Sonny Rollins - East Broadway Run Down (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)

East Broadway Run Down catches Sonny Rollins at his most adventurous, and this Verve Acoustic Sounds Series reissue puts the daring Impulse! session back on vinyl.

Recorded in 1966 with producer Bob Thiele and engineer Rudy Van Gelder, it was the last album Rollins made before stepping away from recording for six years. He surrounded himself with two pillars of John Coltrane's classic quartet, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones, while Freddie Hubbard adds trumpet to the title piece. The result stands among his boldest flirtations with free jazz, a record that still sounds restless and alive.

East Broadway Run Down fills an entire side, a sprawling, exploratory workout where Rollins pushes his tenor into honks, cries and abstract fragments as Jones churns restlessly underneath. Blessing in Disguise keeps the trio in open, searching conversation, riding Garrison's elastic bass lines. The closing We Kiss in a Shadow, from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I, shows his gift for turning a show tune into something tender and wry.

Few records capture a giant of the saxophone stretching so far beyond his comfort zone. It is a thrilling, challenging listen that rewards patience, and a cornerstone of any serious Impulse! collection.