Bell'articolo con intervista a Sonny Rollins, del critico Howard Reich sul Chicago Tribune con il quale il sassofonista parla della sua mirabile capacità di produrre, ancora oggi, interminabili ed esaltanti assolo, allo scoccare ormai imminente dei suoi 80 anni.
It's one of the greatest joys in jazz: a Sonny Rollins solo.
Standing stage center, the leonine saxophonist unleashes one magnificent chorus after another, the tension building, the volume level rising, the musical ideas springing forth with unstoppable force. And still Rollins continues to play, pushing himself, and his audience, ever more deeply into the art of improvisation.
"I don't know exactly why I do that, but I do know that it gives me an opportunity to get out my statement," says Rollins, who plays Friday night at Symphony Center. "I don't set out to play a long time — not in the least. …
"Onstage, I don't know how long I'm playing, really. In rehearsal, (bassist) Bob Cranshaw will say, ‘Sonny, you've been playing three hours already on that.'
"It's just who I am. … I'm sort of able to sustain the (listener's) interest, I guess, to a point."
That's an understatement. Rollins' epic solos engage audiences around the world, but not simply because of their sonic heft and heroic scale, nor simply because of Rollins' stature as a jazz icon. More important, when Rollins is in top form, the intellectual clarity of his improvisations is at least as impressive as his sheer stamina in delivering them. You never know which riff he'll choose to develop, which chord progression he'll pursue, which tunes he'll decide to quote. And neither does he, for the man appears to lose himself in the moment.....
Yet as his 80th birthday approaches, in September, Rollins realizes that he may not always be able to thunder as he does today.
"It's 11 o'clock for me in my career," says Rollins, who says he practices daily and clearly still tests himself onstage.
"I'm trying to reach a point where I feel like I have expressed myself to the utmost that I can, while I'm still able to play. What I see happening is that I'm not really changing — I'm sort of trying to get an amount of emotion out of everything I've done.
"I'm kind of reaching some kind of — climax might be a little too dramatic — but I'm trying to use everything I have learned, so that I can present an expression which I feel somewhat satisfied with.
"I'm sure if I'm happy with it, the audience will be happy with it."....
L'intervista integrale è a questo indirizzo.
It's one of the greatest joys in jazz: a Sonny Rollins solo.
Standing stage center, the leonine saxophonist unleashes one magnificent chorus after another, the tension building, the volume level rising, the musical ideas springing forth with unstoppable force. And still Rollins continues to play, pushing himself, and his audience, ever more deeply into the art of improvisation.
"I don't know exactly why I do that, but I do know that it gives me an opportunity to get out my statement," says Rollins, who plays Friday night at Symphony Center. "I don't set out to play a long time — not in the least. …
"Onstage, I don't know how long I'm playing, really. In rehearsal, (bassist) Bob Cranshaw will say, ‘Sonny, you've been playing three hours already on that.'
"It's just who I am. … I'm sort of able to sustain the (listener's) interest, I guess, to a point."
That's an understatement. Rollins' epic solos engage audiences around the world, but not simply because of their sonic heft and heroic scale, nor simply because of Rollins' stature as a jazz icon. More important, when Rollins is in top form, the intellectual clarity of his improvisations is at least as impressive as his sheer stamina in delivering them. You never know which riff he'll choose to develop, which chord progression he'll pursue, which tunes he'll decide to quote. And neither does he, for the man appears to lose himself in the moment.....
Yet as his 80th birthday approaches, in September, Rollins realizes that he may not always be able to thunder as he does today.
"It's 11 o'clock for me in my career," says Rollins, who says he practices daily and clearly still tests himself onstage.
"I'm trying to reach a point where I feel like I have expressed myself to the utmost that I can, while I'm still able to play. What I see happening is that I'm not really changing — I'm sort of trying to get an amount of emotion out of everything I've done.
"I'm kind of reaching some kind of — climax might be a little too dramatic — but I'm trying to use everything I have learned, so that I can present an expression which I feel somewhat satisfied with.
"I'm sure if I'm happy with it, the audience will be happy with it."....
L'intervista integrale è a questo indirizzo.
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