Sonny Simmons - The Traveller (2005)

Every time a new Sonny Simmons record is released, reviewers encourage listeners to wake up to this shadowy figure. Simmons has always been a guy hovering behind the glory. In the '60s he seemed a footnote to Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, and listeners bought Ayler on ESP before Simmons. His rediscovery in the late '80s was again a back page story to Ornette Coleman's return.

Well, Simmons is back again.

The Swedish label Jazzaway has produced three new sessions, the first of which is The Traveller. With music composed by conductor Vidar Johansen and a string quartet in tow, Simmons hasn't sounded better in his seventy-plus years!

Neither the strings nor the jazz quartet dominate this recording. Johansen integrates things nicely. The luscious three-minute introduction by piano/bass/drums plus rising strings queues Simmons to step into "Sunset, the sexiest composition on the recording. Simmons eschews the brash for the beautiful. He can charm you with just a few notes.