saxophonist is backed by pianist Kenny Drew, bassist George Morrow and drummer Max Roach, with Earl Coleman appearing on vocals on two tracks.

Sonny Rollins – The Sound Of Sonny (1957/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 38:02 minutes | 1,46 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

Sonny Rollins made his debut for the Riverside label with this album, recorded and released in 1957, the same year he was named New Star of the tenor saxophone by the critics of DownBeat. Rollins is surrounded by top names, including pianist Sonny Clark, bassists Percy Heath and Paul Chambers and drummer Roy Haynes on a programme of covers and standards, with one original Rollins song.

Sonny Rollins – The Freedom Suite (1958/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 36:13 minutes | 1,4 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

Recorded and released by Sonny Rollins in 1958, his last album for Riverside, Freedom Suite is considered one of his finest, capturing the saxophonist at his peak. Famous for its 20 minute title track, the LP also features acclaimed performances by bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Max Roach, who lock into synch with Rollins for some masterful improvisation.

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Boy (1961/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 39:15 minutes | 1,61 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

“Sonny Boy” is a 1961 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins comprising four tracks from his final recordings for the Prestige label, three of which were originally released on Tour de Force, along with an unissued performance from the session that produced Rollins Plays for Bird.

Sonny Rollins – Moving Out (1956/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz  | Time – 31:39 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Digital Booklet | © Prestige

Moving Out is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, his second for the Prestige label. Recorded in the summer of 1954 but not issued until 1956, most of the songs on this album feature Sonny Rollins and trumpeter Kenny Dorham on the front line, with pianist Elmo Hope, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Art Blakey. The final track, More Than You Know, comes from a different session a few months later with Rollins as the only horn player, backed by Thelonious Monk on piano, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer Art Taylor.