Sonny Rollins "Volume Two"

Sonny Rollins

"Volume Two"

( LP Blue Note Records, 1957 )

Catalog # BLP 1558

Personnel:
Sonny Rollins - Tenor Sax
J.J. Johnson - Trombone
Horace Silver/Thelonious Monk - Piano
Paul Chambers - Bass
Art Blakey - Drums

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
on April 14, 1957

Tracklisting:
01 Why Don't I (Rollins)
02 Wail March (Rollins)
03 Misterioso (Monk)
04 Reflections (Monk)
05 You Stepped Out of a Dream (Brown, Khan)
06 Poor Butterfly (Golden, Hubbel)

** Also issued on Blue Note BST 81558 (pseudo stereo), CDP 7 46818-2,
CDP 7 81558-2, B1-ST 81558.

Review:

Compared to his Prestige, Riverside, and Contemporary recordings of the 1950s, some of Rollins' appearances on Blue Note seemed anticlimactic, but none should be overlooked. This unusual album mostly has Rollins in an all-star quintet with trombonist J.J. Johnson, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey, but Thelonious Monk sits in on his ballad "Reflections" and on "Misterioso" both Silver and Monk get to take contrasting solos. Of the other selections, Rollins' two originals ("Why Don't I" and "Wail March") are worth reviving, and he finds something new to say on "Poor Butterfly" and an uptempo "You Stepped Out of a Dream."

By Scott Yanow (AMG)

By Rob