Sonny Rollins The Bridge

Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Jim Hall (guitar); Bob Cranshaw (bass); Ben Riley, Harry T. Saunders (drums).Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, New York, New York on January 30 & February 13 & 14, 1962. Originally released on RCA (2527). Includes liner notes by FRancis Davis and George Avakian.The 1962 release of THE BRIDGE marked the end of Sonny Rollins's two year-plus hiatus from live performance and recording. An absolutely stunning comeback, the album clearly shows both the technical and spiritual benefits that can be gained from intense woodshedding. Sonny's tone, already legendary, is even more wonderfully full and mellow here. The whole band, especially the amazing Bob Cranshaw on bass, swings so breezily and blows so delicately, even on the up-tempo numbers, that "hard" bop almost seems a misnomer.The album's title refers to an actual bridge (the Willamsburg, which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn), where Sonny spent long hours practicing alone, and the record