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Sonny Rollins – Taking Care Of Business (Work Time, Tenor Madness and Tour de Force)

With outstanding Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER on all FOUR sides, these vintage Prestige pressings are guaranteed to blow the doors off any other Taking Care Of Business you’ve heard
The complete Tenor Madness album is found here, with big, full-bodied, MONO jazz sound at its best, courtesy of the great one, Rudy Van Gelder
This is what classic 50s jazz is supposed to sound like – they knew how to do these kinds of records 70+ years ago, and those mastering skills are in short supply nowadays, if not downright extinct
The transfers from 1978 by David Turner are in tune with the sound of these recordings – there’s not a trace of phony EQ on this entire record
“Tenor Madness was the recording that, once and for all, established Newk as one of the premier tenor saxophonists, an accolade that in retrospect, has continued through six full decades and gives an indication why a young Rollins was so well liked, as his fluency, whimsical nature, and solid construct of melodies and solos gave him the title of the next Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young of mainstream jazz.”

This Two-Fer includes all of Tenor Madness and most of Work Time and Tour De Force.

This KILLER Prestige “not-very-stereo” pressing has super sound on both sides
Like many other Prestige “stereo” reissues, if there is any left-right information, you would never know it without checking for it with a pair of headphones
In other words, this ’50s mono recording has been mastered in the ’60s to sound like it’s supposed to sound – there’s absolutely nothing artificial or modern here, which makes this a very special pressing indeed
Again and again the notes read “solid, big and rich,” and that’s the kind of sound fifty year old records give you, in spades
“Tenor Madness was the recording that, once and for all, established Newk as one of the premier tenor saxophonists, an accolade that in retrospect, has continued through six full decades and gives an indication why a young Rollins was so well liked, as his fluency, whimsical nature, and solid construct of melodies and solos gave him the title of the next Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young of mainstream jazz.”
If you’re a fan of Sonny’s, this is a Top Title from 1956.

UPDATE

We used to like this record a whole lot more than we do now. Based on what we heard last time we played it, we cannot recommend it.

A classic case of live and learn.

Our previous commentary:

This Prestige Two-Fer Double LP boasts EXCELLENT SOUND, right up there with some the best sounding copies we’ve played.

Three sides out of four sounded surprisingly good, which is three good sides more than the average copy can claim.

Oddly enough, the stampers are identical. Sample to sample variation? Fresh off the stamper transparency? Who’s to say?

I can’t explain it, but I know a better record when I play one. This copy is clearly more transparent, no pun intended.

It’s also been through our extensive cleaning process, which as you can imagine helps the sound immeasurably.

For more reviews of Two-Fer pressings, click here.