Sonny Rollins "Without A Song" 9/11 concert

[danasgoodstuff]

sure, 43 v. 71 is part of it but not all... it's also the material, the relative solo space alotted, and a mostly 'on' performance v. a really 'on' one...

Hopefully, this one will do well enough that we'll get more from collecter dude's stash so we each can have the live Rollins gig of our dreams...

"Last of the Mohicans" - funny and true, in so many ways.

[Joe M]

More musicians should refer to the meldoy in their solos. It never hurt Monk.

[GA Russell]

I have had this CD for a week, and I would like to comment on it without having read this thread, so as not to prejudice my opinion.

By the way, I saw Don Newcomb on TV a while back, and after fifty years he and Sonny still look just like each other!

Sonny Rollins has been with Milestone nearly 35 years. That is so long I consider it a career unto itself. Sure, I prefer his Prestige recordings like most people, but the Prestige period ended nearly fifty years ago. I don't see much point in continuing to compare a fellow's work to what he did so long ago.

I don't have too many of his Milestone CDs. I have Silver City, Global Warming and This Is What I Do. I think that's all. Silver City was Gary Giddens' idea of Sonny's best over the previous 25 years, and I will trust his judgment on that.

I'm of the school that "the great ones make it look easy". I haven't particularly liked the Milestone recordings because to me Sonny sounds like he is trying to blow his lungs out.

So I was pleasantly surprised that from the get go on Without a Song (The 9/11 Concert) Sonny is much more relaxed. Not as relaxed as most other horn players, but still a lot more than what he has been doing for the past 35 years.

Of the five songs, four are standards, and the fifth is the title track to his then current album Global Warming. I prefer standards, so that is another thing in favor of this album.

I saw Sonny in Atlanta about ten years ago. He had Al Foster on drums. Foster was marvelous, equal to the task. Unfortunately, the piano player was dreadful, completely out of his league. The bass player (an upright bass violin, by the way) was better than the piano player, but not very good. I realized how important it is for a major artist to be supported by bandmates who are his caliber.

Sonny was on that night, blowing one incredible riff after another, and never repeating himself. But the band as a whole was so poor that it took away a lot of the joy that Sonny earned.

On this album, Sonny is not on the way he was that night. However, the band is much better. None of the players is on a par with Sonny, but they are all competent.

Drummer Perry Wilson, percussionist Kimati Dinizulu and electric bassist Bob Cranshaw keep it swinging throughout, in an unobtrusive way.

Pianist Stephen Scott I'm ambivalent about. I think he does an excellent job comping, but all of his solos disappoint.

I like trombonist Clifton Anderson. His comping is fine, and his solos are good but not great.

I have listened to this album every day for the past week, and it still is as fresh as the first day. Every track is better than every track on Silver City.

The Boston Globe article posted by Tom in RI on another thread was helpful in explaining the origin of this recording. The fidelity isn't very good, but I can accept that.

I bought all of my Sonny Milestone CDs from BMG, and I expect that they will carry this album as well. I wouldn't say that this is an album to rush out for, but I would strongly recommend it once it shows up at YourMusic.com.

Considering how soon (four days) after 9/11 this was recorded, it is surprisingly fun music.

[GA Russell]

I've owned this one a month now, and I still play it almost every day.

I'm starting to like some of Stephen Scott's solos better too.

Any second thoughts from those who have it?

[JSngry]

Yeah - I'm thinking that Sonny was in good enough form that night that a little/lot of judicious editing of the sidemen's solos could have allowed us to hear all/most of the concert's material to greater effect. HEring Clifton Anderson and Steven Scott at lenght on every tune live, in the moment, is onething, but hearing it repeatedly at home on a record is something else, especially once you know what Sonny's got in store. But I doubt that such a process would've been approved by the man himself, which is as beautiful as it is frustrating...

Another thought, albeit a sobering one - I can't help but wonder, with if the death of his wife, if Sonny's not "closed a door" on one period of his life, one focused on privacy, personal matters, and such, and decided that this next period of his life is his "home stretch". I mean, the website, the open (in comparison to the past) interviews, the accquiesence to the release of a private recording, these are all things that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. I can't help but wonder if Sonny's not made his peace with Lucille's death (from all I can gather, they were very, very close, and she served as his "shield" in a lot of ways) and decided that hey, this is it, what's left is going to be it, so I might as well go out with a blaze.

It's not exactly a comfortable thought to think of Sonny Rollins dying someday, but at his age, it's something that is probably going to happen, all things considered, sooner than later. If that's the conclusion that he's reached as well, and if he's at peace with the notion, and if this is how he's decided to take it out, hey - I think that just seals the deal on him being a man who has looked at music and life and found a way to blend the two over the long haul in such a way that is ultimately as wise as it is unconventional.

[CJ Shearn]

IMO, Sonny has been one of those players that really transcends time, he still remains a force. Anyway, I don't think returning to the melody is a bad thing. It helps reconnect the song to the listener.