[Dixielandjazz] Sonny Rollins at Carnegie

[Don Mopsick]

Steve Barbone wrote:

> Sonny Rollins is arguably the worlds greatest living jazz tenor
> saxophonist.
(snip)

Bob Ringwald replied:

>Yes, arguably .  

>I'll take Harry Allen any day.  

mopo argues:

I am well familiar with Sonny Rollins and his work. One of my favorite
albums is Way Out West with Shelly Manne from the 1950s. Beginning in the
60s, Rollins bought into the "pseudo-avant" sensibility. He abandoned his
fine, rich, broad but controlled sound and went with a much more raucous,
"koo-koo" carelessly braying one. His improvising style became progressively
more abstract, internal and subconscious and less and less oriented toward
the audience and their natural craving for melody. 

He plays pretty much that way now, except his sound has deteriorated even
further. The local jazz station played an extended improvisation of his from
the 1970s called "G-Man" which to me was more of the same old boring,
self-indulgent, masturbatory horse shit that passes for jazz even today.
True, Rollins is revered and serves as a model for many, many younger tenor
saxophonists, which is partly why Bart Simpson was mostly correct in his
assessment that "jazz sucks." Based on the evidence, Rollins today vs.
Rollins 50 years ago are two different sounds.

Harry Allen, on the other hand, gets one of the best tenor sounds around
today, and after listening to him for days on end at a festival, the band
and I were still flabbergasted at his startling originality and brilliance,
and, above all, hard-swinging time feel. There is one word which sums up the
experience--"genius."

Now, about Mr. Barbone:

After years of reading his posts, I've come to expect Mr. Barbone to merely
repeat what he's heard or read about jazz. This is called "received wisdom."
Charlie Parker is God. I don't have to listen to old Bix and Louis records
because I've heard it all before, there's nothing in them that can teach me.
Traditional jazz is dying out because old farts are hopelessly backward
jerks who wouldn't know quality jazz if it bit them in the ass. Traditional
jazz festivals suck and will die soon. On and on, ad nauseum. Everyone on
this list that I've talked to online and in person is beyond tired of this
abuse. We wonder: if he dislikes traditional jazz and its fans so much, why
doesn't he start his own list and call it, say, "Lame, Jive Dixie Boppers"
and leave us in peace?

It's up to each of us to listen carefully to the actual music, not once but
many times, in order to reach OUR OWN conclusions about what is truly
swinging, rightcheous, good, true and everlasting among the vast river of
jazz schlock that constantly threatens to sweep us into oblivion. A friend
of mine, a longtime purveyor of good jazz, has a signature aphorism which
over the years he has emblazoned on bandstand signs, stationery, etc.:

"Listen Closely To The Real Stuff."