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Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins
by Aidan Levy
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 23 “The Bridge" from Aidan Levy's Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins (Hachette Books, 2023). On September 7, 1960, Sonny turned thirty. The next day, he recorded his thoughts on the milestone in his journal. “Birthday now past but tendencies toward disruption still exist," he wrote. It seems he violated his strict diet and succumbed to the urge for a cigarette. “By the very documenting of these ...
Continue ReadingSaxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins
by Ian Patterson
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 ...
Continue ReadingFeel Good Music Show
by David Brown
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 ...
Continue ReadingPianoless Trios: Sonny Rollins to Ballister
by David Brown
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 ...
Continue ReadingSonny Rollins: Ten Colossal Albums
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingKimberly Hannon Teal: Jazz Places, Space For Everybody?
by Ian Patterson
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 ...
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