Search - Sonny Rollins :: Plus 4

Masterwork!!

George H. Soule | Edwardsville, Illinois United States | 12/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although under Sonny Rollins' name, the quintet on this masterpiece is the Brown-Roach Quintet, featuring (as Pee Wee at Birdland would have it) "the trumpet sensation, Clifford Brown." Thankfully, Prestige recorded the group in March 1956 so that Rollins and Brown were captured ensemble. The record is brief, but important. The disc begins with Rollins' "Valse Hot" a jazz waltz that features fine solos by Rollins and Brown followed by Richie Powell on piano and a Max Roach drum solo. "Kiss and Run" features a fine Rollins solo and a driving virtuoso performance by Brown spurred by Roach's masterful drumming. The Powell solo is commanding and lyrical and the traded breaks by Rollins, Roach, and Brown are almost the equal of the dialog between Rollins and Brown that conclude this track. These interchanges are cause enough to own the disc. But the great stuff doesn't end there. "I Feel a Song Coming On" begins with a breakneck Rollins solo followed by Brownie at peak tempo and inventiveness. Max' solo is tasteful and explosive and there is another Rollins/Brown dialog that's quick and clean. "Count Your Blessings" features Rollins as a balladeer and it's apt testimony to the lessons that he had learned from Lester Young as well as Charlie Parker. Lyrical and inventive, it simply swings. The disc concludes with "Pent-Up House," a Rollins original that fairly explodes with improvisation and vitality. This was one of the great jazz groups, unfortunately ended with the untimely deaths of Powell and Brown. This disc is a fit companion to the EmArcy recording "Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street" (January-February 1956) and any serious collection should contain both."