Disc of the day: 14-11-09

Sonny Rollins: Moving Out (Prestige 0888072315945)
Sonny in 1954 with Kenny Doreham on trumpet, Elmo Hope on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Art Blakey on drums. This is still bebop inspired music, and swift from the start with the title track, even swifter to follow with Swingin’ For Bumsy. The whole band is cooking, especially Dorham and Hope in their solos, and drum connoisseurs will notice something strange about Blakey’s sound. Where’s teh hi-hat? Apparently due to some “technical issue” – did he leave it in the cab on the way to the session? – Art is sans certain cymbals.

The band calms for the ballad, Silk ‘n’ Satin, with Rollins in imperious form, luxuriating in the lower tones of the tenor from the start. Nice solo again from Hope and there are some lovely distant, echoey trumpet lines behind the saxophone on its re-entry, and it is over all too quickly.

Solid is a regular blues and a good-time thing.

Then, for the final track on this RVG remastered disc, we switch bands and with Sonny for a nearly 11-minute meander through More Than You Know are Thelonious Monk on piano, Tommy Potter on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums. It’s a great tune, Sonny’s tongued phrasing on the melody is thick and his tone lush, and Monk plays it just as you’d expect, rich, crunchy chords pushing those off-off beats. Worth the price for this track alone.