The Cutting Edge (album)

This article is about the Sonny Rollins album. For the Franky Lee album, see Cutting Edge (album). For the Delirious? recordings, see Cutting Edge (recordings).
The Cutting Edge
Live album by
Sonny Rollins
Released1974
RecordedJuly 6, 1974
GenreJazz
Length42:35
LabelMilestone
ProducerOrrin Keepnews
Sonny Rollins chronology
Sonny Rollins in Japan
(1973) 		The Cutting Edge
(1974) 		Nucleus
(1975)

The Cutting Edge is a live album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival and released on the Milestone label in 1974, featuring performances by Rollins with Stanley Cowell, Yoshiaki Masuo, Bob Cranshaw, David Lee and Mtume with Rufus Harley joining on one track.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideB[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[4]

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "Sonny Rollins' 1974 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival was warmly received... Rollins manages to turn such unlikely material as 'To a Wild Rose' and 'A House Is Not a Home' into jazz."[2] Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B rating, writing "...although I hoped for belated paydirt from his first live album in years, more careful examination reveals that the straight melodies do get dull and the improvisations aren't rich enough to invite deep digging..."[5]

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Rollins except where noted.

  1. "The Cutting Edge" – 6:50
  2. "To a Wild Rose" (Edward MacDowell) – 8:42
  3. "First Moves" – 6:58
  4. "A House Is Not a Home" – (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 5:33
  5. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (Traditional) – 14:41
  • Recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on July 6, 1974

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Sonny Rollins discography accessed 30 September 2009
  2. ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "The Cutting Edge > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1234. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert. "The Cutting Edge > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved June 26, 2011.