Sonny Rollins Brass
Passing of a legend.
Sonny Rollins Brass / Trio is in my top 20 jazz albums of all time. It is at once immediately approachable, masterfully recorded and continually rewarding over time. I don’t spend a lot of time badmouthing contemporary music mostly because I have every favorite at hand. If I were to make one broad criticism it’s basically this: horns cannot be faked and hornless music is one of the reasons contemporary music is boring beyond belief.
Horns Have All The Emotion
Once upon a time, there was a saxophone player by the name of Eric Leeds. He was one of the satellites of the Purple One and recorded on his Family and Madhouse projects. Leeds’ flowing melody on the song Suzanna’s Pajamas was one of the last great funky songs of the era of Funk.
Hiphop’s turntablism never made up for the emotional range of the horn section and rock hadn’t picked up much slack. As much as l enjoy the occasional pop or rock hit, the lack of horns always leaves them lacking. But you never quite know how uplifting and punchy music can be as you do when hearing Sonny blow.
Who would dare say that love is a simple thing? One who has bright brass behind them. The confident phrasing is so rare in the cool poses of today’s love music. Is it sophisticated? Sure, but there’s something about the clarion call of bold brass, especially played without somebody padding chords in the background. And listen to that baritone. Do you ever hear tubas outside of marching bands and New Orleans? Hardly ever. So this album is what Rollins is all about as far as I’m concerned. Endlessly inventive against simple tunes that just work.
Rollins
I got a chance to hear Sonny Rollins perform live at The Palace in Hollywood some time between 89 and 91. He was introduced as the man who totally reinvented himself, who had forgotten more music than most people ever learn. What’s strange is that like Bobby McFerrin, so many people only know Rollins for one song “St. Thomas Way”. It’s hardly worth all of the acclaim. I never found that to be such a compelling tune; the thing to hear is Rollins’ interpretation of standards.
The reinterpretation of standards seems to be lost to genres outside of gospel, jazz and classic orchestral music. Sure lots of people love Yacht Rock and cover bands, but fess up, you really want to hear More Than A Feeling exactly the same way every time. Only Sting can get away with doing his old stuff a new way. I say that admitting that I didn’t catch much of MTV Unplugged, and yeah Under The Bridge has been done lots of ways. Of course the great exception for me has been the work of The Bad Plus. Is that Jazz Rocked, or Rock Jazzed? Hard to say.
To have a taste of Rollins is to hear him roll through those simple accompaniments. His Solitude on the Way Out West album is a perfect example as is the title track. One of the better recordings is What a Difference a Day Made on Sonny Rollins Plus 3 cut back in 1996 with stellar clarity, and plenty of his signature voice-cracked bass notes on the sax.
My favorite song in the world (for the past three years) is Pannonica. Rollins performs with Clark Terry on Monk’s Brilliant Corners album. Just magical.
I suspect I’ll be digging around my Roon catalog via Qobuz for a few weeks after the news of his passing. My second favorite album of his is Sonny Rollins Plus 4., but I’m listening now to Moritat on Saxophone Colossus, an album I never really paid attention to, and I’ve got to say it has to be the definitive cut of that song.
Do enjoy. We have a new saint.