Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (1956) [2022 DSD256]

For once, an album title that doesn’t misrepresent the artist. Rollins
has been making music of the very highest calibre for well over half
a century, but this session could just well be his greatest achieve-
ment. And like so many classic albums of the period, it was taped
in a single session, in the summer of 1956. The playing of all four
musicians concerned: Rollins, Tommy Flanagan, Watkins and
Roach is of the highest order to where the passing of 54-years
hasn’t in any way diminished its sheer vitality. Truth: it sounds even
more contemporary today than way back then with recordist Rudy
Van Gelder faithfully capturing the sheer depth of Rollins’ delivery.
Though ‘Saint Thomas’ and ‘Moritat’ (‘Mack The Knife’) are this
album’s best known tracks a knowing interpretation of ‘You Don’t
Know What Love Is’ is surely the jewel in this crown. As a bonus
the Work Time album, recorded six months earlier has the leader
and Roach bookending Ray Bryant and George Morrow and, as
they say, adds extra value.
Saxophone Colossus is the sixth studio album by American jazz
saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Perhaps Rollins's best-known album is
often considered his breakthrough record. It was recorded mono-
phonically on June 22, 1956, with producer Bob Weinstock and
engineer Rudy Van Gelder at the latter's studio in Hackensack, New
Jersey. Rollins led a quartet on the album that included pianist
Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach.
Saxophone Colossus was released by Prestige Records to critical
success and helped establish Rollins as a prominent jazz artist.
In 2017, Saxophone Colossus was selected for preservation in the
National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being
"culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
There are five tracks on the album, three of which are credited to
Rollins. "St. Thomas" is a calypso-inspired piece named after Saint
Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The tune is traditional and had already
been recorded by Randy Weston in 1955 under the title "Fire Down
There."
The final track, "Blue 7", is a blues piece, over eleven minutes
long. Its central, rather disjunct melody was spontaneously com-
posed. The performance is among Rollins's most acclaimed and is
the subject of an article by Gunther Schuller entitled "Sonny Rollins
and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation." Schuller praises
Rollins on "Blue 7" for the use of motivic development, exploring
and developing melodic themes throughout his three solos so that
the piece is unified rather than being composed of unrelated ideas.


Tracks:

1 St. Thomas 6:42
2 You Don't Know What Love Is 6:24
3 Strode Rode 5:11
4 Moritat 9:57
5 Blue 7 11:12

Personnel:

Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
Bass – Doug Watkins
Drums – Max Roach
Piano – Tommy Flanagan