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Saxophone Colossus is the sixth studio album by American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Perhaps Rollins's best-known album, it is often considered his breakthrough record.[4] It was recorded monophonically on June 22, 1956, with producer Bob Weinstock and engineer Rudy Van Gelder at the latter's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. Rollins led a quartet on the album that included pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach. Saxophone Colossus was released by Prestige Records to critical success and helped establish Rollins as a prominent jazz artist.[5]

Saxophone Colossus
Studio album by Sonny Rollins
Released	1956[1][2]
Recorded	June 22, 1956
Studio	Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre	Hard bop[3]
Length	39:58
Label	Prestige
Producer	Bob Weinstock
Sonny Rollins chronology
Tenor Madness (1956) Saxophone Colossus (1956) Rollins Plays for Bird (1956)

In 2016, Saxophone Colossus was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".[6]

Background

This section does not cite any sources. (July 2015)

There are five tracks on the album, three of which are credited to Rollins. "St. Thomas" is a calypso-inspired piece named after Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands. The tune is traditional and had already been recorded by Randy Weston in 1955 under the title "Fire Down There". (In the booklet provided with the boxed set, The Complete Prestige Recordings, Rollins makes it clear that it was the record company that insisted on his taking credit.) In any case, the piece has since become a jazz standard, with this being its most famous recorded version.^{[citation needed]}

The final track, "Blue 7", is a blues piece, over eleven minutes long. Its main, rather disjunct melody was spontaneously composed. The performance is among Rollins's most acclaimed, and is the subject of an article by Gunther Schuller entitled "Sonny Rollins and the Challenge of Thematic Improvisation". Schuller praises Rollins on "Blue 7" for the use of motivic development exploring and developing melodic themes throughout his three solos, so that the piece is unified, rather than being composed of unrelated ideas.^{[citation needed]}

The original 22 June 1956 session was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder. A CD version, mastered by Steve Hoffman, was released in May 1995 by DCC Compact Classics; no additional performances were included. Another remastered version, this time by Van Gelder, was released on 21 March 2006. The album's title was devised by Prestige Records' in-house publicity director Robert "Bob" Altshuler.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
DownBeat	[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[9]
Jazzwise	[10]
MusicHound Jazz	5/5[11]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[12]
Record Mirror	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[15]

Independent sources have differed in their reporting of the album's release date. According to The Mojo Collection, it was released in the autumn of 1956,[5] and AllMusic also lists that year as the one of its release,[7] while an August 1957 issue of Billboard magazine listed the album among records released in the period between March 16 and July of that same year.[16] Reviewing in April 1957, Billboard said "Rollins' latest effort should really start musicians buzzing", as "the tenorman is one of the most vigorous, dynamic and inventive of modern jazzmen", and "everytrack is packed with surprises, tho Rollins develops each solo with great architectural logic".[17] Ralph J. Gleason reviewed the album later in June for DownBeat, writing:

Almost as if in answer to the charge that there is a lack of grace and beauty in the work of the New York hard-swingers comes this album in which Rollins displays humor, gentleness, a delicate feeling for beauty in line, and a puckish sense of humor. And all done with the uncompromising swinging that has characterized them all along.[8]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow called Saxophone Colossus "arguably his finest all-around set",[7] while German musicologist Peter Niklas Wilson deemed it "another milestone of the Rollins discography, a recording repeatedly cited as Rollins' chef d'oeuvre, and one of the classic jazz albums of all time".[18] In 2000 it was voted number 405 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[19] The Penguin Guide to Jazz included the album in its suggested “core collection” of essential recordings, and in addition to its maximum rating of four stars awarded it a “crown”, indicating an album for which the authors felt particular admiration or affection.[12]

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

• Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
• Tommy Flanagan – piano
• Doug Watkins – bass
• Max Roach – drums

References

External links

• Saxophone Colossus at Discogs (list of releases)
• Interview with Sonny Rollins from the Library of Congress

На других языках

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[de] Saxophone Colossus

Saxophone Colossus ist ein Jazz-Album von Sonny Rollins, das 1956 erschien und als das Meisterstück seiner Arbeit für das Prestige-Label gilt.

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- [en] Saxophone Colossus

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