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In addition to all the other sterling qualities that go into making a Master Jazz Saxophonist, Charlie Rouse [1924-1988] had something which all Jazz musicians strive for, whatever their instrument.
He had an instantly recognizable sound of his own.
Four bars of his playing and you knew it was Charlie Rouse.
As Richard Cook details in his Jazz Encyclopedia:
“Although Rouse did front eight albums of his own during a long career of playing, he is always remembered as the saxophonist in Thelonious Monk’s quartet. This position came up after many years of work in the music; he joined Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in 1945, worked in R&B hands, had brief spells with Duke Ellington and Count Basie, was on Clifford Brown’s first record dates, and then led a hard-bop quintet called Les (Jazz) Modes [with French horn player Julius Watkins]. As that band was petering out in 1959, he sat in with Monk at a New York gig and went on to stay for the next 11 years.
Where Johnny Griffin didn’t change his style at all with Monk, and played in the same headlong fashion, Rouse, previously a typically fluent bop player, meticulously adapted himself to Monk’s music: his tone became heavier, his phrasing more careful, and he seemed to act as an interlocutor between his leader and the listener.
In the 1970s he studied acting for a time, and then found a new niche as a guardian of Monk’s music in the group Sphere, which acted as a repertory band for the pianist’s music [Kenny Barron, piano, Buster Williams, bass and Ben Riley, drums; “Sphere” was Thelonious’ middle name.]
He played a final tribute to his old boss a few weeks before his own death from lung cancer.”
Barry Kernfeld remarks about Charlie in his annotation about him for The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz:
“In the 1960s, Rouse adapted his style to Monk’s work, improvising with greater deliberation than most bop tenor saxophonists, and restating melodies often. His distinctive solo playing with Monk was marked by alternate reiterations of the principal thematic motif with formulaic bop runs.”
Orrin Keepnews who produced Charlie’s first album under his name – Takin’ Care of Business [Jazzland 919 JLPS, 1959], remarked that: “The trouble up to now has been that Rouse takes care of business so professionally and unflamboyantly, that it has been too easy for people to overlook him. Not fellow musicians: they’ve been aware for some time [and have accorded him the recognition of a full-fledged big leaguer].
With this by way of background you won’t want to miss –
THE CHARLIE ROUSE BAND’S BRAZILIAN SPECTACULAR
CINNAMON FLOWER GETS DELUXE REISSUE FROM RESONANCE RECORDS
AS A LIMITED-EDITION 2-LP SET, DELUXE CD & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2025
Vibrant 1977 Album Featuring Tenor Man Rouse’s Star-Studded Group and Engineered by Resonance Founder George Klabin Will Be Issued in Its Originally Released Version and, for the First Time, in Never-Before-Heard Undubbed Form
Deluxe Package Includes Detailed Liner Notes by Author James Gavin and an Intimate Recollection by the Tenor Player’s Son Charlie “Chico” Rouse, Jr.
Brazilian jazz fans will receive a special treat when Resonance Records, the genre’s leader in archival releases, will issue the Charlie Rouse Band’s Brazilian jazz classic Cinnamon Flower as an expanded two-LP set, single-CD and digital download on September 19, 2025.
The LP package will be issued in a limited edition of 1,000 copies pressed on 180-gram vinyl; the set has been transferred from the original tape reels and mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. The first disc reprises the tenor saxophonist’s album as it was released in 1977 by Douglas Records, the Casablanca-distributed imprint of producer Alan Douglas; the second LP presents the record for the first time in its original form, without Douglas’ overdubbing, as it was engineered by
Resonance founder and co-president George Klabin, and includes an unreleased bonus track. The CD edition will also include both versions of the record and the extra track.
The ’77 recording date featured Rouse, who had served as the tenor player in Thelonious Monk’s combo for 11 years, playing potent Brazil-inflected music with elegance and soul. He had previously explored the Latin American country’s sound on his 1962 Blue Note album Bossa Nova Bacchanal.
Rouse’s 11-piece Cinnamon Flower band included such notables as trumpeter Claudio Roditi, pianist Dom Salvador, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Portinho. Before the album was released, producer Douglas — known for adding instrumentation on posthumously released material by guitarist Jimi Hendrix — sweetened it with such additional players as soul drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, keyboardist Roger Powell of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, and trombonist Clifford Adams of funk group Kool & the Gang.
Both packages include detailed liner notes by James Gavin, the author of widely praised biographies of Chet Baker, Peggy Lee, and Lena Horne, and an affecting remembrance of Rouse by his son, musician and educator Charlie “Chico” Rouse, Jr., who oversees the Rouse Estate. It reunites Resonance with Douglas’ daughters Solo Douglas and Kirby Veevers, who worked with the label on its 2019 Eric Dolphy release Musical Prophet, which comprised Douglas’ 1963 dates with the multi-instrumentalist.
Resonance co-president Zev Feldman says, “Many jazz enthusiasts know Charlie Rouse from the years he spent with Thelonious Monk, but he was much more than simply Monk’s saxophonist. He had his own voice and his own style. He had an abiding interest in many musical genres and, as you can hear in this album, a particular affinity for Brazilian music.”
The new edition is especially gratifying for Klabin, who racked up a long list of engineering and production credits before founding Resonance in 2008: “This music was originally recorded and engineered by yours truly at my Sound Ideas Studios in New York in the mid-70’s. It remains one of my favorites because it combined great Brazilian music with great modern jazz and utilized only the very best players.
“We are pleased to release this memorable recording in two versions: the original, and as modified by Alan Douglas on his label. It is also a pleasure to present for the first time the track ‘Meeting House,’ written and performed by pianist Dom Salvador, which was not released on the Alan Douglas version.”
Music historian Gavin notes, “Fortunately, Cinnamon Flower’s original engineer, George Klabin, kept the unaltered tapes. Now, on his acclaimed jazz label Resonance Records, he is releasing the original unadulterated Cinnamon Flower for the first time. The Douglas issue is here too, allowing listeners to judge the difference for themselves. The heart of both versions is Charlie Rouse, a saxophonist whose uniqueness deserves reexamination.
“This Resonance release offers a fresh chance to revisit a musician who almost from the start was deemed ‘underrated.’ It’s not too late for the prediction made in 1988 by Clifford Jordan, Rouse’s tenor-playing peer, to come true: ‘When someone dies, people stop and listen and realize that maybe he was a bit bigger than they thought. Now, people will start listening to Charlie Rouse.”
Chico Rouse says, “I think now the album is going to be more appreciated than when it first came out because of the development and the exposure of Brazilian music here in this culture. I think that this record was a little ahead of its time. I hope that it shows a little bit about what my father was about in terms of being a soloist and having his own individuality, but being aware enough and strong enough to be able to take that and incorporate it into an ensemble to make the whole thing one whole.”
For more information please contact;
Ann Braithwaite / Braithwaite & Katz Communications/ ann@bkmusicpr.com
Resonance Records is a multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning label (most recently for John Coltrane’s Offering: Live at Temple University for “Best Album Notes”) that prides itself in creating beautifully designed, informative packaging to accompany previously unreleased recordings by the jazz icons who grace Resonance’s catalog. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Resonance Records is a division of Rising Jazz Stars, Inc. a California 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation created to discover the next jazz stars and advance the cause of jazz. Current Resonance Artists include Tawanda, Eddie Daniels, Tamir Hendelman, Christian Howes and Donald Vega. www. Resonance Records.org