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Format Details:
Format Details: Special Edition Yellow Vinyl /
Release Date: 29 January 2013
Label: Poll Winner Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 8436542012898
Release Date: 14 March 2025
Label: 20th Century Masterworks
Packaging Type: Slip Sleeve (CD or Vinyl)
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 8436563186059
Description
This release presents the complete original LP 'The Bridge' (RCA Victor LPM2527), which marks Sonny Rollins' first album after his three year long self-imposed musical exile. It was all recorded in a piano-less quartet format, with Jim Hall on guitar, plus Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Ben Riley on drums (replaced by Harry T. Saunders on just one track). The other two studio tunes recorded by the quartet in 1962, and two alternate versions of songs from the LP taped at Ralph J. Gleason's "Jazz Casual" TV show shortly after making the album have been added as a bonus.
The Poll Winners label is devoted to the CD reissue of albums that received the maximum 5-star rating in a DownBeat album review. This only rarely happened, and most of the DownBeat albums have become true classics revered by all music lovers. These new editions present the complete original 5-star albums, which are expanded to include interesting bonus albums or tracks by the artist at the peak of their talents.
Description
The complete LP + 2 bonus tracks - limited edition pressing on 180g blue vinyl, includes new specially prepared liner notes by penguin guide to jazz's writer Brian Morton and by Paris' prestigious Jazz Magazine.
The Bridge was the first album Sonny Rollins recorded after he returned to the jazz scene in late 1961, following a two-year layoff to practice and reflect during a time of great stylistic upheaval in the music. If the sabbatical added to his instrumental command and his musical understanding, the triumphal return confirmed that this was the same authoritative player of the classic 'Saxophone Colossus', 'Way Out West' and 'Village Vanguard' albums.
'The Bridge' features Rollins in a piano-less quartet, with Jim Hall on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Ben Riley on drums.
At the risk of being unable to give Rollins a higher numerical rating when he surpasses this album (and I have every confidence that he will) this set still has to be placed in the superlative class." - ***** Ira Gitler, Down Beat
Description
'The Bridge' is one of Sonny Rollins' most celebrated albums, recorded in January - February 1962 and released in the same year. It marked Rollins's return to recordings after his famous three-year sabbatical (1959 - 1961), when he stepped away from the jazz scene at the height of his career to practice intensively. It was 1959, Rollins he was already one of the most respected saxophonists alive: he had made 'Saxophone Colossus' (1956), 'A Night at the Village Vanguard' (1957), and 'The Freedom Suite' (1958). Musicians and critics wondered why he stopped recording at his peak but he wanted to refine his technique, expand his sound, and push past what he felt were limitations in his playing. During his break, Rollins would literally practice for hours every day on the Williamsburg Bridge in Manhattan so he wouldn't disturb his neighbours: the album's title is a direct reference to that period of self-imposed exile for his artistic growth.
Rollins chose a piano-less quartet with guitar (which was unusual at the time for a horn-led group) Jim Hall guitarist was highly influential and his contribute inspiring future saxophone-guitar quartets. By the time 'The Bridge' appeared in 1962, expectations were sky-high: it was seen not just as an album, but as a return statement. Critics initially had mixed feelings (some expecting a more radical "revolution"), but over time the album has become recognised as one of Rollins's most enduring works and is today viewed as a milestone in modern jazz. A personal triumph for Rollins symbolising his artistic rebirth after his sabbatical.
Tracklisting
Tracklisting
Tracklisting
Nina Simone
Ella Fitzgerald
Elvis Presley
Sonny Rollins
Oscar Peterson
Quincy Jones
Michel Legrand & Miles Davis
Johnny Hodges & Ben Webster
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
