''Nucleus'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

Sonny Rollins, released on the

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

label in 1975, featuring performances by Rollins with George Duke, Raul de Souza, Bennie Maupin, Chuck Rainey, Eddie Moore, Mtume, Bob Cranshaw and Roy McCurdy.Sonny Rollins discography
accessed September 28, 2009. It was recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA, on September 2–5, 1975.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

review by Scott Yanow states: "This funky date has its moments (including an updated version of "

My Reverie "My Reverie" is a 1938 popular song with lyrics by Larry Clinton. Its melody is based on the 1890 piano piece ''Rêverie'' by the French classical composer Claude Debussy. Recordings A 1938 recording of the song by Clinton and his band with Be ...

") but falls far short of hinting at any new innovations." Music critic Robert Christgau praised the album, writing: "This is as rich an r&b saxophone record as I know, combining repetition and invention, melodies recalled and melodies unimaginable, in proportions that define the difference between selling out and reaching out.... If you really believe you don't like 'jazz,' this is as good a place to start as any."

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Rollins except as indicated. # "Lucille" - 6:08 # "Gwaligo" - 5:58 # "Are You Ready?" - 4:08 # "Azalea" - 4:46 # "Newkleus" ( James Mtume) - 5:17 # "Cosmet" - 7:20 # "My Reverie" (

Larry Clinton Larry Clinton (August 17, 1909 – May 2, 1985) was an American musician, best known as a trumpeter who became a prominent American bandleader and arranger. Biography Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He became a ver ...

, based on Claude Debussy's "Reverie") - 7:39

Personnel

*Sonny Rollins -

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

, soprano saxophone * George Duke -

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, electric piano & synthesizer (track 1,3,5-7) * Raul de Souza -

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

(tracks 1-4,6,7) * Bennie Maupin -

(all),

soloist on 4, bass clarinet (track 7),

saxello The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

(track 6),

lyricon The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed. Invented by Bill Bernardi (and co-engineered by Roger Noble and with the late Lyricon performer Chuck GreenbergIngham (1998) p.184), filed for patent o ...

(track 5) * Blackbyrd McKnight - guitar (tracks: 1-3,5,6); soloist on 2,3 *David Amaro - guitar; soloist on 1 * Chuck Rainey -

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

(tracks 1-3,6) * Bob Cranshaw - electric bass (tracks 4,5,7) *Eddie Moore - drums (tracks 1-3,6) * Roy McCurdy - drums (tracks 4,5,7) * Mtume - congas &

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(1-4,6), lead guitar (track 5)

References

{{Authority control 1975 albums Milestone Records albums Sonny Rollins albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews