Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sonny Rollins: Swiss Radio Days, Vol. 40 - Zurich 1959

Sonny Rollins: Swiss Radio Days, Vol. 40 - Zurich 1959

By Chris M. Slawecki
June 7, 2017
View read count

Sonny Rollins: Swiss Radio Days, Vol. 40 - Zurich 1959

The quantity and quality of music released in 1959 have led many to call it a watershed year for modern jazz. Even just cursory research calls up such landmark titles as

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's Giant Steps (Atlantic),

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic),

Dave Brubeck

piano
1920 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Brubeck's Time Out (Columbia) and

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis's Kind of Blue (Columbia). Recorded live at Radio Station Zurich that March, Sonny Rollins
saxophone
b.1930
" data-original-title="" title="">Sonny Rollins Trio &
Horace Silver
piano
1928 - 2014
" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver Quintet: Zurich 1959 hoists another pillar in 1959's monument to recorded jazz excellence.

Rollins' set with drummer

Pete La Roca

drums
1938 - 2012

" data-original-title="" title="">Pete La Roca and bassist

Henry Grimes

bass, acoustic
1935 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Grimes digs deep into the earthy blue, almost gutbucket, sounds buried in Rollins' tenor. They attack the opening "I Remember You" like roving bandits, then Rollins joyously honks out the coda each time they circle through the verse to "I've Told Every Little Star." Rollins' unaccompanied introduction keeps the melody in the foreground even while his stylish improvisations turn "It Could Happen to You" into something new and his own.

Recorded so well that you can hear Rollins count off, "One, two—one, two, three" to start, this hot romp through "Oleo" further supports the notion that Rollins named one of his most famous (and most slippery) compositions after the oil- based margarine of the same name, and he trades such explosive closing fours with La Roca that the saxophone and drums sound determined to blow the other off the bandstand.

Any opportunity to hear

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver perform with tenor saxophonist

Junior Cook

saxophone
1934 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Junior Cook and trumpeter

Blue Mitchell

trumpet
1930 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Blue Mitchell is a good one; from the first strains of the opening "Nica's Dream" through the groovy ending of "Se?or Blues," their voices sing in perfect be-bop, blue harmony. This good opportunity is made even better by their program of classic Silver and supple rhythmic support from bassist

Gene Taylor

bass
b.1929

" data-original-title="" title="">Gene Taylor and especially drummer

Louis Hayes

drums
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Hayes, who takes every opportunity to shift in between jazz and Latin gears.

"Cool Eyes" flutters on the warm wings of Mitchell's tight grooving, and although some of Silver's contemporaries such as

Red Garland

piano
1923 - 1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Red Garland or

Cedar Walton

piano
1934 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Cedar Walton had powerful rhythmic feels and could even sometimes slip into a Latin bag, the leader's sparkling cascade of individual notes, clinking and tinkling like ice cubes in a highball glass, are unmistakably Horace Silver.

"Ecaroh" and the concluding "Se?or Blues" shimmy with the "Spanish tinge" that Silver enjoyed playing most of all. The rhythm section spreads out "Ecaroh" like a warm Latin blanket beneath the cool shade of the swinging bop quintet horns, and the leader's famous introduction to "Se?or Blues" leaps and bounds like something

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul would have played to open up a blue gospel moan for Cannonball Adderley. Mitchell's first few solo notes, and Silver's piano solo, slice through "Se?or Blues" like a razor-sharp switchblade, and you can still feel their magic long after they fade into silence.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

I Remember You; I've Told Every Little Star; It Could Happen To You; Oleo; Will You Still Be Mine?; Nica's Dream; Cool Eyes; Shirl; Ecaroh; Se?or Blues.

Personnel

Sonny Rollins

saxophone

Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone (1-5); Henry Grimes: bass (1-5); Pete La Roca: drums (1-5); Horace Silver: piano (6-10); Blue Mitchell: trumpet (6-10); Junior Cook: tenor saxophone (6-10); Gene Taylor: bass; Louis Hayes: drums.

Album information

Title: Swiss Radio Days, Vol. 40 - Zurich 1959 | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: TCB Music

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Live! Rancho Nicasio
< Previous

Meet Donna M.
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.