Sonny Rollins / The Sound Of Sonny

Sonny Rollins was only 26 years old when he recorded this, his first Riverside album, but he was an eight-year veteran of the jazz big leagues. He had worked with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Group, among others. His style, personal and eccentric but deeply rooted in the jazz tradition and in American popular song, made him the most talked-about young tenor saxophonist in the mid-1950s. The Sound of Sonny, heard now for the first time as a SACD, makes clear why Rollins impressed people. Like all great jazz improvisers, he communicated through his instrument in a way that made listeners feel he was speaking to them. The stories he told were delivered with energy, swing and wry good humor. He gave the layman a frame of reference by using familiar material like the standard songs here for explorations full of excitement and adventure. Supported by a blue-ribbon rhythm section, this is young Sonny Rollins at his best.