Sonny Rollins Suggestions for Practicing and Getting Better

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  • čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
  • Bret’s 10 Favorite Sonny Rollins Recordings
    Saxophone Colossus
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    Way Out West
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    The Bridge
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    A Night at the Village Vanguard
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    Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins
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    Tenor Madness
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    Freedom Suite
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    Don’t Stop the Carnival
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    The Sound of Sonny
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    Sonny Rollins Omnibook
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    Sonny Rolins Transcriptions
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    Sonny Rollins will go down in history as not only the single most enduring tenor saxophonist of the bebop and hard bop era, but also as one of the greatest contemporary jazz saxophonists of them all. His fluid and harmonically innovative ideas, effortless manner, and easily identifiable and accessible sound have influenced generations of performers, but have also fueled the notion that mainstream jazz music can be widely enjoyed, recognized, and proliferated. Born Theodore Walter Rollins in New York City on September 7, 1930, he had an older brother who played violin. At age nine he took up piano lessons but discontinued them, took up the alto saxophone in high school, and switched to tenor after high school, doing local engagements. In 1948 he recorded with vocalist Babs Gonzales, then Bud Powell and Fats Navarro, and his first composition, "Audubon," was recorded by J.J. Johnson. Soon thereafter, Rollins made the rounds quickly with groups led by Tadd Dameron, Chicago drummer Ike Day, and Miles Davis in 1951, followed by his own recordings with Kenny Drew, Kenny Dorham, and Thelonious Monk.
    In 1956 Rollins made his biggest move, joining the famous ensemble of Max Roach and Clifford Brown, then formed his own legendary pianoless trio with bassist Wilbur Ware or Donald Bailey and drummer Elvin Jones or Pete La Roca in 1957, doing recorded sessions at the Village Vanguard. Awards came from DownBeat and Playboy magazines, and recordings were done mainly for the Prestige and Riverside labels, but also for Verve, Blue Note, Columbia, and Contemporary Records, all coinciding with the steadily rising star of Rollins. Pivotal albums such as Tenor Madness (with John Jazz Video Guy Recommends
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    John Coltrane - His Life and Music
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    Michael Brecker - Ode to a Tenor Titan
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    Saxophone Colossus - The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins
    amzn.to/3CDQ5JK), Saxophone Colossus (with longstanding partner Tommy Flanagan), and Way Out West (with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne), and collaborations with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Clark Terry, and Sonny Clark firmly established Rollins as a bona fide superstar. He also acquired the nickname "Newk" for his facial resemblance to Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe.
    But between 1959 and 1961 he sought a less superficial, more spiritual path to the rat race society of the times, visiting Japan and India, studying yoga and Zen. He left the music business until 1962, when he returned with the groundbreaking and in many ways revolutionary recording The Bridge with guitarist Jim Hall for the RCA Victor/Bluebird label. Rollins struck up a working relationship with trumpeter Don Cherry; did a handful of innovative LPs for the RCA Victor, MGM/Metro Jazz, and Impulse! labels; did one record with his hero Coleman Hawkins; and left the scene again in 1968. By 1971 he came back with a renewed sense of vigor and pride, and put out a string of successful records for the Milestone label that bridged the gap between the contemporary and fusion jazz of the time, the most memorable being his live date from the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival, The Cutting Edge. Merging jazz with calypso, light funk, and post-bop, the career of Rollins not only was revived, but thrived from then onward. He was a member of the touring Milestone Jazz Stars in 1978 with McCoy Tyner and Ron Carter, and gained momentum as a touring headliner and festival showstopper.

Komentáře • 33

  • @Pellow
    @Pellow Před 6 lety +28

    Great little lick at 0:00 to 0:01

  • @michaelthompson6452
    @michaelthompson6452 Před 6 lety +23

    Sonny is one of the last giants of his generation . He's still passing on wisdom. All praises to the most high in him.

  • @mahamudra8150
    @mahamudra8150 Před 6 lety +19

    "play one note like that is the only note your instrument has.....because in essence that is true." I once read a quote by Roy Buchanan where he said "it may sound absurd but I have a feeling all notes are contained in one." It is all one thing and Sonny is a zen master and a yogi with an understanding of Non-duality. Follow the breadcrumbs left by the masters.

    • @JazzVideoGuy
      @JazzVideoGuy  Před 6 lety +1

      Thanks for sharing this!

    • @johnsontrimble7881
      @johnsontrimble7881 Před 4 lety

      Look into the Lambdoma. Every possible note comes out of the lambdoma, with octaves in a straight line. Every line leads to 0/0, something that is impossible in this world. Yet, it stems everything

  • @DYNODRUM
    @DYNODRUM Před 7 lety +6

    Every note , word , Thought . Can Listen to Sonny endlessly . What a Great Treasure..

  • @Dang...
    @Dang... Před 2 lety +1

    Sonny Rollins = one of the most important musicians ever. Thanks for posting.

  • @jonathaneffemey944
    @jonathaneffemey944 Před rokem +1

    Thanks so much for posting.

  • @tdrum21
    @tdrum21 Před 8 lety +4

    The basics. One note. Everything about it! Well said Sonny!

  • @tdrum21
    @tdrum21 Před 8 lety +6

    Limitations---a great practice tool!

  • @mariosts
    @mariosts Před 4 lety

    Pure gold. Thanks Sonny!

  • @golds04
    @golds04 Před 3 lety +2

    Who in their right mind would ask Newk a question- and say “ nah, I don’t like doing that”. Geez. And imo Sonny not only was profoundly influenced by Prez- to my ears his speaking cadence also almost sounds like prez.

  • @harryjoseph1802
    @harryjoseph1802 Před 5 lety

    'Outstanding to a man' that's what the great J.C. said of him!

  • @stevedd50
    @stevedd50 Před 4 lety

    wonderful

  • @405Lenny
    @405Lenny Před 3 lety

    Great advice!

  • @petecornell2605
    @petecornell2605 Před 5 lety

    Sonny!

  • @dimitryrusu4022
    @dimitryrusu4022 Před 8 lety +2

    i am not native english, and unfortunately i can't understand clearly this all. but i'm quite interested...if someone will write here what did he talk it would have been incredible))

    • @aboveaveragebayleaf9216
      @aboveaveragebayleaf9216 Před 7 lety +2

      I think what he is trying to say is to practice playing one long tone, and learn to make it musical. If you can make the single note musical, then you can apply the musicality to more complex phrases.

    • @aboveaveragebayleaf9216
      @aboveaveragebayleaf9216 Před 7 lety +1

      And he says to appreciate every note, or sound because each one has a meaning. If it doesn't have a meaning, make it have meaning.

    • @dimitryrusu4022
      @dimitryrusu4022 Před 7 lety

      Clayton Kwater thanks, you really helped me))

  • @bobdownes162
    @bobdownes162 Před 6 lety +2

    Sonny hit it on the nail !
    I've never played scales or arpeggio ( with the exception to having played Bach and Mozart, which is pretty close to them)
    Too many guys endeavour to be fast and 'clever' on their instruments. Macho shit !
    Incidentally I've had a sucessful career - mostly due I think to having a wild imagination concerning Composition and Improvisation. My path in life was due to taking up Tenor on hearing Sonny on an EP playing Oleo, when I was 19 years of age.
    ( www.bobdownes music.de )

    • @bobdownes162
      @bobdownes162 Před 6 lety

      Goofed my web site link (that 's what comes sometimes of being 80 years of age I guess)
      www.bobdownesmusic.de

    • @JazzVideoGuy
      @JazzVideoGuy  Před 6 lety +1

      Go Bob go.

    • @terryheywood6452
      @terryheywood6452 Před 4 lety

      Bob Downes :

    • @leobrahmachari6611
      @leobrahmachari6611 Před 3 lety

      That’s great and I mean that.
      But lest people get the wrong idea.. scales and arpeggios are a powerful powerful tool for your growth as a musician. As long as you aren’t playing mindlessly/compulsively, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by practicing your instrument.

    • @tinadownes3413
      @tinadownes3413 Před 3 lety

      @@leobrahmachari6611 You may wish to check out some of my flute/sax playing on Y/Tube.
      Just write in Bob Downes.

  • @megajames3000
    @megajames3000 Před 8 lety

    where can I watch that rehearsal?

  • @milo8796
    @milo8796 Před 4 lety

    He is the Miles of Today

  • @bobdownes162
    @bobdownes162 Před 5 lety +3

    Most of the so called sax Stars of today should lend an ear to what Rollins is saying here.