Sonny Rollins Plus 4
Sonny Rollins Plus 4 | ||||
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Studio album by Sonny Rollins | ||||
Released | August 1956[1] | |||
Recorded | March 22, 1956 | |||
Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Length | 32:17 | |||
Label | Prestige | |||
Producer | Bob Weinstock | |||
Sonny Rollins chronology | ||||
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Sonny Rollins Plus 4 is a jazz album by Sonny Rollins, released in 1956 on Prestige Records. On this album Rollins plays with the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet. The album was the last recording including pianist Richie Powell and Brown, as both died in a car accident three months later.[2]
History
Rollins wrote his two compositions ("Pent-Up House" and "Valse Hot") while a sideman in the Max Roach/Clifford Brown Quintet. It was more common in the 1950s for a sideman recording his own work to record with either the rhythm section or leader; thus it was unusual when Rollins recorded with the same musicians that he played with in the Quintet. Rollins had joined the Quintet five months beforehand, replacing Harold Land, who left New York to care for his sick wife in California.
Rollins was working as a janitor in Chicago, spending most of his time practicing and rethinking his life (a shorter sabbatical compared to ones he would take). The Quintet was in Chicago in November 1955 and was playing at the Bee Hive Club in Hyde Park. After sitting in with the Brown/Roach Quintet at the Bee Hive, Rollins was added as tenor saxophonist.
After returning to New York, Rollins recorded Plus 4 and used the Quintet as part of an arrangement between his record label, Prestige, and EmArcy, the jazz subsidiary of Mercury, which had the Brown/Roach Quintet under contract. To use Rollins on the Brown-Roach Quintet's EmArcy albums, Prestige owner Bob Weinstock insisted that the group record one album for Prestige under Rollins's name for every EmArcy album it recorded as the Quintet. But this arrangement produced only two albums, one for each label, before the tragic deaths of Quintet members Clifford Brown and Richie Powell in June 1956 ended the deal. Rollins had an idea for the album, as well as several original compositions, so the album had a sound distinct from the Quintet's.
Rollins heard Rosemary Clooney sing "Count Your Blessings" in the film White Christmas and decided to record a version due to his fondness for Irving Berlin standards. "Kiss and Run" is a duet between Brown and Rollins. "I Feel a Song Coming On" is a fast cover of a Dorothy Fields standard. "Valse Hot" is a jazz waltz in A-flat major which remains one of Rollins's most well-known pieces, just like his other composition, "Pent-Up House".
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow calls the album a "particularly strong hard bop set."[3] Author and musician Peter Niklas Wilson called it "a hastily produced – though ultimately rewarding – session."[6]
Track listing
- Side one
- "Valse Hot" (Sonny Rollins) – 8:36
- "Kiss and Run" (Sam Coslow) – 7:08
- Side two
- "I Feel a Song Coming On" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh, George Oppenheimer) – 5:13
- "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" (Irving Berlin) – 2:30
- "Pent-Up House" (Rollins) – 8:50
Personnel
- Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
- Clifford Brown – trumpet - except Count Your Blessings
- Max Roach – drums
- Richie Powell – piano
- George Morrow – bass
References
- ^ "Billboard". August 25, 1956.
- ^ Barron, John (2 March 2007). "Sonny Rollins: Plus Four". All About Jazz. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Sonny Rollins Plus 4". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1232. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 602–603.
- ^ Wilson, Peter N. (2001). Sonny Rollins: The Definitive Musical Guide. Berkeley, California: Berkeley Hills Books. p. 121. ISBN 1-893163-06-7.
- v
- t
- e
- Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet
- Moving Out
- Work Time
- Sonny Rollins Plus 4
- Tenor Madness
- Saxophone Colossus
- Rollins Plays for Bird
- Tour de Force
- Sonny Boy
- Sonny Rollins, Vol. 1
- Way Out West
- Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2
- The Sound of Sonny
- Freedom Suite
- Newk's Time
- Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass
- Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders
- The Bridge
- What's New?
- Our Man in Jazz
- Sonny Meets Hawk!
- Now's the Time
- The Standard Sonny Rollins
- Sonny Rollins on Impulse!
- Alfie
- East Broadway Run Down
- Next Album
- Horn Culture
- Nucleus
- The Way I Feel
- Easy Living
- Don't Ask
- Love at First Sight
- No Problem
- Reel Life
- Sunny Days, Starry Nights
- The Solo Album
- Dancing in the Dark
- Falling in Love with Jazz
- Here's to the People
- Old Flames
- Sonny Rollins + 3
- Global Warming
- This Is What I Do
- Sonny, Please
- A Night at the "Village Vanguard"
- There Will Never Be Another You
- The Cutting Edge
- Don't Stop the Carnival
- G-Man
- Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert
- Road Shows, Vol. 1