Recorded during Finland Festival in the summer of 1972, this live performance finds tenor saxophonist
Sonny Rollins in vivacious spirit. Here, he is joined by Finnish keyboardist
Heikki Sarmanto on Fender Rhodes. Also playing is
Sarmanto's trio, featuring his brother drummer
Pekka Sarmanto and bassist
Esko Rosnell.
Sarmanto purportedly sought out
Rollins for this performance, and the trio's exuberance in getting to play with one of their heroes is palpable in each song. While primarily a straight-ahead standards date,
Rollins brings a wide-swinging creativity to the evening, flirting with the avant-garde-leaning, open-ended chordal harmonies and wave-like grooves that he had been exploring since emerging from his self-imposed Williamsburg bridge practice sabbatical in the early '60s. Together, he and the trio jump headlong into
Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and craft a painterly rendition of "My One and Only Love." They close out the night with a buoyantly clamorous, Latin-infused reading of
Rollins' own trademark song "St. Thomas." In keeping with much of the saxophonist's work during this period, these are extended performances, each pushing 20 minutes in length. Still, with his fat tone and endlessly motivic lines,
Rollins ably focuses both the band's and the audience's attention throughout. ~ Matt Collar
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