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Rollins Delivers High-Energy Set at UCLA
Sonny Rollins treats melody like magicians
treat coins. He bounces a refrain over long
fingers with the deftest sleight of hand.
Sometimes he flips it, sometimes he spins it,
but in the end he always spends it on a new
improvisation. On Sept. 22, the Saxophone
Colossus took the stage at UCLA’s Royce
Hall for the 10th stop on the Sonny Rollins
Quintet world tour. Rollins entered in style,
sporting white sunglasses to match his white
hair and beard.
The quintet exploded into their set with
“Patañjali,” named for an ancient guru who
compiled the Yoga Sutras in the second century
BCE. Rollins’ hard-bopping tenor sax
line was anything but tranquil as he danced in
and around a motif with superhuman speed.
It was wonderful to hear the turbulent energy
of “Oleo” and The Bridge reflected in this
current project. Rollins may be 81, but he’s
forgotten nothing.
He greeted the audience with a short list.
“Royce Hall, UCLA, California, U.S.A.,
Harlem, me!” Rollins was far more thorough
when introducing the band: bassist Bob
Cranshaw, with whom he’s played on and
off since recording The Bridge in 1962; New
York guitarist Peter Bernstein; young dummer
Kobie Watkins; and veteran percussionist
Sammy Figueroia, who was largely responsible
for the Latin infusion that characterized
even the set’s straight bop arrangements.
On the syncopated ballad “Serenade,”
Watkins and Figueroia drummed in disparate
time signatures, a tireless effort for both percussionists
that clearly demonstrated their
place in the quintet. Every solo held the complicated
time, from Cranshaw’s relaxed
arpeggiated walk to Bernstein’s succinct
voice leads. But the difficult rhythmic backdrop
was just another game for Rollins, who
riffed in time and in double time. The bossainspired
“Blue Gardenia” showcased Rollins’
astute sense of dynamics. When a crescendo
spreads out over a mile-a-minute line of
32nd notes that maintain a Brazilian groove,
the rising intensity lands in the form of goose
bumps, rather than a distinctly audible swell.
The quintet closed with Rollins’ new signature,
“Don’t Stop The Carnival.” Rollins
has earned the right to a little flash, and at
one point he dropped his right hand and blew
Sonny Rollins
a note that lasted over a minute. “We’ve tried,
folks,” he said. “That’s all you can do—try to
be the good guy, try to do right by people.
I’m tryin’, baby.” He may call it trying, but
Rollins succeeded admirably. —Zoe Young
Shalev Netanel