Jazz Articles about Sonny Rollins

Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins

by Ian Patterson
March 20, 2023

Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins Aidan Levy 784 Pages ISBN: 978-0306902796 Hachette Books 2023 A colossal book for a colossal musician. Aidan Levy's biography of Sonny Rollins runs to over 700 pages, not including the no less remarkable notes, available as a separate 416-page download. That the original manuscript was trimmed down from twice the length indicates just how ambitious and comprehensive this portrait is, and how astutely the ...

Feel Good Music Show

by David Brown
January 3, 2023

It's New Year's Eve here on the Jazz Continuum. Weather you're getting gussied up to go out, or laying low for the evening, we're here to present an evening of Feel-Good Music to keep you company. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Terry Pollard “Scrapple From The Apple" from A Detroit Jazz Legend (Fresh Sound Records) 02:15 Yusef Lateef “Eastern Market" from Yusef Lateef's Detroit (Collectables) 07:26 Gunter Baby Sommer ...

Pianoless Trios: Sonny Rollins to Ballister

by David Brown
May 3, 2022

Sonny Rollins is famous for the pianoless trio. He said the lack of chordal instruments gave him more freedom for soloing. Tonight, a smorgasbord of trios sans pianos. Offering lots of space for soloists and collective interplay. Note: Due to a loose board plug, songs two and three play in mono. The issue was resolved during the Ballister track. Adventures in live broadcasting. Playlist Sonny Rollins “A Night in Tunisa" from A Night at the Village Vanguard (Manhattan ...

Sonny Rollins: Ten Colossal Albums

by Chris May
April 6, 2022

The history of modern jazz is a short one, but even so there are few musicians whose careers began in the bop era and who are still with us in 2022. Drummer Roy Haynes is one. Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins is another. Both players recorded with trumpeter Fats Navarro and pianist Bud Powell in 1949. Born in 1930, Rollins grew up in Harlem, in Sugar Hill, a neighbourhood full of the city's best jazz musicians. By the ...

Kimberly Hannon Teal: Jazz Places, Space For Everybody?

by Ian Patterson
February 24, 2022

Behind the bricks and mortar of any jazz venue, large or small, lies an often complex history, a set of codes, expectations and ideologies, projected both both from within and from without. Old school, traditional, cutting edge, avant-garde, mainstream—different venues convey meanings and associations that align with different and often competing strands of jazz history. In her fascinating book Jazz Places: How Performance Spaces Shape Jazz History (University of California Press, 2021), Kimberly Hannon Teal, Assistant ...

Chianti Classico Meets Sonny Rollins

by Kristen Lee Sergeant
August 28, 2021

Restraint: Chianti Classico Meets Sonny Rollins

by Kristen Lee Sergeant
August 18, 2021

Welcome to August's Jazz & Juice—I'm looking forward to diving into some new wine and music with you, moving from the Loire Valley and Mary Lou Williams (here's a link to the article, video, and podcast if you'd like to catch up) and into the world of Italy and one of jazz's greatest tenor saxophonists. RestraintRestraint implies patience—the ability not to quickly react to something, and when it comes to any craft, what one chooses to do, or ...