Mr. Rollins goes to London

The sound is unbalanced in spots, but "Sonny Rollins Live in London" from British Harkit Records, which captures Mr. Rollins at Ronnie Scott's in January 1965, is a good look at him in what I think of as his coming-to-terms-with-the-avant-garde phase. He does some interesting exploring over an 18-minute medley including "Autumn Nocturne," "April in Paris," "Three Little Words" and "I'll Be Seeing You." As always, he impresses me with how he can take diversions and yet never stray out of range of the straight rendering of a song, like "My One and Only Love," a favorite sad ballad of mine, or Miles Davis' "Four" and Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time." He never goes as far as the Coltrane of the period or an Archie Shepp. However, it sure ain't bop either. Pianist Stan Tracey, a U.K. jazz legend, and his trio are compatible accompanists and nice to listen to as well. Personally, I'll take all the live Sonny Rollins I can get.