After so many stunning albums, Rollins reverts to hardbop.
Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 08/30/2005
(2 out of 5 stars)
"An odd step backward, "Now's the Time" finds Sonny Rollins exploring hard bop modes. This is all well and good, but his past few albums ("The Bridge", "What's New", "Our Man in Jazz" and "Sonny Meets Hawk") all found Rollins exploring more adventerous avenues, taking in influences such as Coltrane and Coleman. This album is good enough straight hard bop, but I just can't be brought to find it particularly interesting, particularly in light of what he'd done recently.
Truth to be told, I suspect Rollins felt the same way-- he digs in nicely enough on a couple ballads ("I Remember Clifford", "'Round Midnight"), although is playing is still not as fiery as anything on "Sonny Meets Hawk", and on the uptempo numbers, barring "Four", his playing just seems lacking to me. Again, it could be because I'm listening to it in context of so many great albums, but I just can't get excited.
Mind you, there's a nice take of "Four", and "St. Thomas" gets a great rendition with drummer Roy McCurdy providing superb tom support (and solo), and certainly the ballads are nice, but Rollins has done so much better, especially recent to this. Newcomers should check out "The Bridge" or "Saxophone Collosus" first, fans can look for this one if they're dying for more material."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1