Would love if you guys did a video on SOUL STATION, Hank Mobley and Wynton Kelly are both under-appreciated; definitely one of the easiest albums to listen to and some of the most transcribable music.
Swingin album, but for me Hank Mobley as a player never reached the heights of Bird, Sonny, Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and in a different way Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins etc. Just below the absolute top, but that record really came together beautifully, love it. Perfectly rated as a player though
I've never been Sonny Rollins' biggest fan - until right f*cking now. Always thought him too "precise". I now know, thanks to you two, the precision is the entire point.
Somehow I had never listened to _Saxophone Colossus_ until this year, and it blew me away. I think I'd had bad experience playing "St. Thomas" in school jazz bands in my childhood, lol.
48:35 First I will say I really enjoyed this :) RE: the recording of this album, I think folks in general undervalue how much the producers (Bob Weinstock here) had to do with the mix of these albums. I agree with Adam that the bar is so high for every other instrument that the piano sound is a nagging shortcoming, though I personally feel "wimpy" and "thin" are not the right words to describe Van Gelder's piano sound. It is almost universally underwhelming IMO but I think its strength is that it is "beefy" and far from sounding distant. But I gather that the main criticism here is the comping is subdued, that is an element of the mix and would likely have a lot to do with what the producer(s) wanted (FWIW, Alfred Lion played a major role in shaping what we know as "the Van Gelder Sound", and there is reason to believe that Weinstock followed Lion's lead in many ways, including his mixing aesthetic, which I think was to make room for the horns during their solos by suppressing the piano a bit). Thanks again for this 🙏
1984/85 while attending Berklee. Many hours of listening to the '70s twofer reissue with the green cover called 'Saxophone Colossus and More." Had an early '80s Panasonic compact stereo system in my apartment near Berklee.
Bless you all for jogging my memory! Driving around Humboldt county 2003-5 ish (?) to odd jobs, gigs, and dance classes, with the same cassette adaptor/discman setup, as well as mix tapes with tracks from the record and lots of Miles and Coltrane quintet. Thanks gentlemen!
I had forgotten how much I love this album. The first time I listened to it was during the pandemic, winter 2021, I got late to the game of jazz unfortunately, but I remember thinking that as long as we have music we’re gonna be alright. Is this as good as KOB?!? no idea. I love them both!!
I first heard this maybe thirty years ago and just didn’t get it. Then years later Rollins became the source for a lot of what I strive for on guitar. Saxophone Colossus is great, and yet not even close to being Sonny’s best playing. Still, it’s the album I’ve been waiting for you to discuss. I often joke that Rollins is my favourite guitarist. I realised recently that the players ( sax, guitar, piano) I love most all have a little Rollins in them somehow. Blue 7 is my go to track - I listen to it maybe two or three times a month even now - always inspires something in my own playing. Rhythm, tone, dynamics. For all the great lines and melodies Sonny played, the notes may be the least important thing.
@pianopeter Mr Martin, I’m revisiting your performances with Joshua Redman “Live” in ‘97 (Montreux) and North Sea ‘97 (Redman on alto) and and in ‘96 (place?)… on “Hide and Seek” and the studio album of that track (and other tunes) you’re always groovin’ like mad! Nice lines, subtle manipulations of color, substitutions … wonderful. Thank you for your artistry and inspiration. I wish you health and joy and many more rapturous musical moments. hug 🫂 from the road, Dr D
thank you for this! Can we get an episode devoted to the best engineered Jazz albums? I would love to get your take on the difference between RVG, Columbia, and Verve …etc. regarding fidelity.
My copy was on a cd discman and I brought it all over the place and think I may have dropped it on the floor of the bus in high school which may have done it in. I caught Sonny at a concert at Jordan Hall Boston in 96 or 07 and Espoo Finland in 98. He was masterful and had the audience in the palm of his hand at both performances. Also,agree Sonny Rollins +4 is a truly great one too.
Thanks a lot for tackling this album that I did not listen for years. Great sound. I am amazed by Sonny’s mastery of dynamic, every note is weighted. Haute couture!
Regarding the idea that there was only one take, I'm guessing that's unlikely because Sonny notoriously would do 18 takes and decide none of them were good enough. Regardless, Aidan Levy's exhaustive 700+ page book _Saxophone Colossus_ will probably tell you how many takes of each track as well as what each musician was wearing. (Seriously. He mentions clothes a *lot*. Sonny was a sharp dresser back in the day.) Anyway, a theme of the book is Sonny's perfectionism and how it resulted in many, many takes in the studio.
GALA: I first heard it when I was probably around 8-9 years old, around 25 years ago. We were on holiday in La Palma (Canary Islands), we had rented a small secluded finca, it was sunny, quiet and beautiful. My dad had brought the album and we kept playing St Thomas (my dad's name is Thomas) over and over because we all loved it. The head and solos have been stuck in my head since then.
GALA: In the late 2000s, I was in high school doing what most teenage boys do -- playing the video game Grand Theft Auto 4. Believe it or not, the cars in the game had an in-game radio with many different stations. Whenever I "acquired" a car, I would immediately flip to the jazz station. Lo and behold, St Thomas was one of the tracks on that station which was my introduction to Saxophone Collosus and quickly became added to my iTunes library and one of my most played songs. I still have fond memories in the game of speeding down the highway rocking out to the sweet beats of Max Roach. 😂 Funny enough, the station actually had quite a few other bangers -- including songs by Bird, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Miles and a bunch more.
Saxophone Colossus is probably the Sonny album I’ve listened to in its entirety more than any other of his. His language on Moritait is absolutely flawless!
"Lloyd Bentsten" "Are you making that name up?" Adam's spidey sense is on high alert at the phantom T which Peter inexplicably inserts, re-inserts, and boldly emphasizes. And then, in defiance of all natural laws of English pronunciation, Peter is unfazed by actually spelling out B-E-N-T-S-E-N. Please join me in the subtle hilarity of Adam's double take at 52:36. Underrated: Adam's professionalism at letting this go by without further comment.
I think I have every official U.S. album Rollins ever did plus a number of European and Japanese records and a few bootlegs. Probably my favorite solo in jazz is Rollins' solo on "Strode Rode", where the drums and piano lay out for a minute or so and it's just Sonny and the bassist Doug Watkins... goosebumps.
Im a younger cat (15). So my first time hearing this record was on a later iPod. I remember hearing this and Moanin in the same day. My mind was blown. I this was just one of those experiences that changed my life. I remember thinking "I need to learn how he is doing that". I don't play sax, but his phrasing and sense of time is still a massive influence on my guitar playing.
OK 1968 taken to a downtown Detroit record store by the soon to be named, when she moved to LA, "Patti Detroit". A mono vinyl cutout for $2.98. One of the first jazz albums that I bought, an all time favorite.
Certainly one of the great Sonny albums of the time, along with Worktime and Plus Four. Personally my favorite of the three may be PF, just for the Sonny solo on Kiss and Run, one of my top five of all time solos.
Gala Silver Platters in Bellevue, WA; they had a great jazz section there. My parents used to get so mad because I spent all the money I made working at the grocery store on CD’s there.
I have a 5K+ CD collection, and of course I have "Saxophone Colossus", but that record (and few others) seems to get lost in the shuffle. Thanks for bringing it back into my rotation.
Also from a border's (i used to take the 3.99 Sale stickers and put them on the CDS i wanted every wednesday after the small group workshop; I drove the bassist and the other trumpet player and made sure that both their parents gave me gas money. We got the entire Blue Note catalog that way after a few years (also rocked the walkman/fake tape combo in a 92 subura legacy that looked like a blown out running shoe.) If i could do any replacement on this album it would be to swap out Tommy for Jim Hall/Grant Green/Barney Kessel/Bobby Hutcherson. Remove the shitty sounding ghost piano entirely and give RVG a sound he knew how to mix.
Doug Watkins died at age 27 in an automobile accident near Holbrook, Arizona, on February 5, 1962,[7] while traveling from Arizona to San Francisco to meet drummer Philly Joe Jones for a gig. - from Wikipedia
Great albums to review Oscar Peterson The Trio: ua-cam.com/video/71vWoCcIsM0/v-deo.html with Joe Pass (fits into the wanted guitarist) and NHOP. And I shall keep plugging this one until you review it. If you must go a more populist route: Night Train.
Certainly a great album. No doubt. But jazz got better than this very quickly. If I could have only one Sonny Rollins album, it would be A Night At The Village Vanguard.
I heard this jawn like everything else- on Spotify while working. And maybe that has to do with why it's meh to me. I mean don't get me wrong Rollins is in the top 5 sax jammers out there right behind Adderly Coltrane Parker and Shorter (roughly in that order) and his albums with monk are supreme but... I meann... it's aight?
With the recent passing of Benny Golson, Sonny Rollins is now the last man standing from the iconic 1958 photo "A Great Day in Harlem" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Great_Day_in_Harlem)
Would love if you guys did a video on SOUL STATION, Hank Mobley and Wynton Kelly are both under-appreciated; definitely one of the easiest albums to listen to and some of the most transcribable music.
Totally agree with you! One of the most underrated album.
Agree ...Soul Station is great top to bottom.
Second this!!
Swingin album, but for me Hank Mobley as a player never reached the heights of Bird, Sonny, Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and in a different way Johnny Hodges, Coleman Hawkins etc. Just below the absolute top, but that record really came together beautifully, love it. Perfectly rated as a player though
thats on my top 3 fave jazz albums of all time!
I've never been Sonny Rollins' biggest fan - until right f*cking now. Always thought him too "precise". I now know, thanks to you two, the precision is the entire point.
Somehow I had never listened to _Saxophone Colossus_ until this year, and it blew me away. I think I'd had bad experience playing "St. Thomas" in school jazz bands in my childhood, lol.
48:35 First I will say I really enjoyed this :) RE: the recording of this album, I think folks in general undervalue how much the producers (Bob Weinstock here) had to do with the mix of these albums. I agree with Adam that the bar is so high for every other instrument that the piano sound is a nagging shortcoming, though I personally feel "wimpy" and "thin" are not the right words to describe Van Gelder's piano sound. It is almost universally underwhelming IMO but I think its strength is that it is "beefy" and far from sounding distant. But I gather that the main criticism here is the comping is subdued, that is an element of the mix and would likely have a lot to do with what the producer(s) wanted (FWIW, Alfred Lion played a major role in shaping what we know as "the Van Gelder Sound", and there is reason to believe that Weinstock followed Lion's lead in many ways, including his mixing aesthetic, which I think was to make room for the horns during their solos by suppressing the piano a bit). Thanks again for this 🙏
I first heard this album when I was 14 and it turned my entire world upside down. Absolutely massive album for any tenor player, peak Sonny Rollins!
1984/85 while attending Berklee. Many hours of listening to the '70s twofer reissue with the green cover called 'Saxophone Colossus and More." Had an early '80s Panasonic compact stereo system in my apartment near Berklee.
These conversations are honestly so wonderful. I really enjoy them.
Bless you all for jogging my memory! Driving around Humboldt county 2003-5 ish (?) to odd jobs, gigs, and dance classes, with the same cassette adaptor/discman setup, as well as mix tapes with tracks from the record and lots of Miles and Coltrane quintet. Thanks gentlemen!
I had forgotten how much I love this album. The first time I listened to it was during the pandemic, winter 2021, I got late to the game of jazz unfortunately, but I remember thinking that as long as we have music we’re gonna be alright. Is this as good as KOB?!? no idea. I love them both!!
Junk didn’t make Bird, Bird. Bird was already Bird. Love this quote.
Yes!! I listened to this album so many times.
Love Sonny, seeing him live inspired me to move to NYC. Living legend.
I first heard this maybe thirty years ago and just didn’t get it. Then years later Rollins became the source for a lot of what I strive for on guitar. Saxophone Colossus is great, and yet not even close to being Sonny’s best playing. Still, it’s the album I’ve been waiting for you to discuss. I often joke that Rollins is my favourite guitarist. I realised recently that the players ( sax, guitar, piano) I love most all have a little Rollins in them somehow.
Blue 7 is my go to track - I listen to it maybe two or three times a month even now - always inspires something in my own playing.
Rhythm, tone, dynamics. For all the great lines and melodies Sonny played, the notes may be the least important thing.
@pianopeter
Mr Martin,
I’m revisiting your performances with Joshua Redman “Live” in ‘97 (Montreux) and North Sea ‘97 (Redman on alto) and
and in ‘96 (place?)…
on “Hide and Seek”
and the studio album of that track
(and other tunes)
you’re always groovin’ like mad!
Nice lines, subtle manipulations of color, substitutions … wonderful.
Thank you for your artistry and inspiration.
I wish you health and joy
and many more rapturous musical moments.
hug 🫂 from the road,
Dr D
First time was at school at drawing lesson, on cassette around 1987/88. Our teacher played it over and over.
thank you for this! Can we get an episode devoted to the best engineered Jazz albums? I would love to get your take on the difference between RVG, Columbia, and Verve …etc. regarding fidelity.
My copy was on a cd discman and I brought it all over the place and think I may have dropped it on the floor of the bus in high school which may have done it in. I caught Sonny at a concert at Jordan Hall Boston in 96 or 07 and Espoo Finland in 98. He was masterful and had the audience in the palm of his hand at both performances. Also,agree Sonny Rollins +4 is a truly great one too.
GALA The CD listening station at borders in 1997.
Thanks a lot for tackling this album that I did not listen for years. Great sound. I am amazed by Sonny’s mastery of dynamic, every note is weighted. Haute couture!
Regarding the idea that there was only one take, I'm guessing that's unlikely because Sonny notoriously would do 18 takes and decide none of them were good enough. Regardless, Aidan Levy's exhaustive 700+ page book _Saxophone Colossus_ will probably tell you how many takes of each track as well as what each musician was wearing. (Seriously. He mentions clothes a *lot*. Sonny was a sharp dresser back in the day.) Anyway, a theme of the book is Sonny's perfectionism and how it resulted in many, many takes in the studio.
Great listening lesson btw. Thank you so much!
GALA: I first heard it when I was probably around 8-9 years old, around 25 years ago. We were on holiday in La Palma (Canary Islands), we had rented a small secluded finca, it was sunny, quiet and beautiful. My dad had brought the album and we kept playing St Thomas (my dad's name is Thomas) over and over because we all loved it. The head and solos have been stuck in my head since then.
GALA: In the late 2000s, I was in high school doing what most teenage boys do -- playing the video game Grand Theft Auto 4. Believe it or not, the cars in the game had an in-game radio with many different stations. Whenever I "acquired" a car, I would immediately flip to the jazz station. Lo and behold, St Thomas was one of the tracks on that station which was my introduction to Saxophone Collosus and quickly became added to my iTunes library and one of my most played songs. I still have fond memories in the game of speeding down the highway rocking out to the sweet beats of Max Roach. 😂
Funny enough, the station actually had quite a few other bangers -- including songs by Bird, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Miles and a bunch more.
Great Ep.! Love the show, thank you.
Joe Chambers' Apex Mountain was drumming on Wayne Shorter's Footprints, like a drum with it's own melody.
Saxophone Colossus is probably the Sonny album I’ve listened to in its entirety more than any other of his. His language on Moritait is absolutely flawless!
"Lloyd Bentsten"
"Are you making that name up?"
Adam's spidey sense is on high alert at the phantom T which Peter inexplicably inserts, re-inserts, and boldly emphasizes. And then, in defiance of all natural laws of English pronunciation, Peter is unfazed by actually spelling out B-E-N-T-S-E-N. Please join me in the subtle hilarity of Adam's double take at 52:36.
Underrated: Adam's professionalism at letting this go by without further comment.
GREAT album, nothing more to say. As great as you guys
"Saxophone Galoshes" - lost my sh*t right there 😂😂😂
Yes, do Wynton Kelly and Wes Montgomery Live At The Half-Note!!
This is a great podcast.
One of the first Jazz CD's I bought in the early 90's. Still love Moritat (Mack the Knife) to this day.
I used to get all of my jazz CDs from the library. Of course I would put them on my computer and then put them on CDR’s.
I think I have every official U.S. album Rollins ever did plus a number of European and Japanese records and a few bootlegs. Probably my favorite solo in jazz is Rollins' solo on "Strode Rode", where the drums and piano lay out for a minute or so and it's just Sonny and the bassist Doug Watkins... goosebumps.
It's one of the greatest jazz albums of all time!
Apex mountain! I have the cover art as an enlarged print on my living room wall (the blue one with his silhouette). The mood is exquisite.
I AM CRYING LISTENING TO SONNY THANK YOU💌
Im a younger cat (15). So my first time hearing this record was on a later iPod. I remember hearing this and Moanin in the same day. My mind was blown. I this was just one of those experiences that changed my life. I remember thinking "I need to learn how he is doing that". I don't play sax, but his phrasing and sense of time is still a massive influence on my guitar playing.
so killing (this is Jake)
@@jacobbrown3479what’s up bro!
OK 1968 taken to a downtown Detroit record store by the soon to be named, when she moved to LA, "Patti Detroit". A mono vinyl cutout for $2.98. One of the first jazz albums that I bought, an all time favorite.
Certainly one of the great Sonny albums of the time, along with Worktime and Plus Four. Personally my favorite of the three may be PF, just for the Sonny solo on Kiss and Run, one of my top five of all time solos.
Blast Back With Mac! I won 100 bucks with the little thing you peeled off the soda! Went to see the Stones in St Louis with the money! 1989 I think
How about having a look at a Hammond record? Larry Young’s Unity perhaps?
Gala Silver Platters in Bellevue, WA; they had a great jazz section there. My parents used to get so mad because I spent all the money I made working at the grocery store on CD’s there.
I have a 5K+ CD collection, and of course I have "Saxophone Colossus", but that record (and few others) seems to get lost in the shuffle. Thanks for bringing it back into my rotation.
Sonny!
Thank you ☕️ Good morning
Also from a border's (i used to take the 3.99 Sale stickers and put them on the CDS i wanted every wednesday after the small group workshop; I drove the bassist and the other trumpet player and made sure that both their parents gave me gas money. We got the entire Blue Note catalog that way after a few years (also rocked the walkman/fake tape combo in a 92 subura legacy that looked like a blown out running shoe.)
If i could do any replacement on this album it would be to swap out Tommy for Jim Hall/Grant Green/Barney Kessel/Bobby Hutcherson. Remove the shitty sounding ghost piano entirely and give RVG a sound he knew how to mix.
Doug Watkins died at age 27 in an automobile accident near Holbrook, Arizona, on February 5, 1962,[7] while traveling from Arizona to San Francisco to meet drummer Philly Joe Jones for a gig. - from Wikipedia
wow I didn’t know that rest in peace
The first 10 minutes of this video is gold! 😂
I knew I shouldn't have relied upon a Temu snobometer. Now I need to find someone with only the best, on vinyl, so I can calibrate it.
It’s funny it took me back when you said Napster. That was a good year for me.😅
Airbags and Seatbelts agreement signed
U lot gonna need to do a big band album at some point!
I really thought the KoB meter would get punished finally if you say its almost perfect. Oh well,... but I still learned a lot, thanks!
Napster crew, checking in.
Fats navaro is also a big one, died at 26
Max Roach is one of the best, but Jo Jones is Apex Mountain for Hi Hat.
Love this record! In an interview, Sonny said he thinks musicians play better on heroin.
Great albums to review Oscar Peterson The Trio:
ua-cam.com/video/71vWoCcIsM0/v-deo.html
with Joe Pass (fits into the wanted guitarist) and NHOP.
And I shall keep plugging this one until you review it. If you must go a more populist route: Night Train.
Hank Mobley sub?
Certainly a great album. No doubt. But jazz got better than this very quickly. If I could have only one Sonny Rollins album, it would be A Night At The Village Vanguard.
I heard this jawn like everything else- on Spotify while working. And maybe that has to do with why it's meh to me. I mean don't get me wrong Rollins is in the top 5 sax jammers out there right behind Adderly Coltrane Parker and Shorter (roughly in that order) and his albums with monk are supreme but... I meann... it's aight?
With the recent passing of Benny Golson, Sonny Rollins is now the last man standing from the iconic 1958 photo "A Great Day in Harlem" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Great_Day_in_Harlem)
FYI it looks like the link doesn't go to the wikipedia page correctly because you've included the bracket at the end as part of the link
other sub bassists . red Mitchell, Oscar pettiford , scott lofaro