For all of the longtime jazz fans who habitually fret about what has become of the art form and whether it's endangered, Sonny Rollins offers a reassuring and typically philosophical response:
“Jazz is a spirit. It is freedom. It is reality put into musical form. It will never leave until this planet leaves," says the revered 80-year-old saxophonist, one of the few still-active links to the bebop era of Charlie Parker.
Rollins co-headlines the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday, one of at least a dozen dates in seven countries he'll play this year and his first performance since being awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in March.
Playing in the city that spawned jazz a century ago holds special meaning for Rollins. His parents are from the Virgin Islands, and one of his hallmarks is linking Caribbean music to jazz. New Orleans, with its strong ties to the Caribbean, “seems to be a place that is very receptive to my style of playing," he says. “And, of course, the history of the city you always have in mind."
“Jazz is a spirit. It is freedom. It is reality put into musical form. It will never leave until this planet leaves," says the revered 80-year-old saxophonist, one of the few still-active links to the bebop era of Charlie Parker.
Rollins co-headlines the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday, one of at least a dozen dates in seven countries he'll play this year and his first performance since being awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in March.
Playing in the city that spawned jazz a century ago holds special meaning for Rollins. His parents are from the Virgin Islands, and one of his hallmarks is linking Caribbean music to jazz. New Orleans, with its strong ties to the Caribbean, “seems to be a place that is very receptive to my style of playing," he says. “And, of course, the history of the city you always have in mind."
