Kimmel Center Blog

Sonny Rollins, December 1, 2006

Two-time Grammy winner Sonny Rollins comes back to Philadelphia tonight. He's been called "the greatest living jazzman," but he says, "What compels me is that I'm still suffering under the delusion that I can create music which will make me happy. I consider myself a work in progress, so I'm still actively trying to come out with better music, and I still feel that I've got a ways to go." What do you think after tonight's show? Is Sonny Rollins still going strong?

At first, during the first few songs, I really thought, wow Sonny may not have it any more...but I am very happy he proved me wrong by the end of the show.

Not only does he still have it, but he is playing better than ever!

Great concert, Great musician, great guy!

First, I have attended over 500 jazz shows during my 54 year on this planet. Which includes 300 with my wife, Ife. We attend 45 jazz concerts together at KC (Kimmel Center). In fact, Ife and I are chaptered KC members who attended the first general public musical concert at KC: Branford Marsalis Jazz Quartet & Joshua Redman Jazz Quartet, December 20, 2001. (I believe the first event at the Kimmel was the Elton John--Thousands of Dollars a seat building fundraiser.) So, we have seen some good and great jazz concerts at KC.

Sonny Rollins at KC on December 1, 2006 will be recorded forever in our minds and souls as one of the Greatest Jazz Concerts we ever experienced. It was a Historical Jazz Concert! We witnessed one of the Last Great Jazz Saxophone Masters. Sonny Rollins blew the house down. Sonny blew his horn like Young Jazz Lions for 2 hours with no breaks or intermission. It was a jazz musical performance that very few men half his age could accomplish.

You know it in the pit of your mind and soul when you have experienced a great musical event because it gets replayed in your dreams, you wake up in the morning reliving it, the artist’s music is played for the next few days (Sonny Rollins’ Tenor Madness, Finest Hour, Volume One--Blue Note and This Is What I Do were randomly played in the background as I write), and the concert is stored in the place where your most special, great, cherished and sacred moments are permanently sealed.

Young-Old Head Jazz Lover,

Ibo & Ife Changa Ford

PS: The sound engineers did an excellent job during the Sonny Rollins concert on Friday. We were disappointed with sound quality at the Sonny Rollins concerts on October 22, 2004 and March 7, 2003. We were wrote a letter because we expected better from the Kimmel Center (KC). Finally the sound engineers have delivered it consistently this season to a demanding jazz audience with years of experiencing poor to great sound engineered concerts. Keep up the good work!

My husband bought me tickets to the Sonny Rollins concert as a birthday present.

WOW! I could not believe that he can still play that way...it was an incredible, unforgettable evening.

Let me also say that we got rush tix for Regina Carter/McCoy Tyner, not knowing Regina Carter, really going to hear McCoy Tyner. While we enjoyed him, I was really blown away by Regina Carter.

I hope the Kimmel Center keeps bringing this level of quality into town. It certainly will keep us coming back.

Must agree with Andy. To those few who left before the encore: You missed the whole show.

First concert at the kimmel center for my wife and I (we're from NYC). What a beautiful venue. Have to say, however, that I wasnt impressed by the acoustics. I think I'd have much rathered a smaller, more intimate venue. Jazz just doesnt do that well in a big hall... my opinion of course.

Thanks to all for your comments. Mr. Rollins never ceases to amaze... even people like me who see 150-200 concerts per year! He is the consumate musician, consumate jazz master and consumate professional. In an age where young wannabes make one hit and then spend the rest of their lives with an attitude (read: the whole cadre of American Idol stars), Sonny is the antidote.

Here was his schedule while at the Kimmel:

4pm, the crew is busy striking the Philadelphia Orchestra matinee set-up... Sonny is rehearsing in his dressing room.

Band on stage for sound check at 6pm,...Sonny is rehearsing in his dressing room.

Sonny joins sound check at 6:30pm presumably for a couple of tunes to get used to the room. He does not finish until 7:20pm because he has had to work through a dozen reeds to find the one he likes best for the night.

Sonny meets several donors and gives them double the time he had agreed to.

8:10pm Sonny hits the stage. The road manager says that he expects the show to last 90 minutes.

9:40pm Sonny still going strong... 10pm... 10:15pm... show comes down after encores at about 10:30pm. Sonny is tired but exhilarated!

Sonny takes a well deserved break and comes out of the dressing room for 45 minutes of meet and greets with friends including Butch Ballard who received the Mellon Community Jazz Award earlier that evening.

They don't make them like that anymore!

Ibo and Ife, thanks for your comment about the sound. Sound is something we, obviously, take very seriously. Playing jazz in a room as big as Verizon Hall not only requires an expert sound engineer (which we are blessed to have) but also one that knows the peculiar qualities of the room. Every room is different and what worked for the band last night in, say, Baltimore does not in any way define what will work in Verizon Hall. Most of the time we get the cooperation of the artist - as we did with Rollins. I am willing to bet that on a night where you did not deam the sound satisfactory, there were elements beyond the control of our engineer OR that the band brought their own engineer who did not take our advice about the room.

Allan, I, too, would love to see Mr. Rollins in a small room but then we would both have to be transported back to the 60's when artists of his stature routinely played clubs. I do, however, want to alert you to the other jazz series we have in our 600 seat Perelman Theater. It is called Jazz Up Close and the next concert on the series features Brian Blade's Fellowship Band. Blade is among the best of the younger drummers, regularly plays with Wayne Shorter, and will blow your socks off with this band!

The day after the concert I travelled to DC to attend the Kennedy Center Honors (this year's version will air on Dec 26th on CBS). So far jazz icons Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy, Ella, Basie, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman have received the award. I started a campaign with anyone who would listen to nominate Sonny next year. If you agree with me, write a letter to the Kennedy Center!