Here’s the good news; one of the greatest tenor sax players of all time is still alive. The bad news is that Sonny Rollins is probably never going to play in concert again near your home, so this series of “Road Shows” is going to have to suffice. If you’ve never seen him in concert, then you can’t appreciate what a tenor “sound” is like. I’d heard tons of his albums before seeing him perform in a club, and let me tell you, that live voluminous roar that came out of the bell of his horn was an epiphany. Since then, I’ve practiced my long tones much more consistently.
Culled from various concerts, these performances demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about. You have Rollins’ BIG sound with a arm span wide vibrato on ballads like “In A Sentimental Mood,” and he has no problem delivering “Sweet Leilani” with total schmaltz, a quality rarely attempted in these hipster days. There’s a bel canto aria with guitarist Saul Rubin during 2012 “Mixed Emotions” that makes you beg for more, while he can also make his Selmer deliver percussive staccato grooves as on “Keep Hold of Yourself” from 1996 and the celebrative “Don’t Stop the Carnival” from 2001 while he growls on the prowl on the fun “Disco Monk”
Hard bop heaven is penetrated as he sizzles on “HS” and he delivers more quotes than Bartlett’s on his aria during “Solo.” Yes, there is great accompaniment by the likes of Bob Cranshaw/b along with excellent solos by Bobby Broom/g and Clifton Anderson/tb, but what is going to remain with you is the palpable sound of a master that is carving out a masterpiece from slabs of marble with his tenor sax. Is he the best ever? He’s easily in the same breath as Hawkins, Young, Gordon, Getz and Coltrane, and there it ends. Is there anyone that is going to carry this mantle?