Sonny Rollins' Birthday Celebration Centerpiece of Road Songs Vol. 2

One of the most celebrated jazz concerts of the past couple years was the 80th Birthday celebration of Sonny Rollins in New York City. Performances from that concert form the core of Rollins’ second compilation of live recordings, Road Songs Vol. 2 on his Doxy label (Doxy/Emarcy). Four of the six selections come from that September 2010, Beacon Theatre concert with the other two performances coming from Japanese concerts, less than a month later. Most of the performances feature Sonny’s band of the time with Russell Malone on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Kobie Watkins on drums and Sammy Figueroa on percussion with one track having a historic collaboration.

Opening up is a rendition of Irving Berlin’s They Say It’s Wonderful, which has a nice solo from Malone after Rollins introduces the theme. Its a typical performance that fans of Rollins live performances from the last few years will be familiar with and centers around the trading of fours with drummer Watkins. It is followed by Sonny introducing Jim Hall with Hall performing (without Sonny) In a Sentimental Mood. If a wonderful performance, it is odd that an actual collaboration between Rollins and Hall is not present on this Sonny Rollins album.

The blues, Sonnymoon For Two, with the rhythm section of Christian McBride and Roy Haynes, was the historic meeting of Rollins with Ornette Coleman, who Rollins teases the audience about as a special birthday guest after his initial solo in a trio vein, and after initially asking him to come out takes another solo before Coleman comes out and the contrast in styles and how a solo is constructed between his approach and Rollins will be immediately evident and not simply because he is playing alto sax. While the interest of the meeting on stage by the two, the performance strikes this listener as a string of a unconnected solos based on Rollins’ blues composition, with some interchanges between the two and some inspired playing from Rollins later in the performance but as a whole this sounds more interesting than it sounds magical.

I Can’t Get Started opens with Roy Hargrove opening and playing exquisitely before Sonny enters on this ballad with his robust tone providing a counterpoint to Hargrove’s lyricism. It is followed by a lively Raincheck from Billy Strayhorn’s songbook, taken at a lively tempo with a calypso-tinge. Hargrove is bright and incisive here with the two trading fours starting about two-thirds of the way through this performance.

An abbreviated performance of St. Thomas concludes this recording. The editing of the performances is seamless and it comes off to the listener as one concert even though it mixes performances from three concerts, and the order of the Beacon Theatre performances is not in order of performance. The performances sound representative of the performances by Sonny Rollins I have seen over the past few years (thankfully without the sound issues that plagued the first third to half of recent Kennedy Center performances). It is certainly welcome to have this available even if I might suggest other Rollins recordings of live performances of the past decade a bit more consistent and magical. I specifically point to Without A Song - The 9/11 Concert.

I purchased this CD as a download.

Ryan Cohen "Another Look" (Motema Music)

Chicago pianist and composer Ryan Cohen has played in a number of musical contexts as well as with his quartet of bassist Lorin Cohen, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and drummer Kobie Watkins. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Composition has augmented this quartet with vibraphonist Joe Locke and percussionist Steve Kroon for his new Motema Music release “Another Look.” With the exceptions of Victor Feldman’s “Joshua” and the Ellington classic, “Caravan”, Cohen contributed the compositions for this varied recording. One thing that is clear when listening to this is that Cohen’s working band is terrific.

The opening of “Monk’N Around” caught my ears, with Cohen contributing some Monk-ish piano runs before Locke takes the first solo with a skittering attack as Cohen chords under him, before Cohen takes a propulsive solo that alludes to Monk’s style. “Joshua” opens with hot piano setting up the groove with Bradfield taking a muscular tenor sax solo followed by hot piano as Watkins’ simmers on the cymbals. Locke returns on a lovely ballad “You & Me,” with his vibes marvelous while Cohen’s own solo and Bradfield’s soft tenor accompaniment lend this performance a precious quality. “This or That” is more spirited with Bradfield’s thoughtful playing (with little if any vibrato) complementing the leader’s piano as the rhythm section (including Locke) swing hard. Bradfield and Locke sit out the stunning latin jazz rendition of “Caravan,” a performance which benefits from Kroon’s rhythmic accents.

“Gentle Souls” opens with Bradfield’s solo tenor sax before switching to soprano sax with the full ensemble and then stating the theme as Locke adds coloring followed by the leader’s solo, and Bradfield’s serpentine soprano sax with Locke taking the lead for the coda. Locke is featured with a vigorous and entrancing solo developing the lovely melody of “Another Look.” “Song For My Grandfather” finds him in a pensive mode in the introductory section of this lovely jazz waltz by Cohen, Lorin Cohen and Kobie Watkins. I was especially impressed by Watkins’ playing throughout this recording, whether his use of cymbals or his lively latin groove. The closing “Stepping Out” evokes classic bebop tunes of Bird and Dizzy with Cohen spectacular and Locke in a spirited mode.

“Another Look” is a thoroughly entertaining with excellent original compositions, superb ensemble playing and thoughtful, spirited solos that is strongly recommended.


My review copy was provided by a publicist for this release.

Bobby Broom's Guitar Meets The Music Of Thelonious Monk

Having spent the past few years in Sonny Rollins Band, guitarist Bobby Broom certainly had a certainly pronounced visibility. It was his second stint with the jazz titan, and certainly establishes his credentials as a musician. He has a recent (2009) trio album as a leader “Bobby Broom Plays For Monk” (Origin Records) where he is joined by Rollins drummer, Kobie Watkins and bassist Dennis Carroll. As the title in dictates, this album is devoted to the music of Thelonious Monk with renditions of eight Monk compositions and two numbers that Broom associates with Monk. This Monk tribute album even has the cover art as a take-off on the cover of the classic album, “Monk’s Mood.”

This is an album that it pays to listen to attentively and appreciate how beautifully recorded it is and some of the subtleties in the performance and the interaction between the three. Broom plays pretty straight here without any feedback or other guitar effects. Broom’s approach to Monk’s music is with an ear to the melodies and the performances likely will not appeal for those looking for high energy guitar. This approach works best with certain of Monk’s melodies like “Ruby, My Dear,” where his deliberate use of chords and single notes runs heightens the beauty of Monk’s music. Broom will quote other songs in his solos like “Chicago, Chicago” during “In Walked Bud.” He softly comps behind bassist Carroll on the latter solos while Watkins keeps the steady pulse. “Lulu’s Back In Town” is as good an example of his tone and their is some trading of fours with Watkins. Most of the compositions, such as “Bemsha Swing,” and “Evidence," should be familiar to many and the least familiar composition by Monk on this is “Work,” with some intricate playing. “Work” is followed by a lively rendition of “Rhythm-a-ning.” The album concludes with Bobby solo on "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes."

This is a splendid, thoughtful treatment of Monk’s music by guitarist Broom and his trio Bobby Broom is performing as part of the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival just outside of Washington, DC during President’s Day weekend and I look forward to catching his performance at that event.

Bobby Broom has discussed Monk's music on a short video which the Jazz Video Guy has uploaded on youtube.

I purchased this CD.