A Night at the Village Vanguard

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 different 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.[1]

A Night at the Village Vanguard
Live album by
Released1958
RecordedNovember 3, 1957
VenueVillage Vanguard, New York City
GenreBop
Hard bop
LabelBlue Note
BLP 1581
ProducerAlfred Lion
Sonny Rollins chronology
Newk's Time
(1957)
A Night at the Village Vanguard
(1958)
Sonny Side Up
(1957)

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."[2] 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."[3] The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.[4] 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".[5]

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.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Robert ChristgauA−[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz(Crown)[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[6]

Track listing

All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Old Devil Moon"E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane8:19
2."Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise"Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg8:03
3."Striver's Row"Sonny Rollins5:59
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sonnymoon for Two"Sonny Rollins8:46
2."A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set)Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli8:16
3."I Can't Get Started"Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke4:54

1999 reissue track listing

All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated; program in chronological order as presented originally.

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set)Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli8:16
2."I've Got You Under My Skin" (afternoon set)Cole Porter10:03
3."A Night in Tunisia"Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli9:03
4."Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (alternate take)Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg6:43
5."Four"Miles Davis8:26
6."introduction" 0:20
7."Woody 'n' You"Dizzy Gillespie8:29
8."introduction" 0:36
9."Old Devil Moon"E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane8:19
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."What Is This Thing Called Love"Cole Porter14:03
2."Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise"Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg8:03
3."Sonnymoon for Two"Sonny Rollins8:46
4."I Can't Get Started"Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke4:54
5."I'll Remember April"Don Raye, Patricia Johnston, Gene de Paul9:20
6."Get Happy"Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen9:08
7."Striver's Row"Sonny Rollins5:59
8."All the Things You Are"Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern6:46
9."Get Happy" (alternate take)Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen4:38

Personnel

Technical

References

  1. Bailey, C. Michael (August 10, 2005), "Sonny Rollins: A Night At The Village Vanguard" All About Jazz.
  2. Yanow, Scott. "A Night at the Village Vanguard > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  3. Christgau, Robert. "A Night at the Village Vanguard > Review". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  4. Yanow, Scott (November 2, 2010). "Hard Bop (Essay)". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  5. Cook, Richard and Brian Morton (2008), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th edn.) Penguin, p. 1233.
  6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 170. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
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