Contemplazione

By the way, there’s also Paul Bley on piano, in an atypical context for him. He did pretty well. How cool it is when the two tenors "mimic" each other, with Rollins trying to do Hawkins and Hawkins trying to do Rollins.

Greeeeat Muffin! Your first review...what a hit! "Yesterdays" is outstanding, with those whispers of Sonny. Super dynamic control. And "Summertime" is special too. "The Boss of modern tenor sax...the Father of jazz saxophone!

I heard Sonny play for almost two hours at Umbria Jazz this summer (I was in the second row, ha ha ha!). He’s a phenomenon, and it’s crazy to see him walk with that fragility yet at the same time be so fearsomely powerful on the instrument! "Without A Song" is beautiful.

Muff when I say that Sonny is now faithful to his way of playing, I mean that, like a mature Frank Sinatra, Sonny is perfectly aware of his abilities, his tastes, and now being an institution, he can relax and have fun being...SONNY ROLLINS. He no longer has to prove anything to anyone. Anyway, his way of playing, the tone on the instrument, the approach to rhythm, has never undergone upheavals like in the case of Coltrane and Davis, for example. The same can be said for Bill Evans, who is also "faithful" to his way of playing.

Beautiful cover, right? And what a title... "You Don't Know What Love Is," perhaps Rollins' masterpiece. This kind of pathos in ballads and certain deep notes would have been a dream for Coltrane, and the way he closes the piece is stunning.

Please don't get angry, you know I'm very picky and a pain in the ass when it comes to jazz... anyway, this is definitely the page of the day! Let's hope interesting comparisons come out.

Hi Uxo! By now it's a recurring theme; you always review albums that I LOVE, and just this makes me realize that we're close and that I’d love to get to know you in person... but every time you throw in considerations about jazz and about Coleman Hawkins in particular, which not only are irrelevant, but in my opinion, also incorrect and imprecise. I already mentioned this in your review of Monk’s solos; Coleman Hawkins is fundamentally a saxophonist of the swing era and style (the '30s, to be clear), even though he tried to keep up with the times! He has indirect connections to be-bop (the '40s) and the subsequent hard bop (the '50s), and he didn’t contribute to the formation of their lexicon. Saying "the hard bop of Coleman Hawkins" makes it sound like he invented it! Not at all... that's "stuff" from Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and the group of Sonny Rollins with Max Roach and Clifford Brown. Then to define Coltrane as CAREFREE and full of SENSE OF HUMOR... where? If anything, Sonny was in his calypsos (like in St. Thomas). Then you conclude by saying in simple words that after Coltrane's death, Sonny had no more motivation to renew himself... but in reality, he NEVER changed his style, not even when John was alive; he was never in competition with anyone. He didn't care then and he doesn't care now. The older he gets, the better he becomes at improvising, while remaining true to HIS way of playing and his repertoire. I'll tell you more... if he had died at 40 (in 1970, that is), he wouldn't be idolized as he is now, alive and well, enchanting every audience he plays for. Over the last forty years, he has become the Great Old Man, the last survivor, the standard-bearer, the beacon. The one who witnessed the birth of modern jazz as a teenager and saw it evolve and "die," having also established some of its rules, and he is here to tell us about it. NOW perhaps he is loved even MORE than Coltrane.

By the way, for me it’s a real mystery the WHY of such idolization! I mean, in my opinion, the sack of crap is totally devoid of charisma, of any form, even primordial, of charm... I hate idolization in general, but at least in some cases the WHY is understandable! Example: Jim Morrison. At least he was beautiful and damned, sexy, very charismatic, a "real" rebel, had a wonderful voice, dressed like a big shot, was an amazing stage animal, knew how to move, had a decent talent for writing (even though he wasn’t a poet either). Instead, the illiterate (great Marpado) is UGLY, FAT, HAS A HORRIBLE VOICE, CAN’T SING, CAN’T PLAY, ISN’T COOL AT ALL, DRESSES TERRIBLY, CAN’T SPEAK, HAS A LOOK OF A SCARED AND STUPID BOY... some (few) of his songs have a right to exist, but they don’t justify the inexplicable success that such a bland character enjoys. In short, Vaskko’s audience, whyyy do you do this???... whyyy do you make yourself a moolah?? (to quote another master, Marco, il Masino)

This insignificant, mumbling spokesperson of this trivial reality that so captivates the poor beast-dwarfs...POET??...NATIONAL MONUMENT??...ROCKER??...they dragged me to one of his concerts a few years ago; I had never felt so alone and sad! The last of my kind, the Contemplators...

Exactly, Muff... about sounds and rhythms, I found one that is 90% likely to be it, even though the subtitle is missing! I still have the habit of looking in stores first, and then online...