Jazz for aficionados

@acman3 

I agree those 3 Rollins albums are a must have and would be on the desert island list...Elvin Jones plays drums on the evening set at the Village Vanguard.

Another desert Island set Coltrane with Eric Dolphy

India (Live From Village Vanguard/November 1,1961) - YouTube

More on Sonny Side Up 

Borrowed from All Music

It once went without saying that to become an authentic jazz player, you had to graduate from the school of bebop. Not that the music of Bird and Diz was the "ultimate" art. Rather, it was provided the "language"--melodically, rhythmically, harmonically--that any aspiring jazz artist required in order to communicate with accomplished players during a jam session.

Verve producer Norman Granz was promoter of an annual tour ("Jazz at the Philharmonic") featuring jazz stars (no printed music and no rehearsals!). Granz brought the same loose, "jam session" format to his Verve sessions--especially the albums under the leadership of Dizzy Gillespie. "On the Sonny Side" is one of his best (and my personal favorite). The two Sonny's are Stitt (a Bird-influenced altoist who was equally masterful on tenor) and Rollins (the most talked about young tenor player in jazz, just prior to his "Saxophone Collossus" album and before surrendering the spotlight to Coltrane. But perhaps no recording session acquits the often-neglected Stitt more convincingly than "Eternal Triangle."

If you're new to the "note-storms" of bebop, or early modern jazz, it can overwhelm, esp. with an engineer who favored loudness and 'in your face' presence at the expense of depth and clarity. Try sticking with just the title track until each of the 4 "voices"--2 tenor players and Diz' trumpet and vocal--becomes identifiable, even familiar. (There's an incredible vocalization of each solo--in the same sequence, same register, and timed to the exact second) by virtuoso jazz singer Roberta Gambarini. That's where I'd start with my grand-kids (who have yet to learn about an "instrumental voice" and "Swing"). Gambari's remarkable feat is a track from her 2008 album, "Easy to Love."

Further on the topic of tenors. This LP is yet another desert island session.

What makes it very special was that Kenny Clarke played the drums in one of his last recording sessions in the USA before he permanently moved to Paris France in 1956 to escape the racial bigotry prevailing in the states at the time.

Clarke's contributions to the emerging be bop sound are comparable to Max Roach (both drummers played a pivotal role in changing the role of the drummer)

All Star Sessions - Wikipedia

All Stars Sessions / Gene Ammons Battles Sonny Stitt - Gene Ammons' All Stars - (Full 1992 Reissue) - YouTube

@pjw81563 

I've got S. Colossus, Newk's Time, and Plus Four (w. Clifford Brown). At this point, these are the three I like the most. I like Stitt so I'll try Sonny Side Up.  

@acman3 

Stuartk, we can be friends, but I have gotten rid of girlfriends for less.😂

Fair enough. Of the three you've linked, I do like the Live at the Vanguard trio stuff. I've been remiss in not buying that one!  I'd like the Bridge if it weren't for Jim Hall -- he always sounds so "polite" and "professorial" to me. I have Boss Tenors by Ammons and Stitt, so it's no stretch for me to enjoy the "All Stars Sessions" you've linked to.

It may be a heresy but I much prefer Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter to Coltrane, Rollins. 

I prefer these two also...

It may be a heresy but I much prefer Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter to Coltrane, Rollins.

The 2 albums i like the most with Sonny Rollins is with Coleman Hawkins...

And this one :

The Definitive Sonny Rollins on Prestige, Riverside, and Contemporary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlG4eon5AzE&list=OLAK5uy_lKyMDWBMnVUa-5nZJO0taH2VBGl2nkOPk

And i am "ashamed" to say that i like Sadao Watanabe ...😊

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YjnyXsSckw