[Dixielandjazz] Sonny Rollins at Carnegie

[Steve Barbone]

Sonny Rollins is arguably the worlds greatest living jazz tenor saxophonist.
Here is a review of the trio portion of his Carnegie Hall Concert. Not
strictly OKOM, but then note the song choices mentioned. <grin>

Rollins, Roy Haynes who at 82 still swings his ass off, and Christian
McBride (from Philadelphia). That's some trio.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone 

Music Review | Sonny Rollins
A Reunion of Giants, 50 Years On

By FRED KAPLAN
Published: September 20, 2007

Sonny Rollins¹s concert at Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night was billed as the
50th anniversary of his first performance there. More significant, it was
the first time since 1958 ‹ nearly a 50th anniversary ‹ that he¹s played
with Roy Haynes. The greatest living tenor saxophone player, teamed again
with arguably the greatest living drummer ‹ now that¹s historic.

The concert¹s first half, when the two were joined by the young bassist
Christian McBride, lived up to the fanfare, in unexpected ways. The high
points of Mr. Rollins¹s concerts are usually the extended solos: sinuous
improvisations, going on for dozens of choruses, no two alike, in which he
explores every chord, theme or counterpoint a song seems to offer, then taps
some uncharted crevice and digs or soars on to blow more. This set wasn¹t
like that. Perhaps because he was playing with peers (a rarity in recent
decades), he held back, simmered where he usually boiled, and played as one
of three equals. 

The unlikely highlight was ³Some Enchanted Evening,² which Mr. Rollins
opened by reciting the melody with his lush and husky tone, while Mr. Haynes
flapped brushes in triple time, and Mr. McBride plucked whole notes that
anchored the chords without confining his band mates. When they got to the
part where most musicians take solos, Mr. Rollins instead tossed out a
fragment of the melody, then Mr. Haynes filled in the rest, and on the
interplay went, bar after bar, the two sometimes overlapping, sometimes not.

It felt like an ambling, elegant conversation between old friends, which in
fact it was. It set off a goose-bump sensation, a shared intimacy one rarely
encounters in a jazz concert. And the full house gave it the night¹s
lustiest applause.

For the set¹s closer, ³Mack the Knife,² Mr. Rollins drew on a gruffer tone,
full of fleet triplets and arpeggios, but Mr. McBride took the star turn
with a solo that possessed a horn¹s articulate fluency and a master¹s
insouciant assurance, despite the age gap that might have marked him as an
apprentice. (He¹s 35, while Mr. Rollins is 77 and Mr. Haynes is ‹
unbelievably ‹ 82.)