Sonny Rollins 80th birthday tour.

[Hardbopjazz]

Sonny Rollins turns 80 this year. He is about to embark on a world tour. Anyone planning on catching any of his concerts?

* April 6 Orchestra Hall, Detroit Michigan

* April 9 Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL

* April 18 Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

* May 10 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA

* May 13 Wheeler Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley, CA

* May 16 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

* May 19 Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts Jackson Hall, Davis, CA

* June 12 Discover Jazz Festival, Burlington, Vermont

* June 23 Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Winnipeg, Canada

* June 27 Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada

* July 11 North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

* July 16 Perugia Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy

* July 20 Molde Jazz Festival, Molde, Norway

* Oct 1 Kousei Nenkin Hall Sapporo Japan

* Oct 4 JCB Hall Tokyo

* Oct 7 Forum A Tokyo International Hall Tokyo

* Oct 9 NHK Hall Osaka

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

havent got tickets yet, but yea, totally....

[tranemonk]

I've got tickets for the Boston show!

[AllenLowe]

you know, when Benny Carter turned 80 everybody said "better run out and hear him before it's too late" - which I did, and then what does he do? Live another 15 years! I'm gonna wait for the 90th. Maybe by then Sonny'll fire that god-awful band.

Edited March 18, 2010 by AllenLowe

[Cliff Englewood]

Sonny Rollins turns 80 this year. He is about to embark on a world tour. Anyone planning on catching any of his concerts?

* April 6 Orchestra Hall, Detroit Michigan

* April 9 Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL

* April 18 Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

* May 10 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA

* May 13 Wheeler Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley, CA

* May 16 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

* May 19 Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts Jackson Hall, Davis, CA

* June 12 Discover Jazz Festival, Burlington, Vermont

* June 23 Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Winnipeg, Canada

* June 27 Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada

* July 11 North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

* July 16 Perugia Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy

* July 20 Molde Jazz Festival, Molde, Norway

* Oct 1 Kousei Nenkin Hall Sapporo Japan

* Oct 4 JCB Hall Tokyo

* Oct 7 Forum A Tokyo International Hall Tokyo

* Oct 9 NHK Hall Osaka

Strange that no one in the U.K./Ireland would try and bring him over for a gig or two. Is he very expensive?

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Rollins & Blumenthal were on the local radio yesterday humping tour / new book:

on point stream

[sheldonm]

you know, when Benny Carter turned 80 everybody said "better run out and hear him before it's too late" - which I did, and then what does he do? Live another 15 years! I'm gonna wait for the 90th. Maybe by then Sonny'll fire that god-awful band.

I'll ask Bobby this weekend if Sonny has any intentions of firing him anytime soon.

m~

[Hardbopjazz]

Sonny Rollins turns 80 this year. He is about to embark on a world tour. Anyone planning on catching any of his concerts?

* April 6 Orchestra Hall, Detroit Michigan

* April 9 Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL

* April 18 Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

* May 10 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA

* May 13 Wheeler Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley, CA

* May 16 Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

* May 19 Davis Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts Jackson Hall, Davis, CA

* June 12 Discover Jazz Festival, Burlington, Vermont

* June 23 Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Winnipeg, Canada

* June 27 Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, Canada

* July 11 North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

* July 16 Perugia Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy

* July 20 Molde Jazz Festival, Molde, Norway

* Oct 1 Kousei Nenkin Hall Sapporo Japan

* Oct 4 JCB Hall Tokyo

* Oct 7 Forum A Tokyo International Hall Tokyo

* Oct 9 NHK Hall Osaka

Strange that no one in the U.K./Ireland would try and bring him over for a gig or two. Is he very expensive?

Sonny played London at the end of last year.

[Chuck Nessa]

I'd love to see a battle with Von Freeman in Chicago.

[AllenLowe]

now THERE would be a group.

[Hardbopjazz]

I'd love to see a battle with Von Freeman in Chicago.

The last cutting match Sonny did was with Bradford Marsalis at Carnegie Hall May of 1989. They was chance for Bradford. Sonny blew him away. Bradford bragged to the NYC papers that he was now the best tenor player on the sense. After that show, Bradford wished he didn't. There were two articles in the New York Times about this. Bradford also mentions this on his website.

Article

Edited March 19, 2010 by Hardbopjazz

[Mark Stryker]

I'd love to see a battle with Von Freeman in Chicago.

The last cutting match Sonny did was with Bradford Marsalis at Carnegie Hall May of 1989. They was chance for Bradford. Sonny blew him away. Bradford bragged to the NYC papers that he was now the best tenor player on the sense. After that show, Bradford wished he didn't. There were two articles in the New York Times about this. Bradford also mentions this on his website.

Article

Branford never bragged that he was now the best tenor on the scene. On the contrary, his pre-concert comments to the Times were self-deprecating, reverential toward Sonny and prescient about the can of whup-ass that was about to be opened on him. Here's what he said to Jon Pareles before the concert:

"I learned some of his solos, like the ones on 'Saxophone Colossus.' All the other records were impossible: they were just too hard to learn. But I picked up 'Blue Seven,' 'Strode Rode,' 'Toot-Toot Tootsie,' and I still remember most of those solos. In fact, I played him 'Toot-Toot Tootsie' at rehearsal. You know, the first time I heard him live in a room, with the door closed behind me, the sound was like being run over by a train. You can hear Sonny Rollins a million times on record and know intellectually that he has a big sound, but that's not like hearing him and having the hair stand up on your head ...

"It's like going in the ring with Mike Tyson. But he knows a whole pile of stuff that I don't know, and as far as I know there's one surefire way of learning it, and that's to get bludgeoned by it. A lot of cats said, 'Man, I would never take that gig' -- but he didn't ask them. Just to stand there on a stage with him is an honor. And I figure, what's wrong with getting slaughtered by Sonny Rollins? There's going to be an incredible amount of knowledge passed on in that whipping. I'll pick myself up off the floor, and maybe I'll cry, because I do that sometimes after a tough gig. But then I'll internalize the stuff he played and be a better person for it. I'll be the lamb on that altar, because someday I'll be 60 and I'll be sacrificing some young kid, too. But pray for me."

Now, from the department of hazy memories, I do recall reading a review of the concert by Gary Giddins that I can't put my hands on at this moment in which he mentions that the program notes included a bio of Branford, written I think by his brother Delfeayo, in which a bunch of ridiculous claims were made on behalf of Branford. Again, my memory of the details could be off, but the inference was that if Sonny needed any extra-motivation, the program notes were -- as they say in the sports world -- bulletin board material.

Edited March 19, 2010 by Mark Stryker

[Hardbopjazz]

I'd love to see a battle with Von Freeman in Chicago.

The last cutting match Sonny did was with Bradford Marsalis at Carnegie Hall May of 1989. They was chance for Bradford. Sonny blew him away. Bradford bragged to the NYC papers that he was now the best tenor player on the sense. After that show, Bradford wished he didn't. There were two articles in the New York Times about this. Bradford also mentions this on his website.

Article

Branford never bragged that he was now the best tenor on the scene. On the contrary, his pre-concert comments to the Times were self-deprecating, reverential toward Sonny and prescient about the can of whup-ass that was about to be opened on him. Here's what he said to Jon Pareles before the concert:

"I learned some of his solos, like the ones on 'Saxophone Colossus.' All the other records were impossible: they were just too hard to learn. But I picked up 'Blue Seven,' 'Strode Rode,' 'Toot-Toot Tootsie,' and I still remember most of those solos. In fact, I played him 'Toot-Toot Tootsie' at rehearsal. You know, the first time I heard him live in a room, with the door closed behind me, the sound was like being run over by a train. You can hear Sonny Rollins a million times on record and know intellectually that he has a big sound, but that's not like hearing him and having the hair stand up on your head ...

"It's like going in the ring with Mike Tyson. But he knows a whole pile of stuff that I don't know, and as far as I know there's one surefire way of learning it, and that's to get bludgeoned by it. A lot of cats said, 'Man, I would never take that gig' -- but he didn't ask them. Just to stand there on a stage with him is an honor. And I figure, what's wrong with getting slaughtered by Sonny Rollins? There's going to be an incredible amount of knowledge passed on in that whipping. I'll pick myself up off the floor, and maybe I'll cry, because I do that sometimes after a tough gig. But then I'll internalize the stuff he played and be a better person for it. I'll be the lamb on that altar, because someday I'll be 60 and I'll be sacrificing some young kid, too. But pray for me."

Now, from the department of hazy memories, I do recall reading a review of the concert by Gary Giddins that I can't put my hands on at this moment in which he mentions that the program notes included a bio of Branford, written I think by his brother Delfeayo, in which a bunch of ridiculous claims were made on behalf of Branford. Again, my memory of the details could be off, but the inference was that if Sonny needed any extra-motivation, the program notes were -- as they say in the sports world -- bulletin board material.

Thanks for the correction. Anyway, Sonny did blow him away. I was there and do have a recording of this concert.

[ejp626]

Sonny Rollins turns 80 this year. He is about to embark on a world tour. Anyone planning on catching any of his concerts?

* April 9 Orchestra Hall, Chicago, IL

I have a ticket to this show but I'll have to miss it. I'll actually be out of the country, so I'll end up exchanging it for something else.

I've seen him before at Orchestra Hall and of course at Jazz Fest in Chicago. Still, I wish I could make the gig.

[Mark Stryker]

I'd love to see a battle with Von Freeman in Chicago.

The last cutting match Sonny did was with Bradford Marsalis at Carnegie Hall May of 1989. They was chance for Bradford. Sonny blew him away. Bradford bragged to the NYC papers that he was now the best tenor player on the sense. After that show, Bradford wished he didn't. There were two articles in the New York Times about this. Bradford also mentions this on his website.

Article

Branford never bragged that he was now the best tenor on the scene. On the contrary, his pre-concert comments to the Times were self-deprecating, reverential toward Sonny and prescient about the can of whup-ass that was about to be opened on him. Here's what he said to Jon Pareles before the concert:

"I learned some of his solos, like the ones on 'Saxophone Colossus.' All the other records were impossible: they were just too hard to learn. But I picked up 'Blue Seven,' 'Strode Rode,' 'Toot-Toot Tootsie,' and I still remember most of those solos. In fact, I played him 'Toot-Toot Tootsie' at rehearsal. You know, the first time I heard him live in a room, with the door closed behind me, the sound was like being run over by a train. You can hear Sonny Rollins a million times on record and know intellectually that he has a big sound, but that's not like hearing him and having the hair stand up on your head ...

"It's like going in the ring with Mike Tyson. But he knows a whole pile of stuff that I don't know, and as far as I know there's one surefire way of learning it, and that's to get bludgeoned by it. A lot of cats said, 'Man, I would never take that gig' -- but he didn't ask them. Just to stand there on a stage with him is an honor. And I figure, what's wrong with getting slaughtered by Sonny Rollins? There's going to be an incredible amount of knowledge passed on in that whipping. I'll pick myself up off the floor, and maybe I'll cry, because I do that sometimes after a tough gig. But then I'll internalize the stuff he played and be a better person for it. I'll be the lamb on that altar, because someday I'll be 60 and I'll be sacrificing some young kid, too. But pray for me."

Now, from the department of hazy memories, I do recall reading a review of the concert by Gary Giddins that I can't put my hands on at this moment in which he mentions that the program notes included a bio of Branford, written I think by his brother Delfeayo, in which a bunch of ridiculous claims were made on behalf of Branford. Again, my memory of the details could be off, but the inference was that if Sonny needed any extra-motivation, the program notes were -- as they say in the sports world -- bulletin board material.

Thanks for the correction. Anyway, Sonny did blow him away. I was there and do have a recording of this concert.

Just a coda to clean-up up the details: Having found that Giddins piece, I see that what he refers to was a pretentiously long 5-page Stagebill bio that, as Giddins writes, "included the astonishing claim that Marsalis 'is the first soloist [to his brother Delfeayo's 'knowledge'] whose contributions to music openly display the multifarious qualities of all major saxophonists in the jazz idiom, in addition to his own.' If Rollins happened to read that, he may have been doubly inspired."

Finally, the end of the review is interesting. Giddins concludes with two statements: "(1) Like all great black musicians, Rollins is not a member of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, unlike, say John Cage, and (2) like all great Sonny Rollins concerts, this one wasn't recorded."

Sonny still hasn't been elected to the National Academy, but Ornette Coleman was in 1997. The other black members in the music division are all classical composers and all were elected post 1989 -- Olly Wilson (1995), George Walker (1999), T.J. Anderson (2005).

As for No. 2, obviously somebody, probably several people, taped it. I thought I recall reading somewhere that this was a concert that Carl Smith has in his collection. Here's hoping Sonny approves the release sometime soon. By all accounts, this was one one of those miracle nights. How's the sound quality of your tape?

Edited March 20, 2010 by Mark Stryker