Sonny Rollins

INCLUDES 1 BONUS TRACK

Originally issued as "Sonny Rollins and the Big Brass", the album presented here is one of the very few occasions on which the saxophonist fronted such a band. "Big Brass" is an appropriate name for the large ensemble arranged and conducted by Ernie Wilkins that accompanies the huge sound of Sonny Rollins here.

This album features a completely different session in a trio format, with the saxophonist backed by bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Specs Wright, and including a brilliant leisurely stroll through "Manhattan," along with Rollins' tour de force unaccompanied tenor sax on "Body and Soul." Another unaccompanied performance by Rollins recorded the previous year, this time on the standard “It Could Happen to You”, has been added here as a bonus.

PERSONNEL:

ON SIDE A:

SONNY ROLLINS, tenor sax
NAT ADDERLEY, cornet
CLARK TERRY, ERNIE ROYAL, REUNALD JONES, trumpet
BILLY BYERS, JIMMY CLEVELAND, FRANK REHAK, trombone
DON BUTTERFIELD, tuba
DICK KATZ, piano
RENÉ THOMAS, guitar
HENRY GRIMES, bass
ROY HAYNES, drums
ERNIE WILKINS, arranger & conductor

New York, July 11, 1958.

ON SIDE B:

SONNY ROLLINS, tenor sax
HENRY GRIMES, bass (out on B4)
SPECS WRIGHT, drums (out on B4)

New York, July 10, 1958.

(*) BONUS TRACK (B5):

SONNY ROLLINS, unaccompanied tenor sax
 New York, June 12, 1957.

SIDE A:

01 WHO CARES?
02 LOVE IS A SIMPLE THING
03 GRAND STREET
04. FAR OUT EAST

SIDE B:

01 WHAT’S MY NAME?
02 IF YOU WERE THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD
03 MANHATTAN
04 BODY AND SOUL
05 IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (*)