king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 Saw him live yesterday, in a huge (but beautiful, built by Jean Nouvel) concert hall. He had with him Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, Clifton Anderson on trombone, as well as a drummer and a percussionist whose names I can't remember - not Perry Wilson, though. The concert was quite good, all in all. After the first set (started with "Change Partners", then a beautiful ballad/soul tune in 3/4 or 6/8, after that some blues, and "Don't Stop The Carnival") I was rather deceived, Carnival was lacking coherence, the percussion man kept banging around and getting in the way, and Cranshaw and the drummer were strictly in an accompanying role (the solos Cranshaw took, one per set, were frankly boring). However, the second set got much better, some new (or relatively new) tunes (as was the blues in the first set, I think), then another calypso, another beautiful and soulful ballad, a great medium up tune with Sonny as the only soloist, a very good musical dialogue with the percussionist (his presence finally making sense), and to close the set, "Tenor Madness", which really really went freaking wild! After a standing ovation, he came back to play a great take of "St. Thomas", by far the best of his three calypsos, and one of the highlights of the whole concert. All in all, it was quite good, his sound his time, his whole mastery of the horn still impeccable and complete. Awesome what he's able to do with his horn! However - even though I want to praise Anderson, mainly for his beautiful soft sound, a bit less for his ideas, which did not always convince me - I'd wish he'd play in a setting a bit more challenging, picking a band that is on par with him. However, for that, I think, we do have to stick with his great recordings for Prestige, Blue Note, RCA... ubu Quote
Guest ariceffron Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 CHANGE PARTNERS, THE STEPHEN STILLS BALLAD??? OR ANOTHER SONG? Quote
king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Author Report Posted May 3, 2004 CHANGE PARTNERS, THE STEPHEN STILLS BALLAD??? OR ANOTHER SONG? The standard by Irving Berlin - Sonny seems to play this quite often. ubu Quote
EKE BBB Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 Thanks for that review, ubu! Do you know if he will come to Spain? I don´t. Quote
king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Author Report Posted May 3, 2004 Thanks for that review, ubu! Do you know if he will come to Spain? I don´t. I did not find any information on the www. However, do find out fast, it will be sold out, I guess! That concert was the only one he gave in switzerland. He seems to give around 20 concerts a year, only. ubu Quote
king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Author Report Posted May 3, 2004 EKE, I found this: 05/04/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Centre for Fine Arts Brussels BELGIUM 05/06/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Met Concertgebouw Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS 05/08/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Congress Hall - Warszawa POLAND 05/12/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Olympia Paris FRANCE 06/18/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Masonic Auditorium San Francisco CA 07/17/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Pinede Gould Antibes, Juan Les Pins FRANCE 08/10/2004 SONNY ROLLINS Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors Festival New York NY 10/22/2004 AN EVENING WITH SONNY ROLLINS Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Philadelphia PA 03/16/2005 SONNY ROLLINS Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles CA 04/22/2005 SONNY ROLLINS Orchestra Hall Chicago IL 05/07/2005 SONNY ROLLINS Lehigh University Bethlehem PA 05/21/2005 SONNY ROLLINS Tilles Center for the Performing Arts Brookville NY (source: http://www.tedkurland.com/pbuild/tourdates.cfm?view=SRO) Not in Spain, I'm afraid... ubu Quote
EKE BBB Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 Thanks for the research. Will I have any opportunity to see Rollins live? I´m afraid I won´t. Quote
king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Author Report Posted May 3, 2004 Thanks for the research. Will I have any opportunity to see Rollins live? I´m afraid I won´t. Take a week off, go to Paris on the 12th Sorry! But he seems to be in good shape, physically! The sound is still very much there, and to play with such a sound needs pretty much strenght and a good condition! ubu Quote
Claude Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 (edited) Here's ticketing info on the concerts in Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris. I won't be able to go. http://www.bozar.be/FR/search_detail.asp?id=2854 http://www.northseajazz.nl/nsj303.html http://www.ticketnet.fr/shop/fr/manif.asp?...0&idtier=142889 Edited May 3, 2004 by Claude Quote
EKE BBB Posted May 3, 2004 Report Posted May 3, 2004 Would you mind asking my boss to give me an additional week off to go and see Rollins in Paris? Just for this jazz freak´s sake... or just for the sake of it! Quote
king ubu Posted May 3, 2004 Author Report Posted May 3, 2004 Would you mind asking my boss to give me an additional week off to go and see Rollins in Paris? Just for this jazz freak´s sake... or just for the sake of it! No problem, give me his email-address... Should I sign as "King Ubu"? Maybe then he'd be frightened? And If I include a large version of my avatar, I see no problems! ubu Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.