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57SonnyRollinsJazz Artist of the YearJazz Album of the YearThe Colossus has seized the day, onceagain. Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins,who was featured prominently in lastmonth’s 75th Anniversary issue, has beennamed our Jazz Artist of the Year. To top it off,his CD Road Shows, Vol. 1 (Doxy/EmArcy),which earned a 5-star review by Shaun Brady inDownBeat’s February 2009 issue, takes top honorsas Jazz Album of the Year. We asked threeof our critics to weigh in with their takes onwhat makes the man and his latest recordedrelease so appealing.JOS KNAEPENJazz Artist129 Sonny Rollins83 Joe Lovano51 Chick Corea49 Ornette Coleman44 Wayne Shorter38 Bill Frisell37 Hank Jones32 BranfordMarsalis28 Charles Lloyd25 Keith Jarrett25 Wynton Marsalis20 Anthony Braxton20 Herbie HancockJazz Album76 Sonny Rollins, Road Shows,Vol. 1 (Doxy/Emarcy)44 Joe Lovano, Symphonica (Blue Note)42 Charles Lloyd Quartet, Rabo De Nube (ECM)40 Jim Hall/Bill Frisell, Hemispheres (ArtistShare)29 Rudresh Mahanthappa, Kinsmen (Pi)21 Donny McCaslin, Recommended Tools (Greenleaf Music)21 Jeff “Tain” Watts, Watts (Dark Key)17 Kurt Rosenwinkel, The Remedy (ArtistShare)16 Atomic, Retrograde (Jazzland)16 E.S.T., Leucocyte (Emarcy)16 Dave Holland Sextet, Pass It On (Dare2)15 Roy Hargrove Quintet, Earfood (Emarcy)15 Joshua Redman, Compass (Nonesuch)15 Bobo Stenson Trio, Cantando (ECM)When questions about the vitality, relevanceand enjoyment value of jazz today areraised, Sonny Rollins stands as our music’sirrefutable answer. He walks onstage slower andstiffer than in his youth, back slightly bent, butwhen he blows the tenor saxophone clenchedbetween his lips, cleaving the air with the hornthat is his lifeline to the world, he straightens,swells and looms, huge, a master of gritty beautyand earthy truth.Truth and beauty, real because never predictable,suffuse Road Shows, Vol. 1, Rollins’selected highlights from 27 years of performancesworldwide. Genuinely modest, famouslyself-critical, he makes no promises about hisshows except that he’ll try his best, but his everyphrase seems driven by purpose. He intends toconvey his personal experience, through sound,into meaning all listeners can share. He doesn’ttalk much about this, dictates no particulars,boasts no grand theories, yet he is among thefew who can really do it. In a successful concert,Rollins sweeps the audience up so we recognizehis aspirations, realize his crises and are struck30 DOWNBEAT August 2009
y his revelations. He plays for us and we’reconvinced that what he plays is what we, also,feel and would play if only we could.With his passionate lyricism, expressiveimmediacy, warmth and humor, personalintegrity and position of honor within the maincourse of jazz history, Sonny Rollins remains atage 79 more than a hero. He is in 2009 just whata record album called him in 1956: a colossus.Not a cold one, though. His music overflowswith the heart and soul of a man.—Howard MandelIn light of the new (read: historical) FreddieHubbard album Without A Song: Live InEurope 1969, resurrected from the Blue Notevaults posthumously, Sonny Rollins’ decisionto cull through his audio archives now to compilelast year’s Road Shows, Vol. 1 is indeedwelcome. Equally important is that he’s callingthe shots, agreeing to document what he deemsare his best performances and having the freedomto release multiple volumes on his ownDoxy label—all of which will become morefodder for the Sonny canon. These days ifRollins were attached to any record company—majoror indie—it’s highly unlikely thathe would have such creative license to releasethis new live material, which his fans havebeen craving.What’s remarkable about Road Shows, Vol. 1is the degree to which Rollins sustains his tenorsaxophone solos, a rarity for improvisers. He’sarguably the only saxophonist alive who cannever take too many choruses. He never rollswith the flow or engages in egotistic acrobatics.He gusts, he hushes, he swings. He’s an extemporaneouspainter splashing color, a poet whochooses notes carefully, a choreographer whodances to the beat of his own phrases. In hisplaying, there is a searching ebullience,awestruck mystery, in-the-moment creativity.My favorite moment comes when the bandstops and lets Rollins sing alone at the end of theballad “More Than You Know.” It’s heavenly.—Dan OuelletteWhen one considers the element of jazzgreatness that’s so intriguing for listenersand players alike, the feeling of joyous collectivefreedom comes most clearly to mind. It isthe elation of that “sound of surprise” whenone hears something that lifts him/her to anotherplace. It’s a zone that fans of tenor titanSonny Rollins know well.Rollins has made it clear for much of his 60-year career that he feels no need to be fashionablein his musical choices. The performanceson Road Shows, Vol. 1, taped at seven venuesacross the globe circa 1980–2007, have little todo with his classic Blue Note and Prestigerecordings, yet they show a musician honoringthe past with continuing growth and change,much as the world around him shifts andmoves onward.We’re told that Rollins seldom feels that hisconcert recordings are worthy of release, yetthe spirit embodied in his playing comes to thefore in his discovery of new vistas such asthose heard here on the opening “Best Wishes”and “Blossom,” where he tears into the musicwith sweeping authority and abandon. Thereare moments of indecision on “More ThanYou Know,” while “Easy Living” is nonpareil.“Tenor Madness” works in small ways, andthe calypso “Nice Lady” ably covers one ofRollins’ favorite genres. The closing “SomeEnchanted Evening” is a slight disappointment,with Rollins merely skirting the melodyrepeatedly.The sidemen play minor roles, but noteworthyare the contributions of drummer Al Foster,pianist Mark Soskin and trombonist CliftonAnderson.Although this album is short of masterpiecestatus, it is a most worthy documentation.—Will SmithAugust 2009 DOWNBEAT 31
Page 1: DOWNBEAT 57TH ANNUAL CRITICS POLL C
Page 6: DB InsideDepartments8 First Take10
Page 10: Chords & DiscordsNationwide Grassro
Page 14 and 15: RiffsColleagues Pay MusicalRespects
Page 16 and 17: EUROPEAN SCENEBy Peter MargasakJazz
Page 19 and 20: Backstage With …By Ken MicallefAs
Page 21 and 22: ing intricate compositions and free
Page 23 and 24: Shaynee Rainbolt ; Golden Age Visit
Page 25 and 26: eturned to Chicago, which is his ho
Page 27 and 28: Acoustic Bass216 Christian McBride1
Page 29: the two—to play with a serious cl
Page 33 and 34: Hall of FameLegends in jazz, blues
Page 35 and 36: Tadd DameronBorn Tadley Ewing Peake
Page 38: 57ShemekiaCopelandRising Star Blues
Page 41 and 42: Note and gathered a lot of the guys
Page 43 and 44: 50 John Surman34 Claire Daly32 Mats
Page 45: 22 Jim McNeely21 Bob Brookmeyer21 W
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Page 50 and 51: Joe Lovano Us FiveFolk ArtBLUE NOTE
Page 52 and 53: JAZZby James HaleSaxAggressionJerom
Page 54 and 55: BLUESby Frank-John HadleyChicago St
Page 56 and 57: Allen ToussaintThe Bright Mississip
Page 58 and 59: BEYONDby Dan OuelletteTop ofthe New
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Page 62 and 63: ToolshedAbleton Live 8 Suite: Serio
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