Released 1958 A Night at the Village Vanguard
(1958) Sonny Side Up
(1957) Release date 1958 Genres Bebop, Hard bop | Recorded November 3, 1957 Artist Sonny Rollins Label Blue Note Records | |
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Similar Sonny Rollins albums, Hard bop albums, Other albums | ||
A Night at the Village Vanguard is a live album by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins released on Blue Note Records in 1958. It was recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City in November 1957 from three sets, two in the evening and one in the afternoon with sidemen. For the afternoon set, Rollins played with Donald Bailey on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums; in the evening they were replaced respectively by Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones.
Contents
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This CD is often magical. Sonny Rollins, one of jazz's great tenors, is heard at his peak... Not only did Rollins have a very distinctive sound, but his use of time, his sly wit, and his boppish but unpredictable style were completely his own by 1957." Music critic Robert Christgau highly praised the album, writing: "Rollins is charged with venturing far out from these tunes without severing the harmonic moorings normally secured by a piano. He does it again and again – but not without a certain cost in ebullience, texture, and fullness of breath. Impressive always, fun in passing, his improvisations are what avant-garde jazz is for." The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four stars plus crown, concluding that "these are record[ing]s which demand a place in any collection".
On September 14, 1999, the remastered album was reissued by Blue Note as part of its Rudy Van Gelder series. Expanded to two compact discs, it included all the available recordings from the November 3 date.
Track listing
All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated.
1999 reissue track listing
All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated; program in chronological order as presented originally.
Personnel
Songs
1A Night In Tunisia (Afternoon) (Live) (1999 Digital Remaster) (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)8:16
2I've Got You Under My Skin (Afternoon) (Live) (1999 Digital Remaster) (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)10:04
3A Night In Tunisia (Evening) (Live) (1999 Digital Remaster) (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition)9:04