Plus Four (1956) ( )

Product Summary Label: Uni/verve UPC: 00042282267320 Release Date: 4/17/1990 Buy.com Sku: 60211540 Item#: MF36TR Format:  CD Song Listing Disc 1 Song Title Sample 1. Ezz-Thetic ~ Max Roach 2. Dr. Free-Zee ~ Max Roach 3. Just One Of Those Things ~ Max Roach 4. Mr. X ~ Max Roach 5. Body And Soul ~ Max Roach 6. Woody'n You ~ Max Roach 7. It Don't Mean A Thing - (bonus track) ~ Max Roach 8. Love Letters - (bonus track) ~ Max Roach 9. Minor Trouble - (bonus track) ~ Max Roach   Album Notes and Credits Notes & Personnel Info Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Clifford Brown (trumpet); Richie Powell (piano); George Morrow (bass); Max Roach (drums). Recorded in New York, New York on March 22, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7038). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Personnel: Max Roach (drums); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Ray Bryant (piano); Billy Wallace, George Morrow (acoustic bass). Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Clifford Brown (trumpet); Richie Powell (piano); George Morrow (bass); Max Roach (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey on March 22, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7038-2). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. All tracks have been digitally remastered. This is a Hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Clifford Brown (trumpet); Richie Powell (piano); George Morrow (bass); Max Roach (drums). Recorded on March 22, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7038-2). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Personnel: Max Roach (drums); Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Kenny Dorham (trumpet); Ray Bryant, Billy Wallace (piano). Audio Remixer: Tom "Curly" Ruff. Recording information: New York, NY (09/17/1956-03/20/1957). Following his Chicago sabbatical of 1955-56, Sonny Rollins was spiritually and physically rejuvenated. And on this date, he's clearly inspired by Max Roach and Clifford Brown's depth of spirit. Multi-dimensional re-arrangements of popular songs were a Brown-Roach trademark. "Kiss And Run" is treated to a stop and go intro, then settles into a brisk 4/4, as Rollins, Brown and the perenially underrated Richie Powell fashion long dancing lines. "I Feel A Song Coming On" creates tension by alternating a vamp figure with a swinging release. Rollins takes an immense solo, contrasting chanting figures and foghorn-like long tones with Parker-ish elisions, and Brown answers with buzzing figures and daring harmonic extensions. Then Roach takes things out with sweeping melodic choruses and polyrhythmic fanfares, setting the stage for a torrid tenor-trumpet duel. On "Valse Hot," we have an early example of a successful jazz waltz as Rollins offers up one of his most charming themes. Max Roach treats the European three with the dancing elan of an American four, and Rollins responds by floating in between the beat, syncopating in Monkish stabs and thrusts, as Brown answers with the kind of rhythmically complex, sweetly articulated melodic lines that have inspired every modern trumpeter. PLUS FOUR is the first album Max Roach made after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell's death cast a gruesome shadow over his career in the summer of 1956. The trumpeter and pianist respectively had become an integral part of Roach's musical and personal life, and the car crash that took their lives threatened to interfere with the drummer's own career. Roach was faced with the task of rebuilding an unbeatable combo. This said, MAX ROACH PLUS FOUR is a wonderful record that attempts to pick up the musical pieces in the wake of Brown and Powell's death. Trumpeter Kenny Dorham and pianist Ray Bryant work well with the dean of the drums, and selections such as "Ezz-Thetic" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)" really sizzle. On "Dr. Free-Zee," Roach is featured throughout on timpani as well as drum set. A provocative album, MAX ROACH PLUS FOUR is filled with superb teamwork and creative solo playing. Producer: Bob Shad Musical Guests Clifford Brown Ray Bryant   Compilation Appearances Complete Cole Porter Songbooks Complete Rodgers & Hart Songbo Gigi Ken Burns Jazz-Story Of America Ken Burns Jazz Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Piano Blues Nea Jazz Masters Basquiat's Journey Through Jazz Jazz Artist Guild Kings Of Jazz The Notorious Bettie Page NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL 1958 4 Cafe Jazz   Associated Artists and Works Blakey, Art Blakey, Art Blakey, Art Bridgewater, Cecil Brown, Clifford At Basin Street ~ Brown, Clifford Brown & Roach Inc. ~ Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford More Study In Brown ~ Brown, Clifford Study In Brown ~ Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Clifford Brown & Max Roach [Remaster] ~ Brown, Clifford At Basin Street [Remaster] ~ Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown, Clifford (Jazz) Brown, Clifford (Jazz) Brown, Clifford (Jazz) Brown, Clifford (Jazz) Candoli, Conte Candoli, Conte Money Jungle [Expanded] [Remaster] ~ Ellington, Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington, Duke Ellington, Duke Gillespie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy Ibrahim, Abdullah Monk, Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Jazz at Massey Hall ~ Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker, Charlie Rich, Buddy Rich, Buddy Terry, Clark   Technical Info Release Date : 05/08/1990 Original Release Date : 1956 Catalog ID : 822673 Label : Emarcy (USA) Number of Discs : 1 Runtime : 58m : 13s Studio/Live : Studio Mono/Stereo : Mixed SPAR Code : AAD UPC : 00042282267320   Professional Reviews Down Beat - 4.5 Stars - Very Good Plus - "...Rollins [plays] the most sustainedly creative tenor I've heard on record by him before. Very much recommended..."    Product Image