The Bridge

Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), Jim Hall (guitar), Bob Cranshaw (bass) and Ben Riley (drums). From the album The Bridge (1962).

Bob Cranshaw was an American jazz bassist. He is known for his long association with Sonny Rollins, with whom he played intermittently for over five decades. He has recorded with all the most important jazz artists of the last 20th century. He participated in Lee Morgan’s album The Sidewinder and Grant Green’s Idle Moments, and played for television and musical shows, movies and commercials. He died in Manhattan in 2016 of cancer at the age of 83.

Ben Riley was an American jazz drummer. Since moving to New York in 1956 he played with musicians like Woody Herman, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Mary Lou Williams, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Ahmad Jamal, Randy Weston, Billy Taylor, Johnny Griffin and Alice Coltrane, but is best known for his four years touring and recording with Thelonious Monk. He also participated in Kenny Barron’s Sphere group. He died in 2017 at 84 years of age.

The theme begins immediately. Rollins starts his solo at full speed, as if he were in a car race, following the harmonic structure of the theme. Then Hall enters with a calmer solo making constant changes in his phrasing. Next comes Cranshaw making a solid and convincing walking, followed by Riley with a well measured and perfectly executed solo. At last, the group re-exposes the theme.