Tour de Force (Sonny Rollins album) explained

Tour de Force
Type:	Album
Artist:	Sonny Rollins
Cover:	Tour de Force (Sonny Rollins album).jpg
Released:	March 1958^[1]
Recorded:	December 7, 1956 Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	41:40
Label:	Prestige PR 7126
Producer:	Bob Weinstock
Prev Title:	Rollins Plays for Bird
Prev Year:	1956
Next Title:	Sonny Boy
Next Year:	1956

Tour de Force is an album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins containing his final recordings for the Prestige label. Rollins performed with Kenny Drew, George Morrow, and Max Roach, with vocals by Earl Coleman on two tracks.^[2]

Reception

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow states: "Rollins was in consistently creative form during this prime period but the overall set is not as classic as most of the tenor's other recordings from the 1950s." The Penguin Guide to Jazz describes it as being "almost as good as Colossus, with the ferocious abstractions of 'B Swift' and 'B Quick' contrasting with the methodical, almost surgical destruction of 'Sonny Boy'."

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Rollins except as indicated

"Ee-Ah" – 6:52
"B. Quick" – 9:13
"Two Different Worlds" (Al Frisch, Sid Wayne) – 7:37
"B. Swift" – 5:15
"My Ideal" (Newell Chase, Leo Robin, Richard A. Whiting) – 4:21
"Sonny Boy" (Lew Brown, Buddy DeSylva, Ray Henderson, Al Jolson) – 8:22 Bonus track on CD rerelease

Personnel

Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone
Kenny Drew – piano
George Morrow – bass
Max Roach – drums
Earl Coleman – vocals (tracks 3 & 5)

Notes and References

Web site: Billboard. March 31, 1958.
http://www.jazzdisco.org/sonny-rollins/catalog/#prestige-prlp-7126 Sonny Rollins discography