Monday, May 12th
timeless
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) with Sonny Rollins (1930-, tenor saxophone), “Who by Fire” (L. Cohen), live (TV show), 1989
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Illinois
music clip of the day
jazz/blues/rock/classical/gospel/more
Tag: Sonny Rollins
2021
Tuesday, February 9th
two takes
“Manhattan” (R. Rodgers, L. Hart)
Blossom Dearie (1924-2009, vocals, piano), 1959
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Sonny Rollins Trio (SR, tenor saxophone; Henry Grimes, bass; Charles Wright, drums), 1958
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
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reading table
How did you wriggle
your way
into my dream path
through such deep snow
on the night mountain?—Ryokan (1758-1831), translated from Japanese by Kazuaki Tanahashi
2020
Wednesday, April 22nd
passings
Henry Grimes, bassist, November 3, 1935–April 15, 2020
With Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone), Don Cherry (trumpet), Billy Higgins (drums), live, Rome, 1962
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With David Murray (tenor saxophone), Hamid Drake (drums, MCOTD Hall of Fame), live, Finland (Kerava), 2004
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With Kidd Jordan (tenor saxophone), live, New York, 2010
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago (Columbus Park)
2016
Wednesday, May 25th
Unfailing clarity, lyricism—how apt to hear him shortly after Mozart.
Sonny Rollins, live (“On Green Dolphin Street,” “St. Thomas,” “Four”), Denmark, 1968*
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lagniappe
reading table
dripping from the flower vendor’s
display
morning dew—Kobayashi Issa, 1763-1828 (translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
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*With Kenny Drew (piano), Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (bass), Albert “Tootie” Heath (drums).
2015
Wednesday, September 2nd
tenor fest
day three
Sonny Rollins Trio (with Henry Grimes, bass; Joe Harris, drums), “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (E. K. “Duke” Ellington), live, Sweden, 1959
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lagniappe
reading table
frogs sing, roosters sing
the east
turns light—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue
2013
Tuesday, July 2nd
This is, to these ears, just perfect.
Sonny Rollins Trio (SR, tenor saxophone; Henry Grimes, bass; Pete La Roca, drums), “Weaver of Dreams,” live, Netherlands (Laren), 1959
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lagniappe
random thoughts
What will the world be like without you?
2011
Monday, 10/10/11
Happy Birthday, Thelonious!
Thelonious Monk, composer, pianist, bandleader
October 10, 1917-February 17, 1982
Monk’s music—its exquisite mix of logic and lyricism—sometimes makes me think of Mozart.
“’Round Midnight” (AKA “’Round About Midnight”) (T. Monk)
Take 1: Bill Evans Trio (BE, piano; Eddie Gomez, bass; Marty Morrell, drums), live, Sweden, 1970
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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Take 2: Don Pullen (piano), rec. 1984 (Don Pullen Plays Monk)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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Take 3: Milt Jackson (vibes), live, Japan, 1990
Vodpod videos no longer available.
More Monk? Here. And here. And here. And here.
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
If it wasn’t for music, man, life wouldn’t be nothing—it’s all about music.
—Thelonious Monk
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Sonny Rollins talks about Monk:
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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radio
All Monk, all day: WKCR-FM (broadcasting from Columbia University).
2011
Thursday, 8/25/11
Does anyone have more fun than drummers?
Sonny Rollins/Don Cherry Quartet (SR, tenor saxophone; DC, trumpet; Henry Grimes, bass; Billy Higgins, drums), “52nd Street Theme” (T. Monk), live (TV broadcast), Rome, 1962
Vodpod videos no longer available.
More Sonny Rollins? Here. And here. And here. And here. And here.
More Don Cherry? Here. And here.
More Billy Higgins? Here.
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lagniappe
You know the drum was the first instrument besides the human voice.
2011
Monday, 6/20/11
Here’s another take on the blues.
Ben Webster Quartet (BW, tenor saxophone; Stan Tracey, piano; Rick Laird, bass; Jackie Dougan, drums), “Poutin’,” live
Vodpod videos no longer available.
More? Here. And here. And here.
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lagniappe
Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano, et al., talk about Ben Webster
Vodpod videos no longer available.
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You are sending out some great stuff at all times. . . . It’s always interesting, and the one you sent out today, Onmutu Mechanicks, was especially cool, since I hadn’t ever crossed their path.
2011
Saturday, 1/29/11
replay: clips too good for just one day
I’ve tried listening to his recordings while doing something else, but that hasn’t worked. Whatever else I was doing, I just put aside. If it was nighttime, I turned off the light. Some music occupies every available inch of space—there isn’t room for anything else.
Alfred Cortot: Frederic Chopin, “Farewell” (Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 69, No. 1 [excerpt]); Robert Schumann, “Der Dichter Spricht” (Op. 15, No. 13 in G major [excerpt])
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lagniappe
Cortot looked for the opium in music.
—Daniel Barenboim
(Originally posted 7/13/10.)
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If you want to stay right where you are, don’t even bother with this clip. But if, instead, you’d like to go somewhere you may never have been before, well, this might be just the ticket.
Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006), Three Etudes, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
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lagniappe
I listen to all kinds of music—new music, old music, music of my colleagues, everything.
—Gyorgy Ligeti (whose influences included not only the usual suspects [Chopin, Debussy, et al.] but also Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans and the Rainforest Pygmies and fractal geometry)
(Originally posted 10/6/09.)
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Want a break from music that’s busy, busy, busy, busy, busy?
Try this.
Here, it seems, almost nothing happens at all.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Intermission 6 (1953)/Clint Davis, piano, live, Lexington, Kentucky, 2009
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lagniappe
To almost everyone’s surprise but his own, he [Morton Feldman] turned out to be one of the major composers of the twentieth century, a sovereign artist who opened up vast, quiet, agonizingly beautiful worlds of sound . . . . In the noisiest century in history, Feldman chose to be glacially slow and snowily soft.—Alex Ross
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Earlier in my life there seemed to be unlimited possibilities, but my mind was closed. Now, years later and with an open mind, possibilities no longer interest me. I seem content to be continually rearranging the same furniture in the same room.—Morton Feldman
(Originally posted 11/7/09.)
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mail, etc.
Congratulations on your 500th post. I don’t know how you do it but I’m definitely looking forward to receiving your next 500 posts. Thanks for exposing me to so many great artists. Keep the music coming and thanks for what you do.
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Lovely [Gulda/Mozart clip].
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The Sonny Rollins clip was amazing and amazing doesn’t do it justice!
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Oh, my goodness—and in such distinguished company as well! Thank you so much, Richard.
All best,
David [Kirby]
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Richard McLeese checked in with some nice memories about Son Seals. Click here to enjoy them yourself, including a couple of great videos.
music clip of the day 