On Record Store Day in April 2024,
Sonny Rollins fans were faced with an abundance of riches. Two archival offerings appeared:
Blue Note's
A Night at the Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters (in the Tone Poet series), and
George Klabin's and
Zev Feldman's
Resonance Records Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Recordings.
Rollins' performance on November 3, 1957, was the first-ever gig recorded at the New York City club, and
Rollins' first-ever live gig.
The
Freedom Weaver recordings are assembled officially for the first time, although some have previously appeared on bootlegs.
Freedom Weaver has been painstakingly remastered from source tapes (and now sounds like excellent mono), and
Rollins, protective of his legacy, personally approved the release of these final shows before his retreat between late 1959 and 1961, when he practiced on the Williamsburg Bridge. These discs capture
Rollins' trio concerts, and radio and TV appearances in Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, and France in March 1959. Throughout, the saxophonist is supported beautifully by bassist
Henry Grimes and an alternating cast of drummers including
Pete La Roca,
Joe Harris, and bebop legend
Kenny "Klook" Clarke. As expected from
Resonance, the three discs contain five hours of music packed inside a handsome booklet adorned with rare photos, an excellent liner essay by
Bob Blumenthal, and new interviews with
Rollins,
Branford Marsalis,
James Carter,
Joe Lovano,
James Brandon Lewis, and
Peter Brötzmann.
La Roca is the drummer on most of the first two discs. His hard swing, trademark phrasing, and innovative use of toms-toms and bass drum syncopation pushed the saxophonist hard on 1957's
A Night at the Vanguard, and continues to do so here. Check his fiery accents on disc one's "Oleo," then contrast that with his more relaxed approach on disc two, where it's boiled down to a three-minute sprint. The interplay between saxophonist and bassist is simply canny throughout. About halfway into an 11-minute version of disc one's "How High the Moon,"
Grimes and
Rollins seemingly make their instruments sing together. Of the three performances that feature
Harris, it's his pacing, accents, and fills on "Paul's Pal #2" that are most remarkable: While relaxed, they're inventive, making a lot of room for
Grimes.
The final disc is made up of three uncharacteristically long jamming performances with
Clarke. The drummer's Afro-Latin groove introduces "Woody 'N' You" and sets up a melodic vamp by
Grimes.
Rollins responds playing around the melody before digging into it and establishing assonant trio interplay. Contrast it with
Clarke's senstive support on "But Not for Me."
Rollins again edges around the melody in the lower register before traveling to the middle in the chorus, extending lines and phrases.
Grimes is anticipatory. He knows when to comp and when to push. Even his walking lines sound purposeful and intent as the tune evolves and he enters and authoritative, fingerpopping dialogue with
Clarke, who manages to stay in swing no matter where
Rollins takes the harmony. For
Rollins fans,
Freedom Weaver is simply indispensable. ~ Thom Jurek
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