Receive Weekly Email and Text Message Updates:
Sign up for latest info on concerts, dining, promotions and more!
Go!

Related Stories ...

National Features >

  • Village Voice

    The Great Walls of Chinatown

    With the exception of the electric rice cookers, this Bowery tenement could have come straight from the Nineteenth Century.

    By Elizabeth Dwoskin

  • Houston Press

    Getting Off

    DUI attorney Tyler Flood wins 80 percent of his trials--even if his clients were 100 percent drunk.

    By Mike Giglio

  • City Pages

    The Baddest Men on the Planet

    Straight from the Sam's Club tire shop, Brett Rogers prepares to meet Fedor Emelianenko in mortal combat.

    By Bradley Campbell

Humble Genius

Share

  • rss

By Ernest Barteldes

Published on April 15, 2009 at 3:02am

One of the few survivors of the bebop era — which spawned the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Charlie Parker — Harlem-born saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins is among the most influential jazz performers of his generation. He is also his own worst critic. During two time periods (1959 to 1961 and 1966 to 1971), he completely withdrew from the music scene to work on his craft. In addition, there are precious few live recordings available, mostly because Rollins believes them to be below par.

Lucky for us, every once in a while Rollins allows some of these tunes to surface. This past December, he released Road Shows Vol. 1 (Emarcy), a collection of previously unreleased live cuts that includes gems such as "Tenor Madness" and “Some Enchanted Evening," the latter recorded during a 2007 Carnegie Hall concert with two musicians who are legendary figures in their own right — Christian McBride on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. expect to hear these and many other songs that have marked this living jazz legend's 50-year career.
Sat., April 18, 8 p.m., 2009