Sonny Rollins – Rollins Plays For Bird (1957) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2012] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Sonny Rollins – Rollins Plays For Bird (1957) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2012]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 43:28 minutes | Alt. Scans included | 1,75 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/96 kHz | Alternative Scans included | 963 MB

Rollins Plays for Bird is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded in 1956 for the Prestige label, and released in the end of July 1957. It featuring performances by Rollins with Kenny Dorham, Wade Legge, George Morrow and Max Roach on material associated with Charlie Parker.

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Sonny Rollins – Plus Four (1956) [MFSL 2003] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Sonny Rollins – Plus Four (1956) [MFSL 2003]
PS3 Rip | ISO | DSD64 2.0 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 32:22 minutes | Scans included | 1,31 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 671 MB

In 1956 Sonny Rollins used the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet (of which he was a member) as his sidemen for this Prestige set. The high points of this particularly strong hard bop set include “Valse Hot” (an early jazz waltz), a rapid rendition of “I Feel a Song Coming On,” and Rollins’s classic “Pent-Up House.” Trumpeter Brown (heard on one of his final sessions) is in excellent form, as is the strong rhythm section and the young tenor-leader himself.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2011] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965) [Analogue Productions Remaster 2011]
PS3 Rip | ISO | SACD DSD64 Stereo > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 34:33 minutes | Scans included | 1,42 GB
or FLAC 2.0 Stereo (converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Scans included | 717 MB

In 1965 and 1966 tenor giant Sonny Rollins issued three albums for the Impulse label. They would be his last until 1972 when he re-emerged on the scene from a self-imposed retirement. This date is significant for the manner in which Rollins attacks five standards with a quartet that included pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Mickey Roker. Rollins, who’s been recording for RCA and its Bluebird subsidiary, had spent the previous three years (after emerging from his first retirement) concentrating on standards and focusing deeply on intimate, intricate aspects of melody and harmony. He inverts the approach here, and digs deeply into pulse and rhythm and leaving melody to take care of itself. This is not a “new thing” date but instead focuses on playing according to the dictates of the rhythm section and on interchanging with Booker and Roker, leaving much of the melodic aspect of these tunes to Bryant. Rollins could never quite leave the melody out of anything he played because of his intense gift as a lyrical improviser; he nonetheless stripped his approach back and played tunes like “On Green Dolphin Street” by improvising according to theme rather than strict melody, where his interplay with the rhythm section becomes based on the dynamic and shifting times played by Roker. While things are more intimate and straight on “Everything Happens to Me,” he nonetheless plays the edges, filling the space like a drummer. Melody happens throughout, the tune is recognizable, but it is stretched in his solo to a theme set by the shimmering cymbals and brushed snare work of Roker. The oddest cuts in the set are the last two; spaced out readings of “Blue Room,” and “Three Little Words”; they sound as if he were preparing the listener for a true change in his approach. Melody gets inverted, with spaces and syncopation taking the place of notes. The swing is inherent in everything here, but it’s clear that the saxophonist was hearing something else in his head, the way he squeezes notes tightly into some phrases where they might be placed elsewhere, and substitutes small, lithe lines inside Bryant’s solos which dictate the harmonic intervals more conventionally with his singing approach. And speaking of rhythm, the album’s hinge piece is the burning calypso “Hold “Em Joe.” Here again, as Bryant’s changes play it straight, Rollins shoves his horn inside them and draws out the beat on his horn over and over again. As strange and beautiful as this record sounds, it would have been wonderful if he had chosen to explore this track on his later records, but that restless spirit was already moving onto something else, as evidenced by his next offering, which were his original compositions for the film Alfie with arrangements by Oliver Nelson. If anything, Sonny Rollins on Impulse! feels as if it were a recording Rollins had to get out of his system. But thank goodness for us because it’s a winner through and through.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet (1956/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

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 | Front Cover | © 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.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins And The Contemporary Leaders (1958/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins And The Contemporary Leaders (1958/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 44:30 minutes | 1,51 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Contemporary Records/Concord Music

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.

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Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (Deluxe Edition) (1957/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (Deluxe Edition) (1957/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:25:16 minutes | 5,53 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | 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.

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Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (1957/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Way Out West (1957/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 43:28 minutes | 1,51 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Records

Recorded and released in 1957, this groundbreaking jazz-country album features Sonny Rollins accompanied by Ray Brown on bass and drummer Shelly Manne, with no pianist. Rollins chose cover songs and wrote originals that captured his love of the Western movies he grew up watching, with their themes of independence and self-sufficiency.

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Sonny Rollins – Volume 2 (1957/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Volume 2 (1957/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:48 minutes | 1,71 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2 brought together some of the greatest players of the post-bop era. In addition to Rollins, it featured Art Blakey on drums, Horace Silver and Thelonious Monk on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and J.J. Johnson on trombone. This classic record is a must-have for any jazz lover.

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Sonny Rollins – Tour De Force (1957/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Tour De Force (1957/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:28 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 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.

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Sonny Rollins – The Sound of Sonny (1957/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – The Sound of Sonny (1957/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 38:02 minutes | 1,47 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © 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.

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Sonny Rollins – The Freedom Suite (1958/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – The Freedom Suite (1958/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:12 minutes | 1,41 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Riverside

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.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins, Volume 1 (1956/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins, Volume 1 (1956/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 40:53 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records

Sonny Rollins’ first outing for Blue Note was recorded at that label’s last session of 1956. The album features Rollins playing with Gene Ramey (bass), Max Roach (drums), Donald Byrd (trumpet), and Wynton Kelly (piano).

“In preparing these hi def remasters, we were very conscientious about maintaining the feel of the original releases while adding a previously unattainable transparency and depth. It now sounds like you’ve set up your chaise lounge right in the middle of Rudy Van Gelder’s studio!” – Blue Note President, Don Was.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 34:33 minutes | 686 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | 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.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Boy (1961/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

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 | Front Cover | © 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.

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Sonny Rollins – Rollins in Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sonny Rollins – Rollins in Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:09:50 minutes | 2,65 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Resonance Records

This new 2-CD set of 1967 studio and live recordings of Sonny Rollins. Discovered poorly labeled in the Dutch Jazz Archives, these performances are fiery and powerful. His Dutch bassist Ruud Jacobs and drummer Han Bennink, who while accomplished, wondered how they would manage, yet they met the challenge brilliantly; Rollins gave them plenty of opportunity to solo and explore. Rollin’s himself at age 89 had a hand in the production with Zev Feldman, and his interview is included. Aidan Levy, Rollin’s biographer, provided notes and full analysis of each tune. Comments on the choice of saxophone manufacturer and mouthpieces were interesting and unusual.

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