110 pointsby boarsofcanada9 hours ago5 comments
  • dataviz10007 hours ago
    I saw Sonny Rollins at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1997. I bought a single ticket from a classified ad. The group who sold it were about 10 or 12 people who have been attending together for 30 years — the type of people you would want to be sitting with there.

    Diana Krall opened and by open I mean she was the first of 4 acts and had a free concert a couple days before at a coffee shop down the street — practically unknown.

    Sonny Rollins headlined and for the encore he played La Cucaracha. After about 20 minutes of La Cucaracha the pianist was signaling to the sound engineer to cut the sound. 5 minutes later the band one by one started to put down their instruments walking off the stage. Sonny Rollins kept belting La Cucaracha from his saxophone probably for another half hour or more after that. Life is good.

  • bag_boy7 hours ago
    My favorite Sony Rollins story: he heard ‘Waiting on a Friend’ in a grocery store.

    He thought to himself, “finally, a Rolling Stones song that I like.”

    Then he remembered he was the saxophone player on the song…

  • davio8 hours ago
    We saw him live in Kansas City in 1998. He soloed for 36 choruses on St. Thomas. Gave the people what they came to see. Amazing to have so many ideas flow effortlessly.
  • npunt7 hours ago
    Comes just a few days after the death of Dick Parry, Pink Floyd's saxophonist.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Parry

  • rtsil8 hours ago
    He was the last of the legends.
    • boarsofcanada8 hours ago
      Definitely on sax.

      On bass we still have Ron Carter, age 89, still touring.

      • BashiBazouk5 hours ago
        Just came from my kid's school district jazz fest. One of the band instructors mentioned Sonny Rollins had passed and he was the last jazz legend alive that appeared in the A Great Day in Harlem photo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Great_Day_in_Harlem Maybe what they were referring to...
      • bananaboy7 hours ago
        Sonny Rollins was probably the last great player from the bebop age though who was there at its birth, and probably the last master who played with Charlie Parker too!

        Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock are still going strong of course, and still brilliant. George Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland are all still playing to pick some other names at random.

        • dhosek5 hours ago
          I have to admit, I was a little surprised to discover that Rollins was still alive. You tend to assume that giants like him are all in the distant past, not still walking the earth.
          • bananaboy5 hours ago
            Yeah I know what you mean! I’m so thankful we can still go see Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock.
        • boarsofcanada7 hours ago
          Jack DeJohnette died in October.
          • bananaboy5 hours ago
            Oh crap I completely missed that! Boo!
    • dyauspitr3 hours ago
      Yep. Who in the current milieu (specifically in music) has a chance of becoming a legend? I can’t really think of anyone.
      • bananaboy2 hours ago
        Depending on your definition, in jazz, I would say there are a few who might become/already are legends: Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Pat Metheny, John Scofield. Maybe also John Patitucci, Dave Weckl, Bill Charlap, Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Kenny Garrett, Kenny Barron, Bill Frisell. I tried to pick the bigger names who do a lot more touring internationally and who I think already have some wider visibility, rather than some of the (perhaps) lesser known players like Mike LeDonne, Chris Potter, Eric Alexander, Sam Yahel, Andy Gravish, David Hazeltine (who are all still phenomenal of course). I think Wynton and Branford, Mehldau, and McBride all have pretty visible profiles.
        • anentropica minute ago
          Scofield and Frisell are both legends to me, both getting on in years by now though...

          Julian Lage picking up the torch