The Bridge (Sonny Rollins album)

Infobox Album
Name = The Bridge
Type = studio
Artist = 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
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:axfexqtgldae~T1 link]
Last album = "Saxes in Stereo"
(1959)
This album = "The Bridge"
(1962)
Next album = "The Quartets Featuring Jim Hall"
(1962)

"The Bridge", 1962, [allmusicguide |id=11:kifrxqy5ld0e~T2 |label=Sonny Rollins discography] was the first release of Jazz giant Sonny Rollins following his unexpected early retirement in 1959. [allmusicguide |id=11:kifrxqy5ld0e~T1|label=Sonny Rollins biography] 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.

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. [http://www.sonnyrollins.com/bio.php Biography] Sonny Rollins official website. Accessed October 20 2007.] 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, [ [http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/rol0int-6 Greatest living jazz soloist] The Academy of Achievement. (June 2 2006) Accessed October 20 2007.] and his first recording after his return to performance took its name from those solo session. Critical reception to the album, which was not the revolutionary new jazz approach many expected, was mixed.Greilsamer, Marc. [http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/rollins.htm Sonny Rollins: The Bridge] "Inkblot Magazine". Accessed October 20 2007.] 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. [Yaffe, David. (October 4 2007). [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071022/yaffe Spirit Chaser] . "The Nation". Accessed October 20 2007.] However, if not a tremendous departure from Rollins' earlier style, the album was nevertheless quite successful.allmusicguide |id=10:axfexqtgldae~T1| The Bridge review] Tagged by All Music as "a near-classic", the recording was declared by "Inkblot Magazine" to be "one of the greatest albums from one of jazz's greatest musicians". It is one of the albums for which the long-active and prolific Rollins receives his greatest praise. [Marchese, David. (August 26 2005). [http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/rollins-sonny-050826.shtml A colossus nears the end of the road] Pop Matters. Accessed October 20 2007.]

Track listing

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

Personnel

Performance

*Bob Cranshaw – bass
*Jim Hall – guitar
*Ben Riley – drums
*Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
*Harry "H.T." Saunders – drums

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