Sonny Rollins’ latest foray into his vast archive Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol 4, will be released on Doxy Records digitally on April 8 and on CD on April 15.
The album succeeds 2008’s Volume 1, which had a selection that spanned nearly three decades and included a trio track from the saxophonist’s 50th anniversary Carnegie Hall concert. Volume 2 was released in 2011, and focused primarily on his historic 80th-birthday concert at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Volume 3 from 2014 marked the first recording of “Patanjali” and hinged on a stunning 23-minute excavation of Jerome Kern’s “Why Was I Born?”
Volume 4 is composed of tracks from a 33-year period of time from 1979 to 2012, and includes tunes Rollins never before recorded along with tunes from music relationships previously undocumented. “This album consists of various periods of my career, with something for everybody,” says Rollins. “It’s who I am, and the music represents just about every aspect of what I do.”
The track-list will feature three Rollins originals that pay tribute to departed friends and colleagues. One of them is the soulful blues “H.S.,” for pianist Horace Silver, which has been a concert staple since its appearance on Rollins’ 1995 album Sonny Rollins +3. Another highlight is a previously unreleased 23-minute medley and concert closer from his September 15, 2001 Boston performance, most of which had been immortalized in his final Milestone album Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert.”
Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol. 4 was produced by Rollins and his longtime engineer, Richard Corsello.
Sonny Rollins – Holding the Stage: Road Shows, vol. 4 from Bret Primack on Vimeo.