Rollins Stretching Out in Prestige's Studio
Rollins is loose and hungry here, trading lines with Dorham over Blakey's crackling drive.
Put on Moving Out and the first thing you hear is a band leaning into a groove without any fuss. The tempos run quick and the horns sound eager, with Kenny Dorham's trumpet and Sonny Rollins's tenor pushing against each other in the front line while Art Blakey keeps the pulse snapping underneath. This is a blowing session at heart, the kind of record where the pleasure comes from hearing players respond to one another in real time rather than from any grand conceptual design.
The album gathers material from two earlier 10-inch LPs on Prestige. The first four tracks feature Rollins with Dorham, Elmo Hope on piano, Percy Heath on bass and Blakey on drums, and they carry the lightest, most playful feel. The closing track brings in Thelonious Monk, Tommy Potter and Art Taylor, and Monk's angular comping gives that session a different edge. Rollins was early in his career when these were made, still working out the big, muscular tone that would define his later records, and you can hear him pushing for ideas rather than settling into a formula.
As a placement, Moving Out is a solid early Rollins document rather than a landmark. Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings gave it three of four stars, and that feels about right. If you want the fuller Rollins of the later Prestige and Blue Note years, start elsewhere, but for a lively snapshot of a young tenor player sharpening his teeth with strong company, this one earns its place.
Who's playing
Percy Heathdouble bass
Tommy Potterdouble bass
Elmo Hopepiano
Thelonious Monkpiano
Sonny Rollinstenor saxophone
Kenny Dorhamtrumpet
Art Blakeydrums
Art Taylordrums
Where next?
More by Sonny Rollins
All 23 albums →
The musicians on this record
Brilliant Corners 1957
Thelonious Monk
plays piano here
plays piano here
Vol. 2: Mission Eternal 1959
Art Blakey
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Afro-Cuban 1955
Kenny Dorham
plays trumpet here
plays trumpet here
