SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS FULL

But that wasn’t enough to suit Rollins, and beginning in 1959 he quit performing publicly for two years to study music theory and work on further perfecting his technique. Sonny Rollins borrowed elements from three saxophone heroes-the huge, slightly harsh tone of Coleman Hawkins, the lyricism of Lester Young, and the dazzlingly quick improvisational brilliance of Charlie “Bird” Parker-added his own quirky cerebralism and humor, and by the late 1950s was already considered by many the greatest tenor saxophonist in jazz history. Which explains why he has accomplished more than anyone else on his instrument. Three to five hours’ practice is in his case a concession to age he used to go more like eight or 12 hours a day, and says he would still if he had the stamina. Rollins is no ordinary elder statesman, however. Older masters generally practice less than the young guys, conserving their limited energy for the bandstand. Marsalis, mind you, is just a pinch more than half Rollins’s age. Tonight Show bandleader Branford Marsalis, one of today’s better young tenor players, admits he considers himself lucky to maintain an hour-a-day practice spurt for a month or two, after which he may skip a couple of months entirely.

SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS FULL

Three hours’ practice is a very full day for most jazz musicians between gigs. You might think it strange that Rollins, at age 63, would want to spend a minimum of three hours each afternoon playing his horn in his backyard studio in Germantown, New York. Jazz’s saxophone colossus has always preferred the solitude of the woodshed. The New York Times’s carping review of the former lauded Rollins’s improvisational genius even while bashing his electronic accompaniment, and Old Flames-six standards and an original blues on which Rollins is joined by pianist Tommy Flanagan and, on two tracks, a “brass choir” arranged and conducted by fellow saxophonist Jimmy Heath-is among his better recordings of recent years, selling steadily if not quite cracking Billboard’s jazz charts, and earning a mention in Village Voice jazz critic Gary Giddins’s year-end listing of 1993’s most memorable albums.īut Rollins rarely finds his own performances and record dates satisfying, no matter how much they please his audiences. November’s sold-out Carnegie Hall showdown with young trumpeter Terence Blanchard and the simultaneous release of the album Old Flames were nice as those things go, of course. It’s winter break time now, and Sonny Rollins is back home doing what makes him happiest: practicing the tenor saxophone. By Bill Beuttler (Written on assignment for GQ, fall 1993)

Saxophone colossus