Search - Sonny Rollins :: Tour De Force

Forceful Playing on "Tour De Force"

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 08/25/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Tour De Force" finds Sonny Rollins playing some of his fastest and most forceful tenor saxophone. It is no surprise that Sonny is joined once again on the kit by Max Roach (with Kenny Drew and George Morrow also in the band), because few drummers could keep this pace going on the album's smokers, the aptly named "B. Swift," "B. Quick," and "Ee-ah," and the only slightly slower (normal hard bop speed) "Sonny Boy." "Tour" also features two tracks with vocals by Earl Coleman, the tender ballads "My Ideal" and "Two Different Worlds." While it's not "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" (even though this pre-dates 'Trane's session by five years), it's pretty good. However, the disparity between the "speed bop" and the ballads is so great, it causes "Tour De Force" to feel schizophrenic. There is great material here, but I only give it four stars because the album doesn't flow together very well."

Tour de force?

Swing King | Cincinnati, OH USA | 05/03/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 1956 session for Prestige offers an interesting peek at the earlier recording career of this legend of the tenor saxophone. While listeners tuning in to this album will not do so in vain, certain aspects of it do leave some things to be desired. The singing of Earl Coleman is somewhat cumbersome on both "My Ideal" and "Two Different Worlds", and the album would have done well to exclude Mr. Coleman from this release.



Max Roach does stand out on this recording, though the original master takes didn't pick up his drum solos very well. "B. Quick" and "B. Swift" are romping numbers that really save this album from falling into obscurity, featuring intense interactions between the members. The remastering which was done in 1989 is not up to our standard today, and so the sound quality is not all that it should be. This is an album worth adding to your collections, though it is not essential.



Personnel:



Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone)

Kenny Drew (piano)

George Morrow (bass)

Max Roach (drums)

Earl Coleman (vocals on #2 and #5)



Recording date: December 7, 1956

Label: Prestige

Digital remastering in 1989 by Joe Tarantino of Fantasy Studios, Berkeley

Total time: 42 minutes

"