eShop USA > Music > Night At The Village Vanguard
Night At The Village Vanguard
List Price: $26.98Our Price: $15.97 You Save: $11.01 (41%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724349979529
Format: Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Label: Blue Note Records
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
MPN: 99795
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Blue Note Records
Release Date: September 14, 1999
Studio: Blue Note Records
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
In 1957, Sonny Rollins was at an early creative peak, already a masterful improviser who could range from hard-bitten bop blues to broad or sly humor, all conveyed with a swaggering virtuosity and bullying warmth. One of the first jazz musicians to develop the extended solo, Rollins would turn tunes inside out rhythmically, often building a solo around complex variations on a tune's melody. The Vanguard recordings come from a period when Rollins found maximum freedom in a trio pared down to the essentials of tenor, bass, and drums, and the multiple takes here testify to his fluent invention. Disc 1 of this set is highlighted by two takes of "A Night in Tunisia," the first recorded at a matinee with bassist Donald Bailey and drummer Pete LaRoca, the second and faster version at the evening performance with regular accompanists bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones. The second CD continues the evening performance with Ware and Jones. It's a uniquely gifted threesome, with each musician seeming to invent new ways to swing, without a note or a musical opportunity wasted. Both Rollins and Ware reveal their relationship to Thelonious Monk in the ability to create complex, arresting music out of shifts in rhythmic inflections. It's especially apparent in the second version of "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise." In this context, Jones has an opportunity to show just how melodic a drummer he was. The two versions of "Get Happy" demonstrate Rollins's ability to make complex and witty music out of the most banal material, while "What Is This Thing Called Love" is a tour de force of sustained group invention. --Stuart Broomer
The mid-fifties was an astonishing period for this saxophone genius. And for all his great work in this era, this daring album and "Saxophone Colossus" remain his crowning achievements. With just bass (Wilbur Ware) and drums (Elvin Jones) in support, Rollins creates tenor saxophone improvisations of increible beauty and inexhaustible creativity. Twenty years after the initial album, a double album containing the rest of the releasable material from this magic night at the Village Vanguard was issued. With the recent re-discovery of the original tapes, the performance has been assembled as it happened and beautifully remastered by original engineer with superb depth of sound. Several of Sonny's stage announcements have been added to master for the first time.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - I must be missing something
I have always loved early Sonny Rollins, until I purchased this CD. Just too much soloing, and not nearly enough of the band.
Rating:  - Sonny Rollins and his Uncut, Live Freedom
Just as there is a top shelf reserved for the greatest jazz studio-recorded albums, there is also a special place reserved for the greatest live performances captured on tape. Jazz itself is a form that is often at it's fullest expression when experienced with the spontaneity and creative fuel that only a live show offers. Just think for a moment of some of the legendary live performances that have added to the cannon of jazz recordings: Yusef Lateef's "Live at Pep's", Ahmad Jamal's "Complete Live ... Read More
Rating:  - On Sound Quality
I have to agree with Minh's review here. I've bought quite a few recordings on which Rollins played, one of which I would consider to be one of highest fidelity jazz albums I own (The Bridge), some which sound very good (with Miles on Bag's Grove in 1954 and with Monk in 1953 and 1954) and some (with Bud Powell in 1949) which don't. Rollin's tone is one of the most beautiful of any tenor I've heard--as distinctive as his phrasing--and it's a shame it's not captured here. I'd rate the sound quality as ... Read More
Rating: - A Power Trio!!!
It's almost hard to fathom that it's been almost 50 years since Sonny Rollins recorded the historic "Night At The Village Vanguard" for Blue Note. Even half a century later, this jaw-dropping performance still leaves one awestruck by it's beauty and power.
Even as far back as 1957, Sonny Rollins was experimenting with different ensemble configurations and at the Village Vanguard, unveiled a combo that was unique for its time - a tenor sax/bass/drums trio which already proved to be successful on ... Read More
Rating: - unlike coupling
Curiosity has driven me to buy this double,live CD set,and after repeated listening, I'm afraid my expectations were a little too far from reality. I was, in fact convinced that Elvin Jones drums would have made a heck of a match to Rollins 'out of tune',loose sound,yet this isn't the case on these sessions. Apart from a couple of tracks('A night in Tunisia',disc1 and partly in 'What is this thing called love',disc2)Elvin hasn't fully developed,yet the rythm machine he was in the John Coltrane quartet. ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
