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The Bridge (Sonny Rollins album)

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Allmusic[1]

The Bridge, 1962,[2] was the first release of jazz giant Sonny Rollins following his unexpected early retirement in 1959.[3] The saxophonist was joined for the first time by the musicians with whom he would record for the next segment of his career: Jim Hall on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Ben Riley on drums. The album has been re-released many times in various formats, beginning with the 1992 CD version by Bluebird/RCA and most recently an LP re-issue by Audiophile.

History

In 1959, feeling pressured by the unexpected swiftness of his rise to fame, Rollins took a three-year hiatus to focus on perfecting his craft.[4] A resident of the Lower East Side of Manhattan with no private space to practice, he took his saxophone to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice alone,[5] and his first recording after his return to performance took its name from those solo sessions.[4] Critical reception to the album, which was not the revolutionary new jazz approach many expected, was mixed.[6] Rollins, who had been considered groundbreaking in his thematic improvisations, was supplanted in critical buzz by the growing popularity of Ornette Coleman's free jazz.[7] However, if not a tremendous departure from Rollins' earlier style, the album was nevertheless quite successful.[8] Tagged by All Music as "a near-classic",[8] the recording was declared by Inkblot Magazine to be "one of the greatest albums from one of jazz's greatest musicians".[6] It is one of the albums for which the long-active and prolific Rollins receives his greatest praise.[9]

Track listing

  1. "Without a Song" (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 7:28
  2. "Where Are You?" (Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh) – 5:10
  3. "John S." (Sonny Rollins) – 7:45
  4. "The Bridge" (Rollins) – 5:58
  5. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) – 7:29
  6. "You Do Something to Me" (Cole Porter) – 6:49

Personnel

Performance

Production

  • George Avakian – producer, liner notes
  • Steve Backer – executive producer
  • Vincent Caro – remastering
  • Francis Davis – liner notes
  • Barry Feldman – reissue producer
  • Steve Gates – producer
  • Ray Hall – engineer
  • Scott Johnson – art direction
  • Bob Prince – producer
  • Joshua Sherman – series producer
  • John Snyder – producer, reissue producer
  • J.J. Stelmach – art direction
  • Chuck Stewart – photographer
  • Mark Wilder – mastering, mixing

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Sonny Rollins discography at AllMusic
  3. ^ Sonny Rollins biography at AllMusic
  4. ^ a b Biography Sonny Rollins official website. Accessed October 20, 2007.
  5. ^ Greatest living jazz soloist The Academy of Achievement. (June 2, 2006) Accessed October 20, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Greilsamer, Marc. Sonny Rollins: The Bridge Inkblot Magazine. Accessed October 20, 2007.
  7. ^ Yaffe, David. (October 4, 2007). Spirit Chaser. The Nation. Accessed October 20, 2007.
  8. ^ a b The Bridge review at AllMusic
  9. ^ Marchese, David. (August 26, 2005). A colossus nears the end of the road Pop Matters. Accessed October 20, 2007.


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