Search - Sonny Rollins :: Rollins Plays for Bird

Sonny With Bird In Hand

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 08/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Rollins Plays for Bird" is vintage Sonny Rollins -- an album with the perfect combination of medium tempo hard boppers and scintilating ballads. But unlike other recordings you get them here all in one song. "The Bird Medley" features seven diiferent Charlie Parker songs, all strung together intelligently by the band of Sonny, Kenny Dorham, Wade Legge, George Morrow and Max Roach. While the medley is album's focal point there are two other tracks, the eloquent ballad "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face" and "Kids Know," featuring terrific horn interplay by Sonny and Dorham. I have two small problems with the CD reissue however. First, "The House I Live In" should have been included here to complete this 10/5/56 session (see my review of "Sonny Boy" for more info). Second, "The Bird Medley" is all tracked as one song and it would have been very simple to split them up, or do that cool sub-track/suite thing some of my classical discs have. Other than that, this is a terrific CD -- not quite up there with "Saxophone Colossus" and "Tenor Madness" (also from '56 -- a watershed year for Sonny), but it's close."