I say Sonny takes it. His solo is more interesting rhythmically and he stretches the harmonies by going outside a lot more. Plus Trane TOTALLY fucks up when he & Sonny are trading twos with Philly Joe; the rhythm section is back in support-the-soloist mode, but Trane thinks they're still trading! When he realizes trade-time is over with, you can hear him almost panic in that sheet of gotta-play-some-filler notes.
Granted, this is 58 we're talking about, so Trane was still finding his voice. Pre-KOB, pre-Giant Steps, etc. Sonny's sailing along at his peak here. Perhaps it's not fair to compare the two, but this is the only recorded meeting between the giants! Who takes it?
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 13 April 2007 00:23 (nineteen years ago)
It's a tie!
Actually, this was '56, a couple of weeks after the sessions for Miles'
Workin' and
Steamin' LPs, and you could say that Trane back then had found a voice in the context of 12-bar blueses -- a sort of freakish tone, a penchant for the higher register and double-time runs, and a slightly disjointed narrative. (And so, he gets my vote if I really had to choose.)
It's like Sonny, with his robust tone and rhythmic skillz, is facing backward in time, digesting the tenor masters of the past, while Trane is facing forward, pointing toward the "sheets of sound" of '58.
And while there's only this one recorded Trane/Sonny document, there are a lot of Trane "v." Cannonball moments in Miles' subsequent recordings and performances, and tenor duels here and there in Trane's sideman/all-star gigs for Prestige. It's all good.
― mark 0, Friday, 13 April 2007 10:49 (nineteen years ago)
I like "Tenor Madness" OK, but it doesn't quite live up to what you might imagine when you hear about Rollins and Trane in a battle royale. In fact, it doesn't really seem like they're particularly competitive -- which kind of makes sense from what I've read about their relationship. They were more mutual admirers than competitors. Neither of them sound like they've got a lot to prove on the track. But it's a pleasant ride nonetheless.
― tylerw, Friday, 13 April 2007 14:54 (nineteen years ago)