Tenor Madness
| Tenor Madness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Sonny Rollins | ||||
| Released | 1956 | |||
| Recorded | May 24, 1956 Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack |
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| Genre | Jazz, hard bop | |||
| Length | 35:24 | |||
| Label |
Prestige PRLP 7047 |
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| Producer | ||||
| Sonny Rollins chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | |
Tenor Madness is a jazz album by Sonny Rollins. It is most notable for its title track, the only known recording featuring both Rollins and John Coltrane.
Rollins and Coltrane had both been members of groups with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk in the past. Rollins had had some recent success, and both were emerging as prominent solo tenor saxophone players. Two months prior to the session for Tenor Madness Rollins was working at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey on the album Sonny Rollins Plus 4 with Max Roach and Clifford Brown. And two weeks before, on May 11, Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, had been recording with Davis at the same studio to fulfill his duties for Prestige, sessions that would later go on to provide material for the albums Workin', Relaxin', and Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet.
Although the rhythm section's “playing here is somewhat less vital than on that session” (with Davis), the historical importance of Tenor Madness lies in the title track. It is the only existing recording with Rollins and Coltrane playing together.
The title track is a twelve-minute duet between Rollins and Coltrane, and the B-flat blues melody has become very well known for Rollins. The tune was first recorded in 1946 by Kenny Clarke and His 52nd Street Boys as "Royal Roost", and has also been recorded under the title "Rue Chaptal." "Royal Roost" is usually credited as a Kenny Clarke composition; as "Tenor Madness," it was credited to Sonny Rollins. It is easy to distinguish between the two saxophonists on the track "Tenor Madness", as Coltrane has a much brighter and more boisterous sound as compared to Rollins' smoother, "wet-reed" tone. However, as jazz critic Dan Krow said, the two complement each other, and the track does not sound like a competition between the two rising saxophonists.
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Wikipedia