A Night at the Village Vanguard
A Night at the Village Vanguard is a live album by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, released on Blue Note Records in 1958. It was recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City in November 1957 from three sets, two in the evening and one in the afternoon with different sidemen. For the afternoon set, Rollins played with Donald Bailey on bass and Pete LaRoca on drums; in the evening they were replaced respectively by Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones.[2]
| A Night at the Village Vanguard | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg.webp) | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | October 1958[1] | |||
| Recorded | November 3, 1957 | |||
| Venue | Village Vanguard, New York City | |||
| Genre | Bop, hard bop | |||
| Label | Blue Note BLP 1581 | |||
| Producer | Alfred Lion | |||
| Sonny Rollins chronology | ||||
| ||||
Recording
The recording was made by Rudy Van Gelder, and was the first live recording made at the Village Vanguard.[3]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [4] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | (Crown)[6] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [7] |
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This CD is often magical. Sonny Rollins, one of jazz's great tenors, is heard at his peak... Not only did Rollins have a very distinctive sound, but his use of time, his sly wit, and his boppish but unpredictable style were completely his own by 1957."[4] Music critic Robert Christgau highly praised the album, writing: "Rollins is charged with venturing far out from these tunes without severing the harmonic moorings normally secured by a piano. He does it again and again – but not without a certain cost in ebullience, texture, and fullness of breath. Impressive always, fun in passing, his improvisations are what avant-garde jazz is for."[5] The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his AllMusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.[8] The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four stars plus crown, and included the album in its “core collection”, concluding that "these are record[ing]s which demand a place in any collection".[6]
Re-releases
More material from the recording session was discovered in 1976 and released as the double album More from the Vanguard. In 1987, the material from the original and double album was reconstructed in chronological order as two compact discs.[9]
On September 14, 1999, the remastered album was reissued by Blue Note as part of its Rudy Van Gelder series, noticeably improving its sound quality.
Track listing
All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Old Devil Moon" | E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane | 8:19 |
| 2. | "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" | Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg | 8:03 |
| 3. | "Striver's Row" | Sonny Rollins | 5:59 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sonnymoon for Two" | Sonny Rollins | 8:46 |
| 2. | "A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set) | Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli | 8:16 |
| 3. | "I Can't Get Started" | Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke | 4:54 |
1987 reissue track listing
All tracks from the evening sets except as indicated; program in chronological order as presented originally.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Night in Tunisia" (afternoon set) | Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli | 8:16 |
| 2. | "I've Got You Under My Skin" (afternoon set) | Cole Porter | 10:03 |
| 3. | "A Night in Tunisia" | Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli | 9:03 |
| 4. | "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" (alternate take) | Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg | 6:43 |
| 5. | "Four" | Miles Davis | 8:26 |
| 6. | "introduction" | 0:20 | |
| 7. | "Woody 'n' You" | Dizzy Gillespie | 8:29 |
| 8. | "introduction" | 0:36 | |
| 9. | "Old Devil Moon" | E.Y. Harburg, Burton Lane | 8:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What Is This Thing Called Love" | Cole Porter | 14:03 |
| 2. | "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise" | Oscar Hammerstein, Sigmund Romberg | 8:03 |
| 3. | "Sonnymoon for Two" | Sonny Rollins | 8:46 |
| 4. | "I Can't Get Started" | Ira Gershwin, Vernon Duke | 4:54 |
| 5. | "I'll Remember April" | Don Raye, Patricia Johnston, Gene de Paul | 9:20 |
| 6. | "Get Happy" | Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen | 9:08 |
| 7. | "Striver's Row" | Sonny Rollins | 5:59 |
| 8. | "All the Things You Are" | Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern | 6:46 |
| 9. | "Get Happy" (alternate take) | Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen | 4:38 |
Personnel
- Sonny Rollins — tenor saxophone
- Wilbur Ware — double bass
- Donald Bailey — double bass on afternoon set
- Elvin Jones — drums
- Pete LaRoca — drums on afternoon set
- Technical
- Rudy Van Gelder - recording
- Reid Miles - cover design
- Francis Wolff - cover photography
References
- "Billboard". October 27, 1958.
- Bailey, C. Michael (August 10, 2005), "Sonny Rollins: A Night At The Village Vanguard" All About Jazz.
- Shipton, Alyn (2022). On Jazz: A Personal Journey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9781108834230.
- Yanow, Scott. "A Night at the Village Vanguard > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
- Christgau, Robert. "A Night at the Village Vanguard > Review". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
- Cook, Richard and Brian Morton (2008), The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th edn.) Penguin, p. 1233.
- Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 170. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- Yanow, Scott (November 2, 2010). "Hard Bop (Essay)". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
- Cuscuna, Michael (1987). A Night at the Village Vanguard, Volume 2 (Liner notes). Manhattan Records, a division of Capitol Records, Inc. CDP 7 46518 2 DIDX 1129.