Sonny Rollins – On Impulse

Rollins digs deeply into pulse and rhythm, leaving melody to take care of itself. AllMusic says “This is not a ‘new thing’ date but instead focuses on playing according to the dictates of the rhythm section and on interchanging with Booker and Roker, leaving much of the melodic aspect of these tunes to Bryant. Rollins could never quite leave the melody out of anything he played because of his intense gift as a lyrical improviser; he nonetheless stripped his approach back and played tunes like ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ by improvising according to theme rather than strict melody, where his interplay with the rhythm section becomes based on the dynamic and shifting times played by Roker. While things are more intimate and straight on ‘Everything Happens to Me,’ he nonetheless plays the edges, filling the space like a drummer. Melody happens throughout, the tune is recognizable, but it is stretched in his solo to a theme set by the shimmering cymbals and brushed snare work of Roker. The oddest cuts in the set are the last two; spaced out readings of ‘Blue Room,’ and ‘Three Little Words’; they sound as if he were preparing the listener for a true change in his approach.

“Melody gets inverted, with spaces and syncopation taking the place of notes. The swing is inherent in everything here, but it’s clear that the saxophonist was hearing something else in his head, the way he squeezes notes tightly into some phrases where they might be placed elsewhere, and substitutes small, lithe lines inside Bryant’s solos which dictate the harmonic intervals more conventionally with his singing approach. And speaking of rhythm, the album’s hinge piece is the burning calypso ‘Hold “Em Joe.’ Here again, as Bryant’s changes play it straight, Rollins shoves his horn inside them and draws out the beat on his horn over and over again.”