View Full Version : Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall…. Man can blow….
Went and saw brother Sonny last night.
It was 50 yr celebration of when he first played carnegie hall.
He started the night off in a trio, Christian McBride on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. He did three songs in this format.
Sonnymoon for Two
Some Enchanted Evening
Mack The Knife (They put their foot in this one)
He took a break, then moved to a Sextet format and did another three songs.
What was notable to me was that Sonny did not sit down or anything. For some reason, I always thought he was a taller man. However, he couldn't have been more than 5-5. At times, it looked like that Tenor sax was playing him, as opposed to him playing it. Nevertheless, you knew who the master was last night. A great time.
Watch this space. I have a little treat that I'll put up for those who are interested.
Peace
TAC
P.S. The CD of the concert will be coming out next year on Doxy records.
Fletch
09-19-2007, 02:15 PM
From watching him on vids, it looks like Sonny has always had an out-of-this world stage presence which adds to his legendary playing!
Yo Fletch dudes playing was seo sweet sh*t had me getting all fluffy and sh*t. Never knew a horn could sound so damn good!!!
Fletch
09-19-2007, 04:51 PM
Yo Fletch dudes playing was seo sweet sh*t had me getting all fluffy and sh*t. Never knew a horn could sound so damn good!!!That means you must've lost it when he went into "St. Thomas"!
That means you must've lost it when he went into "St. Thomas"!
He didn't play it. Instead, they played "Stop the Carnival".
Mike Barnes
09-19-2007, 05:07 PM
On the low, Sonny Rollins learned the science of playing the sax, From one of the most legendary saxophone players of alltime(Coleman Hawkins), Sonny Rollins mentioned during an interview on the Jazz Documentary,'A Great day in Harlem', In the mid 90's, That he(Sonny Rollins), Used to go to Coleman
Hawkins rest on Sugarhill/uptown/Harlem(153rd and Edgecombe ave on the Westside), To listen and learn from Coleman Hawkins in the 1940's mad hard, Sonny Rollins also mentioned on the Jazz Documentary, That he(Sonny Rollins)Has the Utmost of respect for Lester Young(The President of the Saxophone) .
Much respect
Mike Barnes
On the low, Sonny Rollins learned the science of playing the sax, From one of the most legendary saxophone players of alltime(Coleman Hawkins), Sonny Rollins mentioned during an interview on the Jazz Documentary,'A Great day in Harlem', In the mid 90's, That he(Sonny Rollins), Used to go to Coleman
Hawkins rest on Sugarhill/uptown/Harlem(153rd and Edgecombe ave on the Westside), To listen and learn from Coleman Hawkins in the 1940's mad hard, Sonny Rollins also mentioned on the Jazz Documentary, That he(Sonny Rollins)Has the Utmost of respect for Lester Young(The President of the Saxophone) .
Much respect
Mike Barnes
Brother Mike.... You dropping some foundation artists right there my man (Lester and Coleman).
Lester Young is someone that also influenced one of Sonny's main rivals, i.e., Coltrane.
If you listen to both of them (Lester and Coltrane), you can hear similarities in their styles.
A good set to check out is the complete Lester Young on Blue note, six CD's of straight heat.
As for Coleman being an influence on Sonny, that was mentioned on stage last night by Gil Noble who MC'd the show.
Good stuff!!!
djmarbll
09-19-2007, 05:23 PM
Coltrane was heavily influenced by Sonny Rollins himself and was torn a new asshole the first time they played together. Coltrane was said to have woodshed viciously and by the time Rollins heard him again, he was stunned by his skill. I don't know if thats true or not, but Rollins is one of the greatest tenor players I've heard in my lifetime. He's also one of the few guys left from the bebop era that is still alive.
ebot9000
09-19-2007, 05:27 PM
Sonny in the trio format is crazy, I love those classic recordings from the Village Vanguard. Can't say I'm crazy about his Club Med direction, but it was still great to see him at lincoln center ten years back and his band was sick.
I'd LOVE to hear him doing the trio format now, with all his age & wisdom, we're lucky to have this master still playing his ass off after all these years.
ebot9000
09-19-2007, 05:30 PM
Coltrane was heavily influenced by Sonny Rollins himself and was torn a new asshole the first time they played together. Coltrane was said to have woodshed viciously and by the time Rollins heard him again, he was stunned by his skill. I don't know if thats true or not, but Rollins is one of the greatest tenor players I've heard in my lifetime. He's also one of the few guys left from the bebop era that is still alive.
Sonny Rollins took a famous break from playing out, for 3 years, and just practiced. He would climb up one of the towers of the Williamsburg Bridge every night and practice. Then he released that album "The Bridge"
He was a sick bebop saxophonist already (check his shit from the 50s), but people like Coltrane turned him on to new sounds, so he hit the shed and came out SWINGIN
Coltrane was heavily influenced by Sonny Rollins himself and was torn a new asshole the first time they played together. Coltrane was said to have woodshed viciously and by the time Rollins heard him again, he was stunned by his skill. I don't know if thats true or not, but Rollins is one of the greatest tenor players I've heard in my lifetime. He's also one of the few guys left from the bebop era that is still alive.
Heard/read this somewhere too... may be some truth to this... but let us not get quoted on this... :biggrin:
Coltrane was heavily influenced by Sonny Rollins himself and was torn a new asshole the first time they played together. Coltrane was said to have woodshed viciously and by the time Rollins heard him again, he was stunned by his skill. I don't know if thats true or not, but Rollins is one of the greatest tenor players I've heard in my lifetime. He's also one of the few guys left from the bebop era that is still alive.
Come to think of it, this was a Miles davis Session. I think Miles called coltrane "rough", when placed next to the more polished Rollins. I'll need to dig through my liner notes...
Cat's don't know how important Sonny is/was. We have been tracking him for better over a year, trying to establish when he was close enough to catch a show.
He's getting on in years and we are fearing that he may soon be gone. Don't sleep...
Crazy thing is, you can't mess with Coltrane without messing with Sonny, and vice versa.
For those not in the know, Sonny was the top tenor until Coltrane came along and dethroned him.
Good sh*t!!!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.1.10 Copyright © 2012 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.