I initially rolled my eyes at this record, figuring its title to be some sort of slight to John Coltrane, but then remembered Trane wasn’t yet the giant in 1956 he would be considered just a few years later. Dropping a record called Saxophone Colossus in, let’s say, 1964 and your name doesn’t end in 'trane' - that’s some shit you get cancelled for. Sonny Rollins really was the guy around this time. And while Coltrane’s ‘sheets of sound’ is more a devil-in-the-details sort of jumpoff, Sonny and his horn come in and wreck the place like a giant octopus. “Strode Rode” is the highlight for me; don’t sleep on Max Roach’s big ole swanging grooves on “Blue Seven” either. 5 tracks total pressed on blue vinyl, housed in full color pic sleeve with OG. liner notes on the back.

• blue colored vinyl
• housed in full color pic sleeve with original liner notes
• poly inner sleeve
• limited edition
• music label: Prestige 2019

reviewed by nick nightingale 10/2019