Rollins, McRae New First Editions Reissues

By I Jun. 9, 2003

RCA Victor/Bluebird has annouced that they will reissue remastered versions of Sonny Rollins’ The Bridge and Carmen McRae’s Sarah – Dedicated To You on their Bluebird First Editons series.

In stores June 17, the albums will be the second set of classics pulled out of the vault this year under Bluebird First Editions, a series aiming to shed light on important sessions in the RCA Victor catalog.

At the height of his fame, Rollins took his tenor sax and disappeared from the New York jazz scene in 1959. It was an unexpected departure. Rollins had earned critics’ and fans’ respect, but he still felt he needed to further explore his musical vision.

In a great tale of jazz rebirth, Rollins started playing anonymously from the pedestrian walkway on the Williamsburg Bridge, the East River crossing between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Jazz journalist Ralph Berton stumbled upon Rollins one night but agreed to keep his identity safe, instead writing about lonely saxophonist “Buster Jones.”

The jazz world eventually caught on, bringing Rollins back to the clubs with a new RCA Victor contract. In 1962, he returned to the studio for the first time in three years with guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Bob Crenshaw (still a member of Rollins’ band), and drummers Ben Riley and Harry T. Saunders. In two months, the band recorded The Bridge. It has four standards, including Cole Porter’s “You Do Something To Me” and a version of “God Bless The Child,” and two originals—“John S” and the title track.

With McRae singing Sarah Vaughan classics and Shirley Horn playing piano, First Editions series producer Joshua Sherman calls Sarah – Dedicated To You the “trifecta of women pianist-vocalists.”

McRae recorded the album, her last in the studio, under the Novus label in 1990, and it was the follow-up to 1991’s Carmen Sings Monk (also re-released under First Editions). Horn doesn’t sing on the album but still provides an empathetic background for Carmen along with bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams.

McRae honored the recently departed Vaughan with 14 songs from Vaughan’s regular play-list including “Misty” and “Black Coffee.” The reissue includes four previously unreleased tracks including Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave” and an alternative take of Carroll Coates’ celebratory prayer “Sarah.”

According to Horn, while recording, McRae simply designated a key and tapped her foot to the beat. It only took one take most of the time, giving the album a true spontaneity.

All Bluebird First Editions’ reissues are digitally remastered and include new and original liner notes and archival photographs.