Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
Changing of the Guard at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
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.
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“You’ve got to trust that inner child, keep exploring, even though people think it’s wrong,” says Fortner.
Feb 25, 2025 11:20 AM
Every week at the Village Vanguard fosters its own sound. No one really knows how the music might evolve by Sunday, but…
