The Bridge - Sonny Rollins

Track list:

1. Without a Song
2. Where Are You
3. John S.
4. The Bridge
5. God Bless the Child
6. You Do Something to Me

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 1962

I think this came out of a the same large multi-album box set as Beyond the Blue Horizon and Birds of Fire (amongst others). I don't know what to expect but I am hopeful that I'll find something to love here.

A very easy paced, softly backed melody kicks us off. I need relaxation this evening so this is good. I am off across the Atlantic tomorrow for a week of working States-side, and a nice chilled listen is welcome. Thus far this is very accessible and pretty traditional to my ear, Rollins' sax leading over a backing of drums, bass and keys - which appear to be some form of organ, they have that muted, electrical tone to them. Exciting it isn't, but the soft distance created by the recording makes it a sort of unthinking comfort. I am all packed, save for the things that can't go in the night before, and the wavering over whether to take my personal laptop in addition to my work one. I suspect I will, I have 5 long evenings to fill and Steam plus the potential opportunity to listen whilst away could help that some if work socials don't.

There is the inevitable shifting of focus from instrument to instrument, player to player. That staple of the jazz time, solos for all. I have been critical of this practice in the past and I like it no more here, but it is not so egregiously annoying. As Where Are You starts, it cements the idea of this as a late night, slow down sound. Lazy-paced, this opening is almost sombre. It is also very sparse indeed, and the softness of the track is a bit of a hypnotic; I feel my eyes drooping and my head nodding. It is not, thankfully, an early start tomorrow, but it is unfortunately not the best of timings with regards to buses, and a lot of waiting around is expected. The sax is drooping too it seems, it sounds tired and played out by the end of the piece. The net tune starts far too broken up for my liking - little snatches with big pauses between them. It then kicks into life, an energy and pace that was absent from earlier tunes having been found somewhere. The whole piece still feels like it is being played off in the distance somewhere though... the tones are soft and pillow like so whilst the tempo is higher the soporific effect remains. The sax again is the primary tune carrier, the centrepiece for the ear to follow, and in shutting my eyes and following it for a good few seconds I wonder if it isn't a bit much. An electrified guitar has been added to the mix, and its tones are particularly cheesy. I think this combination of the over-dominant saxophone and the cheese-tastic guitar are a bit of a turn off, and I blame them for my wandering attention. For the first two tunes I didn't find myself looking at other web pages.

Today was a decent day - low key, just prep for going away and enjoying the rugby. Just. Almost a monumental self destruct from England, but not quite. The thought of the final day of the 6 Nations awaiting me when I return, baggy-eyed, to Heathrow on Saturday morning is hopefully going to carry me through the jetlag of a first long-haul trip in a decade. The title track has the same energy as John S. but not the cheese. It is a busy little number. I am, also, apparently unable to tell the difference between guitar and keyboard; checking up on it, there is no key part, so that organ-like sound is actually the same cheesy guitar tone. What. An. Idiot. Me, not the guitar player. I find The Bridge has been and gone in my self admonishment, replaced by another slower piece. I find myself more appreciative of the gentle pace, even if some of the notes feel almost random in application - the odd jump in what is otherwise a nice theme.

Despite these out of place notes - they seem to diminish as it progresses - and its encouragement for my yawning maw (man, I knew yawning was infectious, but I didn't know reading the word had the same effect as watching someone else yawn), God Bless This Child is a really nice track. Soft accompaniment for a slide into relaxation. Just need an empty street with low-wattage lighting, a cool hat and some 50s motors parked up in the moonlight to complete the image.

The album ends with a take on You Do Something To Me; the only other version of this I am familiar with is Paul Weller's. This, as an instrumental jazz piece, is very different and if I didn't know going in that it was the same root I wouldn't be able to place it - but the metadata on the track calls out Cole Porter's composition so... I find the tune rather bland to be honest. Something about the arrangement is less comfortingly relaxing than the previous tune, even if that is just that by now I have had my fill of very standard jazz. I find myself glad when the tune drops out and Rollins' saxophone leads us out over a much reduced backing.

Overall, I don't know what to make of this record. I certainly enjoyed most of it, though in a detached, spacey kind of way befitting my head being on tomorrow's travel. That said, where I really noticed it was when it got too staid, too templated or too cheesy. I have always been particularly fickle about my music and I wonder if that fickleness isn't just putting a bee in my ear about this particular cut. I think I'm going to sleep on it before I make excisions of my own.

Anutha Zone - Dr John

Track list:

1. Zonata
2. Ki Ya Gris Gris
3. Voices In My Head
4. Hello God
5. John Gris
6. Party Hellfire
7. I Don't Wanna Know
8. Anutha Zone
9. I Like Ki Yoka
10. The Olive Tree
11. Soulful Warrior
12. The Stroke
13. Sweet Home New Orleans

Running time: 53 minutes
Released: 1998

I think this was the second or third Dr John album I bought - but the first one that was newly released after I knew about him. I can hear several of the tracks in my mind's ear even now, despite not listening to it a lot in the last decade. Should be a nice one.

There is a good cover of a John Martyn classic, a guest appearance from Paul Weller, guest percussion from Steve Mason and, less excitingly, the main face of Supergrass playing guitar somewhere too - all according to Discogs. The Weller appearances I remembered, the others not so much. To be fair, I did not know who Steve Mason was or why I should like him back in 1998, even if I might have been passingly familiar with The Beta Band by name (another alumnus also appears).

We start with an into, bluesy piano to set the scene, which dies away to yield to a funky, riffy, rhythm. Ki Ya Gris Gris plays on the image of the Night Tripper, the early incarnation of the Dr John persona, more than most of these tracks I think.  It has a soft, slightly muffled vocal, but the percussion, and the high-strung guitar hiding behind it, really take you into the Louisiana swamps, though given the supporting cast of UK musicians...

The ambiance continues into Voices In My Head, a fug hanging over the song; this is the Gaz Coombs number - thankfully he doesn't sing. We then go into two tracks that are much more spoken than sung, stories set to blues, albeit ones with choruses. I am listening now (the second today) because trying to nap this afternoon did not work. Into the second half of Sunday and I still do not feel recovered from the week before; that does not bode well. Tried to motivate myself to get outside and do some overdue garden clearance (dropped leaves and dead heads) but despite the day being unexpectedly bright, the perma-wetness of the ground at this time of year ultimately persuaded me out of it. Late autumn and winter are just so... demotivating.

There is actually more to John Gris than my memory would have said, and actually there is more of a sung lilt to the vocal than I recalled too. It is a dark and moody piece, not easy listening; it has lost a fair bit of the bluesy sounds, but has a swagger to it. I am a little relieved as it ends however, to a much more guitar-driven piece (the first Weller number). The harmonies on the chorus work here, but the one verse could do without mentioning rape (as something never done, but still). The track is not as strong as I remember it and I find myself wanting it to end to hear I Don't Wanna Know. Martyn's version - without the I and colloquial spelling -  is superior (of course!) but here Dr John and Weller combine nicely. It is pretty much a straight cover, with a slightly richer arrangement and less fragility. This was my introduction to the song though and I still like the work done here. The swampy influence comes back in with the title track, big band blues but flavoured by the southern states. There is a majesty to the track, a distance between the base (not bass) and the brass which lends the song a style that sits well with me.

Back in the day, the spiritual heart of this album was towards the end, with The Olive Tree and Soulful Warrior, I wonder how they stand up to modern scrutiny. If the first few bars are anything to go by, quite well in the former case. The percussion is infectious and the thrumming guitar to build the background offset the vocal nicely - again spoken more than sung, a story of the ages. The chorus builds, adds in some simple horns; it is a comfortable pattern that I feel I could relax into (or could, were I not folded over the laptop keyboard). Once established, the song plays out to the pattern, though the second chorus is arranged differently to the first and then annoyingly fades out in a fashion that I have always disliked. Learn to write endings (not always a fair criticism)! Soulful Warrior also stands up nicely. Similarly engaging percussion, and a riff to go with it build our platform again. The pattern only breaks for the choruses and bridges. In another context I might call it boring and repetitive, but here it is used to back up a rich vocal which takes on the task of interesting the listener instead. Comfort tunes indeed.

That applies equally to the final two tracks. It may just be my reawakened familiarity with these songs, or it might be the good doctor's fine penmanship but I get a strong feeling of being wrapped in a blanket and warmed against the closing darkness. I am happy I chose to listen to this now, even if the reasons for that choice were not positive. We close with Sweet Home New Orleans - a richly orchestrated track, keys horns and percussion woven around each other to build the intro, fading for the first verse, then picking up with a slightly different syncopated rhythm. The song just has a really good roll to it, building, fading, combining, swinging and smiling its way through 6 minutes.

Unfortunately it ends the album by fading into nothingness rather than building to the big ending that the tune deserved, but this disappointment does not outweigh the positive sense I got from the album as a whole. I recall this being a favourite after I picked it up, and I could well imagine it making it into the car for accompaniment to commutes to come as a disc worth revisiting.