The Bridge (Sonny Rollins album)

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The Bridge
The Bridge cover
Studio album by Sonny Rollins
Released 1962
Recorded Jan 30, 1962-Feb 14, 1962
Genre Jazz
Length 40:08
Label Bluebird/RCA
Producer George Akavian, Steve Backer, Barry Feldman, Joshua Sherman, John Snyder
Professional reviews
Sonny Rollins chronology
Saxes in Stereo
(1959)		 The Bridge
(1962)		 The Quartets Featuring Jim Hall
(1962)

The Bridge, 1962,[1] was the first release of Jazz giant Sonny Rollins following his unexpected early retirement in 1959.[2] The saxophonist here joined for the first time in the quartet with which he would record for the next segment of his career, featuring 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 including an LP re-issue by Audiophile.

Contents

[edit] 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.[3] A resident of the Lower East Side of Manhattan with no private space to practice, Rollins took his saxophone to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice alone,[4] and his first recording after his return to performance took its name from those solo session.[3] Critical reception to the album, which was not the revolutionary new jazz approach many expected, was mixed.[5] 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.[6] However, if not a tremendous departure from Rollins' earlier style, the album was nevertheless quite successful.[7] Tagged by All Music as "a near-classic",[7] the recording was declared by Inkblot Magazine to be "one of the greatest albums from one of jazz's greatest musicians".[5] It is one of the albums for which the long-active and prolific Rollins receives his greatest praise.[8]

[edit] 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

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Performance

[edit] 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

[edit] References

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