Sonny Rollins Quartet; July 27 - 30, 1962; Village Gate; New York City

On the Coltrane List John Schott wrote on November 21:

In late July of 1962, RCA recorded four nights of Sonny Rollins at the Village Gate, I think two shows a night. From this a little bit was used for the release Our Man In Jazz. I recently was able to download from someone�s rare jazz recordings website what would seem to be nearly the complete four nights.

This period of Sonny, with Don Cherry and Billie Higgins, has always for me ranked among the greatest of musical pleasures. (I�m sure I�m speaking for many here.) Mostly this group is documented on pirate CD issues of radio broadcasts from Europe and New York.

The five or so hours of Village Gate recordings that I am just now beginning to explore make for a very different picture than the Our Man In Jazz release. Many of the pieces, ranging from eight to twenty minutes, are completely free improvisations, and very searching ones, with big open pauses, pointillistic, sparse moments, non-pulsed and non tonal sections, and not at all the jaunty, zany and joyous improv-on-standards one hears on other recordings of this group. It seems farther out than Ornette�s Atlantic recordings, and farther out than what Coltrane was doing at the time. Rollins seems great as always, but different, not so much the charismatic, larger-than-life personality, but more inwardly-focused.

I�m fascinated to expand my sense of what this great artist was doing at this period. It�s amazing to me that RCA hasn�t released this material. I can only assume that Sonny doesn�t want it released. If that�s true, then Sonny Rollins, I am so sorry to have enjoyed this so very much. In my defense I�ve bought at least thirty Sonny Rollins records over the years!

JS

I did some research and found the recordings:

Quality A

Unissued tracks from the same sessions that produced the album Our Man in Jazz.
The material is no bootleg, but the original production tapes. No original source is known.
Omitted of course are Oleo, Dearly Beloved and Doxy from Our Man in Jazz and On The Outside, but it is indicated where they were recorded in the sets.

Personnel:
Sonny Rollins: tenor sax
Don Cherry: pocket trumpet
Bob Cranshaw: bass
Billy Higgins: drums


July 27, 1962

Set 1 & 2:
Oleo (not included), the original version on the tape starts earlier and is 1 minute longer
1. Unknown
2. Unknown
3. Doxy

July 28, 1962

Set 1:
Dearly Beloved (not included)
Doxy (not included)
1. Solitude

Set 2:
1. Oleo Part 1
2. Oleo Part 2
3. St. Thomas

Set 3:
1. Introduction
2. Lover
3. Alexander's Ragtime Band
4. Unknown

July 29, 1962

Set 1:
1. Introduction
2. Unknown
3. Oleo

Set 2 & 3:
1. Unknown
2. Unknown

July 30, 1962

Set 1 & 2:
1. Introduction
2. Unknown
3. Unknown
4. Unknown
5. Unknown

Set 3:
1. Introduction
2. Oleo
3. Three Little Words Part 1
4. Three Little Words Part 2
5. Unknown


Enjoy!