ALBUM REVIEWS

**** 1/2

SONNY ROLLINS

“Falling In Love With Jazz”, Milestone

Rollins’ first album of the ‘90s is highlighted by two superb musical encounters--on “For All We Know” and “I Should Care”--with Branford Marsalis. But the most unusual track in the ballad-heavy collection is Rollins’ transformation of the “Tennessee Waltz” into a soaring, passionately eloquent jazz sermon. Pianist Tommy Flanagan, a standout in a select group of backup players, plays with exquisite taste and precision on a album that both confirms and defines Rollins’ preeminence among jazz tenor saxophonists.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic).