Home » Jazz Articles » Sonny Rollins
Jazz Articles about Sonny Rollins
Restraint: Chianti Classico Meets Sonny Rollins
by Kristen Lee Sergeant
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 ...
Continue ReadingSonny Rollins: Rollins in Holland
by Mike Jurkovic
From the very first decibel of this unrealistically good, previously unreleased recording, Sonny Rollins bears no bones to inform listeners he is suffering no fools. It is a big, Buescher, bellwether sound, the one that gave Rollins the sound and spirit he needed to tell of a man taking it all on without apology. It is also meant to say that, without argument, unrealistically good here is totally understood as a decisively human characteristic and not necessarily one Rollins aspired ...
Continue ReadingSonny Rollins and Bill Evans: Icons In Action
by Doug Collette
As icons of contemporary jazz, saxophonist Sonny Rollins and pianist Bill Evans deserve the carefully-researched and fastidiously-annotated packages Resonance Records has created in the form of Rollins In Holland and Live At Ronnie Scott's. The curators and producers for the label aim to formulate releases in line with each man's exacting approach, so while it is true many such vault titles are already available in the marketplace, it's fairly safe to say few are as rare or thorough as this ...
Continue ReadingBig September Birthdays & More
by Marc Cohn
We celebrate big September birthdays this week on G&M: Ray Charles, Muhal Richard Abrams and Sonny Rollins @ 90; Gary Bartz, Hamiet Bluiet, Dave Burrell and Roy Ayers @ 80! Of course, we have more: Horace Silver, Wilbur Ware, Elvin Jones, Sam Rivers, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane. So many of the greats and near-greats celebrate in September. There's not enough time to recognize or remember them all. But I decided to focus on the big birthday celebrants. You only ...
Continue ReadingOn Missing Live Jazz
by Douglas Groothuis
This pandemic has snatched much from us through its reign of disease and death. We have lost family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances to COVID-19. Millions have lost jobs or fear losing them. By all accounts, the whole thing stinks. We try to cling to what remains, and we hope and pray for restoration. How does all this upheaval affect the jazz world? We have lost a host of old and not-so-old jazz luminaries to this disease, such as ...
Continue ReadingSaxattack & More
by Marc Cohn
Well, not every track is saxed, but we've got some heavyweights here: Johnny Griffin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Branford Marsalis, Charlie Parker, Benny Carter, and Sidney Bechet. Breathers from pianists Brad Mehldau, Kris Davis and Bill Evans; as well as the Uptown Jazz Orchestra from New Orleans; trumpeters Roy Eldridge, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis; and Jared Gold on the B-3 and the late Vic Juris. Enjoy the show! R.I.P. bassist Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935--April 15, 2020) ...
Continue ReadingHard Bop Tenor - Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, Sonny Rollins (1959 - 1964)
by Russell Perry
In this portion of Jazz at 100, we are featuring tenor players and trumpeters who propelled hard bop into the 1960s. In this hour, we will continue with the Tenor Players, Part 2, featuring Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, and Sonny Rollins, three tenor players who have impacted the music over the past six decades. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Jimmy Heath Sextet “For Minors Only" from The Thumper (Riverside) 2:42 Host speaks 7:36 Jimmy Heath Quintet “Gingerbread Boy" from ...
Continue Reading
