Buy It Now: Road Shows: Vol. 1

Road Shows: Vol.1

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By John Mariano

For many of us of the i pod generation,  jazz can seem like a pretty tough nut to crack. Many complain that much of it is meandering and unfocused, with nothing solid or familiar to grasp. Others, just find it plain boring. While it will probably be quite some time before jazz finds heavy rotation on most people's play lists, it is important to remember that there are jazz musicians out there who can maintain the playfulness and improbability of bebop-era jazz, while creating a level of accessibility and straightforwardness not usually associated with the genre. Sonny Rollins has been a mainstay in the world of jazz for the past half a century. His style is playful and loose, yet disciplined and well thought out.  He can turn a tune on a dime while expressing any number of emotions within a given piece. Roadshows: Vol. 1, which will probably be the first in a long running series, is a collection of highlights from performances of the past 20 years or so.  Sonny is at the top of his game on every one of these tracks, and plays with the excitement and vitality of a man half his age.  On opener "Best Wishes," he runs through one of his trademark themes (35 times!) while adding plenty of variation and diversity to keep things fresh and moving.  And on "Some Enchanted Evening," he does a rendition of the Rogers and Hammerstein's ballad as moving and eloquent as the original. These recordings are so perfectly mastered, you'll be hard pressed to tell if they're from 1980 or 2007, which helps to keep everything extremely fluid and linear. For anyone looking to expand their musical tastes a little, this disc is as good a place to start as any, and for long time fans of Mr. Rollins, it's absolutely essential. (Emarcy)

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