Sonny Rollins first album after ending his six-year retirement is a particularly strong effort. The highpoint is a ten-minute version of "Skylark" that has a long unaccompanied section by the great tenor. Other memorable selections include "The Everywhere Calypso" and "Playing in the Yard." Rollins plays soprano on "Poinciana" and is heard using electronics (George Cables' electric piano) for the first time but this music is not all that different from what he was playing prior to his retirement.

Sonny Rollins And The Big Brass (1958), Sonny Rollins On Impulse! (1965), Alfie [OST] (1966).
Sonny Rollins And The Big Brass (1958). Big Brass is an appropiate name for the large ensemble arranged and conducted by Ernie Wilkins that accompanies the huge sound of Sonny Rollins. The energy within the leader's gospel-flavored shout "Grand Street" is considerable, while a swinging but no less powerful version of George & Ira Gershwin's "Who Cares" features a choice solo by guitarist Rene Thomas. Also added to this compilation are trio recordings with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Specs Wright, including a brilliant leisurely stroll through "Manhattan," along with Rollins' tour de force unaccompanied tenor sax on "Body and Soul"…

Blue Note has done an admirable job of collecting the mellow material of a number of classic players for its Ballads series. Sonny Rollins' entry, like the others, finds the tenor in a late-night mood. The disc begins and ends with intimate trios offering fine renditions of "I Can't Get Started" and "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise," both featuring bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones. The openness of these two live recordings allows Rollins plenty of room to search and discover the right notes. There's a seven-minute version of Thelonious Monk's "Reflections" with Monk himself sitting in, and an adventurous take on "Decision" with trumpeter Donald Byrd, pianist Wynton Kelly, and drummer Max Roach. Certain choices, like "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" from Finian's Rainbow, also show Rollins' willingness to search outside of the jazz world for good material…

Mid 50s genius from Sonny Rollins - 5 albums in a single set, all presented in LP-styled sleeves. Includes 'Worktime' (1956), 'With The Modern Jazz Quartet' (1956), 'Tenor Madness' (1956), 'Moving Out' (1956) and 'Saxaphone Colossus' (1957).
Worktime is a record that perfectly illustrates why Rollins was one of the greatest players on his horn for many decades running! There's a depth of tone on the record that rivals Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young - but a quickness of pace and imagination that shows a clear influence from Charlie Parker, and a deftness that few were bringing to the tenor at the time. The rhythm section here is super tight - and features Ray Bryant on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Max Roach on drums…

Singer Abbey Lincoln's second recording, and her first for Riverside, finds her accompanied by quite an all-star roster: tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Max Roach. Even this early, she was already a major jazz singer with a style of her own. Lincoln was careful from this point on to only interpret lyrics that she believed in. Her repertoire has a few superior standards (including several songs such as "I Must Have That Man!" and "Don't Explain" that are closely associated with Billie Holiday) plus Oscar Brown, Jr.'s "Strong Man" and Phil Moore's "Tender as a Rose"; she takes the latter unaccompanied. "Don't Explain" is slightly unusual in that Paul Chambers is absent and Wynton Kelly makes an extremely rare appearance on bass. All three of Abbey Lincoln's Riverside albums are well worth the listen.

Dizzy Gillespie brings together tenor saxophonists Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins for four extended cuts, and in the process comes up with one of the most exciting "jam session" records in the jazz catalog. While the rhythm section of pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Tommy Bryant, and drummer Charlie Persip provides solid rhythmic support, Stitt and Rollins get down to business trading fours and reeling off solo fireworks. Apparently, Gillespie had stoked the competitive fires before the session with phone calls and some gossip, the fallout of which becomes palpable as the album progresses. On "The Eternal Triangle," in particular, Stitt and Rollins impress in their roles as tenor titans, with Stitt going in for sheer muscle as that most stout of bebop cutters and Rollins opting for some pacing as a more thematic player…

Two of trumpeter Art Farmer's earlier sessions as a leader are reissued on this CD in the OJC series. Farmer teams up with an all-star quintet (which includes tenor-saxophonist Sonny Rollins, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke) for four songs and dominates a quartet (with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Addison Farmer and drummer Herbie Lovelle) on six other tunes. Farmer's sound is lyrical even on the uptempo pieces and he is heard throughout in his early prime. Highlights include "Soft Shoe," "I'll Take Romance," "Autumn Nocturne" and an uptempo "Gone with the Wind." One should note that the programming differs from what is listed, with "Soft Shoe" (which should have been the opener) actually appearing fifth and the songs listed as appearing second through fifth moving up to first through fourth. Despite that flaw, the music is quite enjoyable and a must for 1950s bop collectors.

Sonny Rollins, one of jazz's great tenors, is heard here at his peak with a pair of piano-less trios (either Wilbur Ware or Donald Bailey on bass and Elvin Jones or Pete La Roca on drums) stretching out on particularly creative versions of "Old Devil Moon," "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise," "Sonnymoon for Two," and "A Night in Tunisia," among others. Not only did Rollins have a very distinctive sound but his use of time, his sly wit, and his boppish but unpredictable style were completely his own by 1957. Truly magical.

The better-than-usual repertoire (including the calypso "Duke or Iron," "Dancing in the Dark" and the Warren & Dubin number "I'll String Along with You") makes this outing by Sonny Rollins's usual band (with trombonist Clifton Anderson,, keyboardist Mark Soskin, electric bassist Jerome Harris and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith) one of the more interesting Rollins albums of recent times. Although not up to the level of his best live performances, this studio album is quite enjoyable and gives one a clear idea as to how Sonny Rollins sounded in the 1980s.

What you see is what you get, an excellent little compilation of the various faces of soul-jazz as presented by the Verve label with their amazing array of artists from Hugh Masekela to Willie Bobo and Herbie Mann on the one hand, and Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks (in an outstanding reading of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") the Heath Brothers, and Teddy Edwards on the other. The track list is wonderfully varied, too: there's a smoking version of Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" by Masekela, a pair by Jimmy Smith, and a big band – a new entry by the acid jazz group the James Taylor Quartet, but they get it deep; and Wynton Kelly goes deep into soul and blues with "Escapade." Anyway you cut it, it comes out great.

The Classic Prestige Sessions 1951-1956 collects all of the sides recorded by trumpeter Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins for Prestige during their time together as young players in New York City. Both musicians were just past their formative years during this period, having broken free from the heavy sway of their bop elders – especially alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, who appears here in several classic cuts originally released on Collector's Items. Both Davis and Rollins were expanding the bop mold and beginning to discover their own sound. Davis had already made his mark with the innovative West Coast jazz masterpiece Birth of the Cool and was further developing his romantic and cerebral minimalism. Similarly, Rollins was quickly becoming the heir to Parker's throne as the most searching and muscular saxophonist on the scene. The dichotomy of their sounds made Davis and Rollins a perfect rub as jazz partners and these recordings helped foreshadow and define such future jazz movements as hard bop, post-bop, and even free jazz.