Sonny Rollins - A Night at the Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters (2024)

Blue Note Records has announced an April 26 release of Sonny Rollins A Night at the Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters, a special Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of the legendary saxophonist’s tour-de-force live trio album. The expanded 3-LP set, which can be ordered now on the Blue Note Store, marks the first time Rollins’ complete recorded performances at the Village Vanguard on November 3, 1957 will be made available in a single vinyl package. The collection is also available as a 2-CD set and on all digital formats.

Produced for release by Joe Harley, the vinyl is all-analog and cut directly from Rudy Van Gelder’s newly discovered and never-before-used original 7.5ips master tapes by Kevin Gray. Pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, the three LPs come packaged in a deluxe tip-on trifold jacket which includes a booklet with never-before-seen photos by Francis Wolff; insightful essays by esteemed critics Nate Chinen and Bob Blumenthal; an excerpt from Aidan Levy’s authoritative Rollins biography Saxophone Colossus which provides a riveting behind-the-scenes account of the volatile circumstances surrounding the recording; and a fascinating new interview with Rollins himself reflecting upon the album in conversation with Blue Note President Don Was.

“I am thrilled with how this special edition of Sonny’s Village Vanguard masterpiece turned out,” said Harley. “For years, I had seen the famous photo of Rudy Van Gelder and Alfred Lion at this gig which showed a very visible Ampex 601 portable tape deck. I had always thought that perhaps it had been there as a safety to Rudy’s big 15ips Ampex deck, but then it hit me: Of course he didn’t bring the big, heavy pro deck downstairs at the Vanguard… how would you even get it down the stairs! Rudy had taken the 7.5ips tapes back to his studio and transferred them to his main 15ips deck to then be assembled and readied for mastering. So, thanks to the first-time use of the actual master tapes and a trove of newly discovered photos, you now have the best seat in the house!”

Rollins had already recorded three Blue Note studio dates for Alfred Lion—Sonny Rollins, Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2, and Newk’s Time—in the year preceding the Village Vanguard session, which would be Rollins’ first-ever live album, as well as the first-ever live album to be recorded at the iconic New York City jazz club. The music was predominantly captured at the evening set featuring Wilbur Ware on bass and Elvin Jones on drums with two pieces coming from the afternoon set featuring Donald Bailey on bass and Pete La Roca on drums.

“I was so involved in what I was doing,” Rollins told Was. “I was a young guy. Playing the music was paramount in my mind, that was the only thing I was thinking about: having fun and getting the musical vibe right… I know it was a good record and I was completely happy playing with those guys: Elvin and, of course, Wilbur Ware. Everything just fit together perfectly.”

“Some iconic jazz albums seem improbable, as if they’d managed to slip through the filters of happenstance. Others feel inevitable, like the fulfillment of a cosmic decree. A few manage to convey both impressions at once. Such is the case with A Night at the Village Vanguard, which rightly figures in conversations about the greatest recordings ever made. It’s not a carefully plotted concept album, nor a blazing manifesto, but a document with the slangy nonchalance of a conversation overheard on the street, extemporaneous and unburdened. It’s a slice of musical vérité that captures a true master of the form on a good day, in a generous and jocular mood.”—Nate Chinen

“His playing is relentless, fierce, totally engaged; and the trio context provides the necessary latitude to pull and bend the material without having it fly apart… he took these compositions to their limits, in an unyielding flow of ideas and emotion.”—Bob Blumenthal

Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone
Wilbur Ware, bass
Elvin Jones, drums
Donald Bailey, bass
Pete La Roca, drums

Tracklist
01 - Introduction 1 (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
02 - Old Devil Moon (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
03 - Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (Afternoon Take _ Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
04 - Striver's Row (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
05 - Sonnymoon For Two (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
06 - A Night In Tunisia (Afternoon Take _ Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
07 - I Can't Get Started (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
08 - A Night In Tunisia (Evening Take _ Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
09 - I've Got You Under My Skin (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
10 - Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (Evening Take _ Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
11 - What Is This Thing Called Love (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
12 - All The Things You Are (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
13 - Introduction 2 (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
14 - Woody 'N You (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
15 - Four (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
16 - I'll Remember April (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
17 - Get Happy (Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)
18 - Get Happy (Alternate Take _ Live At The Village Vanguard_1957)