A1 - If Ever I Would Leave You
A2 - Jungoso
B1 - Bluesong
B2 - The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
B3 - Brown Skin Girl

Recorded on April 5, 25, 26 and May 14, 1962 at RCA Victor Studio B in New York City.

Sonny Rollins' mid-sixties experiment with bossa nova was completely different than was Stan Getz Jazz Samba. Rollins stayed true to his bop and avant garde roots, using bossa nova as a surgeon uses a scalpel, to dissect and deconstruct familiar melodies and turn them into something new.

This hip reinterpretation of standards is Sonny's trademark, and in this album it's uncompromising. The whole album is interesting and highly original, but I will only comment on one cut, Rollin's deconstruction of a sentimental broadway ballad from 'Camelot.' He takes the kitch out of this tune and turns it into a fierce meditation on the origins of jazz, the mystery of rhythm, and the fundamental particles of melody. Rollin's version of 'If Ever I Would Leave You' is nothing less than this: one of the greatest tenor solos in the history of jazz.

The "golden age" of recordings was from 1955 to 1965, at the beginning of the LP and the stereo era, where pure vacuum tube amplification helped produce recordings demonstrating unparalleled fidelity and warmth, lifelike presence and illumination.

This Pure Pleasure LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the original analogue studio tapes through to the cutting head and was pressed with virgin vinyl at Pallas.