happy birthday sonny

[Dylan]

How did we get to be talking about pie and mash in a Sonny Rollins thread :?

 

[Bobby G]

The stall I am thinking of in particular is run by a middle-agedish couple, and is just down from where the road crosses in the middle of the market, towards said P&M shop. Of course there are others, like the shady-looking pair selling ragga, dance-hall etc. it may all have changed, I haven't been there for a couple of years.

If you're in my neck of the woods, David's Music in Letchworth is good. Today, for 4 quid, I got a McCoy Tyner compilation, and Roy Haynes 'Cymbalism' (those crazy jazz drummers and their album titles). I'd only gone in on the offchance of getting that Lou Donaldson. Oh well. There's also a stall in Stevenage indoor market that can throw up the odd goodun, too.

Cheers, Bob

 

[rhysonsax]

Some clips from YouTube of Sonny Rollins in action:

A bit of biography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oImECanKC0k

My One and Only Love live in Montreal 1982 - try to spot as many quotations from other songs as you can !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or8ow7lqXo4

Sonny in 1959 playing a beautiful ballad, just with bass and drums:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8NQPDsjLoc

In the early 60s with guitarist Jim Hall on "God Bless the Child":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXkoKkUzypg

Hope you enjoy some of them

Rhys

 

[Bobby G]

Several other saxophonists have recorded with bass and drums, and no piano. I don't know, somehow it really works for me, it makes a lot of space in the music.

There's a Coltrane album that has no piano on at least some tracks (the mundane reason being that the pianist was late for the session rather than it being the pursuit of high art), I think it's 'Lush Life', and didn't Ornette Coleman record in a piano-less group? Then there's the Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker quartet.

Not quite a piano-less group, but I love the way Monk stops playing for whole choruses at a stretch to allow the soloist to flow for a while. It always makes a real impact when he comes in again.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Dylan]

Lots of Sonny vids:
http://sonnyrollins.com/birthday.php

D

 

[rhysonsax]

Brilliant !

Rhys

 

[Bobby G]

What rhys said That's proper sax playing that is

 

[howell68]

Has anyone heard his solo album? Some of it may be a bit meandering but it's mostly pretty awesome all the same.

 

[Bobby G]

Solo, as in unaccompanied? I didn't know there was such an album. I have a compilation with one or two unaccompanied tunes which make for a contrast, but I don't think I could manage a whole album's-worth. Even a whole album of solo piano is more than I want in one go, and you get harmony with that. I think it's the lack of interplay that I miss.

At least with Sonny you're getting an acknowledged master with an apparently limitless stream of ideas.

Cheers, Bob

 

[mfox]

bob.. i did a gig last year where the pianist failed to arrive( he was in a hold up on motorway after a big smash) so gig was performed by double bass, drums, 2 saxes and a trombone..it was great.. we did loads of cool tunes ..doxy..Afro blue..blue 7..night in Tunisia.. all sounded good with out the piano.. the horns worked hard to produce the chords..

i love sonny's monologue of body and soul

 

[Bobby G]

There's a live Mingus album with no piano (apart from Mingus himself playing odd random 'note clusters' occasionally) which works really well, there's plenty of space for the horns, and the bass comes through very well.

Also, the 'Out to Lunch'* album uses vibes instead of piano, which makes for more space in the music.

Cheers, Bob

* It's by Eric Dolphy, or Ornette Coleman. I always get these two mixed up. Why is that, I wonder?

 

[visionari1]

Yep Happy birthday Sonny Rollins, & thanks for those Youtube links above, do you know he is also very much into yoga apparently practicing daily and its spiritual benefits.