Sonny Rollins - More than you know.

stevejazzx

http://www.jazz.com/music/2008/11/22/sonny-rollins-more-than-you-know-live



Rating: 94/100 (learn more)

Tenorist Sonny Rollins is the closest thing the jazz world has to a force of nature. And like tornadoes and earthquakes, this artist is both powerful and unpredictable. His finest moments usually come in the heat of a performance, rather than in the sterility of a recording studio, and the privileged audience, on these occasions, can sense the saxophonist feeding off their rapt attention as he delivers a solo that is both the culmination of a lifetime of horn-playing, and a Zen-like celebration of the present moment.

Rollins's Road Shows, Vol. 1 CD captures this rapturous side of the tenorist at work. It surveys more than a quarter century of performances and culls out seven tracks, including this titanic version of "More Than You Know," recorded in Toulouse in 2006. Rollins is a master of this type of "power ballad," where instead of introspective vulnerability we get grand statements from the mountaintop. One could easily trample the sentiments in a love song with such powerful outbursts, but instead Rollins manages to amplify the emotional qualities of the song, expanding their scope without losing any of their rawness. He seems paradoxically to be both in total command of the material, but also letting go and allowing the music to take him to its own chosen destination. His solo is a fascinating combination of motivic development, reworkings of the melody, and rhapsodic flurries.

In the midst of this inspired saxophony, you might neglect the contribution of guitarist Bobby Broom, which would be a shame. He counters Rollins's grandiloquence with a sharply etched solo, mostly in the higher register, in which each note glistens, almost like those shimmering phrases you hear from African harp masters. It stands in stark contrast to the rest of the performance, and is all the more effective for its unexpected delicacy.
Reviewer: Ted Gioia

If you liked this track, also check out

<LI _extended="true">

Sonny Rollins: Skylark <LI _extended="true">Sonny Rollins & Coleman Hawkins: Lover Man
[*]Lew Tabackin: I Surrender, Dear
Courtesy of Lyrics mediocre jazz program I hear Sonny playing on this outstanding tune, or rather what he makes into an outstanding tune. The closest thing to my taste in Jazz I've heard in a long time, truly brilliant. There are elements of Coltrane and Miles in a modern linear yet meandering way. Awesome. Later the presenter announced Rollins has recently won Jazz artist and Jazz album of the year. No wonder.

Brocko

Awesome review! I listen to Sonny Rollins almost every day. Reading your review creates a big desire to experience him live, which I've never done. His next show is De Oosterpoort, Groningen, Netherlands on 10/22. It's too far away fro me though since I'm in the U.S.

I completely admire the man. Rollins went on to greater success even after he initially feared sobriety from heroin would impair his musicianship. And he's is still touring and recording today, having outlived most of his contemporaries with whom he recorded... Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and Art Blakey. What a list of incredible performers!

Thanks for the review. It inspired me to see him live while I still have the opportunity... and check out Road Shows, Vol.