A Night at the Village Vanguard

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A Night at the Village Vanguard
File:Sonny Rollins-A Night at the Village Vanguard (album cover).jpg
Live album by Sonny Rollins
Released February 1958[1]
Recorded November 3, 1957
Genre Bop
Hard bop
Label Blue Note
BLP 1581
Sonny Rollins chronology
Newk's Time
(1957)Newk's Time1957		 A Night at the Village Vanguard
(1958)		 Sonny Side Up
(1957)Sonny Side Up1957

A Night at the Village Vanguard is a live album by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins released on Blue Note Records in 1958. It was recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City in November of 1957 from three sets, two in the evening and one in the afternoon with different backing musicians. For the afternoon set, Rollins played with Donald Bailey on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums; in the evening they were replaced respectively by Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones.[2]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This CD is often magical. Sonny Rollins, one of jazz's great tenors, is heard at his peak... Not only did Rollins have a very distinctive sound, but his use of time, his sly wit, and his boppish but unpredictable style were completely his own by 1957."[3] Music critic Robert Christgau highly praised the album, writing: "Rollins is charged with venturing far out from these tunes without severing the harmonic moorings normally secured by a piano. He does it again and again – but not without a certain cost in ebullience, texture, and fullness of breath. Impressive always, fun in passing, his improvisations are what avant-garde jazz is for."[4] The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.[5] The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four stars plus crown, concluding that "these are record[ing]s which demand a place in any collection".[6]

On September 14, 1999, the remastered album was reissued by Blue Note as part of its Rudy Van Gelder series. Expanded to two compact discs, it included all the available recordings from the November 3 date.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau A−[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz 4/4 stars(Crown)[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide 4/5 stars[7]

Track listing

All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated.

Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Old Devil Moon"   E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane 8:19
2. "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise"   Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg 8:03
3. "Striver's Row"   Sonny Rollins 5:59
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Sonnymoon for Two"   Sonny Rollins 8:46
2. "A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set) Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli 8:16
3. "I Can't Get Started"   Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke 4:54

1999 reissue track listing

All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated; program in chronological order as presented originally.

Disc one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set) Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli 8:16
2. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (afternoon set) Cole Porter 10:03
3. "A Night in Tunisia"   Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli 9:03
4. "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (alternate take) Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg 6:43
5. "Four"   Miles Davis 8:26
6. "introduction"     0:20
7. "Woody 'n' You"   Dizzy Gillespie 8:29
8. "introduction"     0:36
9. "Old Devil Moon"   E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane 8:19
Disc two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "What Is This Thing Called Love"   Cole Porter 14:03
2. "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise"   Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg 8:03
3. "Sonnymoon for Two"   Sonny Rollins 8:46
4. "I Can't Get Started"   Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke 4:54
5. "I'll Remember April"   Don Raye, Patricia Johnston, Gene de Paul 9:20
6. "Get Happy"   Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen 9:08
7. "Striver's Row"   Sonny Rollins 5:59
8. "All the Things You Are"   Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern 6:46
9. "Get Happy" (alternate take) Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen 4:38

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Billboard Feb 17, 1958
  2. ↑ Bailey, C. Michael (August 10, 2005), "Sonny Rollins: A Night At The Village Vanguard" All About Jazz.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cook, Richard and Brian Morton (2008), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th edn.) Penguin, p. 1233.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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