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A First Time Jazz Jam?

As reported in the Jambands.com blog, Saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins celebrated his 80th birthday on Friday night in New York City at the Beacon Theatre. The show saw Rollins perform with a variety of ensembles including a trio with fellow octogenarian Roy Haynes and bassist Christian McBride. For much of the night, the tenor sax icon performed with an ensemble that included Bob Cranshaw (bass), Russell Malone (guitar), Kobie Watkins (drums) and Sammy Figueroa (percussion). Guitarist Jim Hall (a “kid” at 79) stepped out for “In a Sentimental Mood” and “If Ever I Would Leave You.” Roy Hargrove added trumpet off and on throughout the evening, while all these players converged on stage for the encore, a version of Rollins’ best known composition, “St. Thomas.”

Still, for many in attendance the highlight came a bit earlier when Ornette Coleman, who also celebrated his 80th birthday this year, joined Rollins on stage for their first public performance together in recent memory. As Nate Chinen wrote in The New York Times, “Given that no one can seem to recall a public collaboration by Mr. Rollins and Mr. Coleman — mutual admirers and reciprocal influences — this was worth the wait.”

Comments

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Carolina May 5, 2012, 23:33:34

I’ve seen a few from waaaaaay back (when he had his long wavy locks) that had him in a shirt with a dgeisn on the front. One was even (gasp) yellow. There are pictures out there of him in a blue and white pinstripe dress shirt and in the tux he wore to the Grammys when he won for Get in the Van along with the notorious mesh shirt from the Black Flag days. The thing about bright colored shirts, non-cotton shirts or shirts with decals/designs is that they fade and/or have specific washing and drying requirements to keep them from looking like ass after 2-3 wash and wears. I think as he ages and moves his focus to his spoken word, writing and documentaries/humanitarian work he’s trying to be very wash and wear with ZERO thought required in getting dressed because everything looks similar and matches everything else. Being the owner of about 20 plain cotton tees in various shades of black, grey and navy blue you can wash them with jeans and dark cotton pants (like Dockers) and dry them all on the same setting. Also, ironing, if everything is packed or hung right, is not necessary and if you roll-pack everything tight, you can fit a week’s worth of clothes in one backpack.Washed, packed and out the door sure sounds like our boy, doesn’t it?