Sonny Rollins is the most enduring tenor saxophonist of the bebop and hard bop eras, but also one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time. His fluid and harmonically innovative ideas and easily accessible sound have influenced generations of players. Nicknamed "Newk," he served early apprenticeships with bop masters from Bud Powell and Miles Davis to Max Roach & Clifford Brown. After 1956's classic Saxophone Colossus was released, he was heralded as jazz's top tenorist. A year later, after Way Out West and A Night at the Village Vanguard (two pioneering pianoless trio dates), he entered a class of his own -- a reputation he never relinquished. Several of his own compositions, including "Oleo" and "Doxy," are jazz standards...(All Music) ___________________________________________ "Oleo" is a hard bop composition by Sonny Rollins, written in 1954. Since then it has become a jazz standard, and has been played by numerous jazz artists, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans.
"Oleo" is one of a number of jazz standards to be based on the same chord progression as that employed by George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm".
The first version of the song, featuring Rollins, was recorded by Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins in 1954 for the record Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins. With John Coltrane instead of Rollins on saxophone, it was recorded again in 1956 and released on Relaxin'. A live version from 1958, also with Coltrane, appears on two separate Davis albums: 1958 Miles, which was released in late 1958, and Jazz at the Plaza (1973). Another Davis live version from 1961 appears on In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete.
Other artists who have made notable recordings of the piece include Michael Brecker, Eric Dolphy, Lee Konitz, Jeff Sipe, Pat Martino, Patrice Rushen, and Larry Coryell...(Wiki) ___________________________________________ Tracklist: 1. Oleo (Sonny Rollins ). ___________________________________________ Personnel: 1. Sonny Rollins - sax 2. Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - bass 3. Alan Dawson - drams. ___________________________________________ Genre: Jazz/Post Bop Recorded: live in Denmark; 1965.