The 1962 live engagement at the Village Gate marked Sonny Rollins’ first recording ever with Don Cherry, as well as one of th earliest made by the saxophonist following his three-year long selfimposed musical exile. It was all recorded in a piano-less quartet format with Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.
While only three tunes from the gig (“Dearly Beloved” in a highly edited form) were included on the famous LP "Our Man in Paris" (RCA Victor LPM 2612), this 6-CD collection adds all existing music taped during those live sessions, totaling more than five hours of previously unreleased material in brilliant stereo sound.
Among the many highlights here are the unedited "Dearly Beloved" (which is 10 minutes longer than the LP version), the issued Oleo with an extra minute at the beginning, Rollins’ only known reading of "Alexander’s Ragtime Band", and "Home Sweet Home", plus extended renditions of songs he only rarely recorded, such as "Solitude" and "Love Walked In".
- Bass – Bob Cranshaw
- Cornet – Don Cherry
- Drums – Billy Higgins
- Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins
- 1-1 thru 1-3 recorded July 27, 1962
- 1-4 thru 2-1, and 3-3 recorded July 28, 1962 [first set]
- 2-2 and 2-3 recorded July 28, 1962 [second set]
- 2-4 thru 3-2 recorded July 28, 1962 [third set]
- 3-4 and 4-1 recorded July 29, 1962 [first set]
- 4-2 and 4-3 recorded July 29, 1962 [second set]
- 5-1 and 5-2 recorded July 30, 1962 [first set]
- 5-3 recorded July 30, 1962 [second set]
- 6-1 and 6-2 recorded July 30, 1962 [third set]
Disc 1
