Matthew J. Bellisario 2023
The Stats
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins was born September 7, 1930 in Harlem, NY.
Years active 1947–2014 (45 Albums as leader, 15 live albums, 25 as a sideman)
Influences: Louis Jordan, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk was his mentor.
The Music
I came across Sonny Rollins many years ago through the album Saxophone Colossus, one of his most iconic albums. This album along with many others opened my path into jazz. Over the years with my interest in jazz primarily going to Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Grant Green, Lee Morgan, and others, Rollins somewhat fell into obscurity in my listening catalog over the years. Not until about 5 years ago did I once again start getting back into Rollins’ catalog by purchasing some vinyl records such as ‘Tenor Madness’, ‘Sonny Rollins on Impulse’, and his work with Bud Powell on ‘The Amazing Bud Powell’, Miles Davis’ ‘Bags Groove’ and ‘Dig’ as well as Thelonious Monk’s ‘Brilliant Corners’. While enjoying Rollins on these albums I did not truly understand or grasp his unique improvisational musicality until more recently.
Over the past year or so, I have purchased several more albums from his catalog and I began to really dive into his music with repeated listening of his albums. This combined with reading two wonderful books about him, ‘Saxophone Colossus’ a 700-page biography and ‘Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation’, part biography and musicography, gave me a greater appreciation for not only his music, but also his work ethic and creative intellect; especially in the art of playing music in the moment, improvisation.
I have been playing music since I was 19 years old. I play guitar, bass guitar, a bit of piano and sing. I have played many cover songs in my life and have written music across several genres including blues, rock, classical, and singer songwriter types of music. Since I was in my early 20’s I have been listening to jazz but outside of being a diehard fan, musically I had not gone in that direction. There are several reason for this. 1. Growing up listening to and then playing primarily rock, metal, and blues music, I had not yet developed an ear to play jazz. 2. Jazz was something that I could appreciate at as a pure fan. In genres of music that I played, I was always examining the music in an analytical way, which sometimes overshadowed the actual joy of listening to the music itself. Over the years, this has become less of an issue. 3. The music that I currently compose tends to fit better in the rock, progressive rock and singer songwriter genres than jazz. To put it succinctly, I have too much vexation and outrage to express in my music, which does not often fit well within the traditional jazz mold. For me, listening jazz musicians like Sonny Rollins is a way to hear music unobstructed by personal musical influence, if that makes sense.
Changing My Philosophy on Recording Music
While in later years, I have begun to play jazz chords and jazz melodic runs on my guitar, I have decided to use this knowledge at this point not for playing jazz, but for transferring these ideas to my own songwriting. This may change in the future. Sonny Rollins has been an inspiration for my musical progression. When I was younger, I was more interested in learning exact solo lines from records or transcriptions. Even when I wrote my music, I wanted to carefully develop the solo for the song I was composing. Listening to jazz musicians like Sonny I gradually changed my musical philosophy on writing music.
Sonny Rollins has often spoken of playing music in the moment. He has also spoken of the difficulty he has always had with the recording studio. His comfortable musical element has always been in a live setting. The studio was often not conducive to making music in the moment, especially with the larger record companies who were more concerned with selling records than the music itself. Labels like Victor for example, wanted 3 or 4 minutes songs that were easily digestible, often going against the musical philosophy of most jazz musicians. Thanks to technology, we can all record music in our homes with great results. While I enjoy playing live occasionally, for me the recording studio is my sanctuary where I feel free to do musically whatever I want. I can compose my songs in whatever manner that I want with whatever instruments I choose to play. There is no limit as to the type of composition I can compose in my own studio.
In listening to Sonny and other jazz musicians, I have begun to make my recordings more spontaneous. This goes for both the structure of the composition as well as the soloing in the composition. I am able to do this more effectively now for several reasons. The first is by having gained a lot of musical knowledge over the years. Many years have been spent listening to all types of music. Secondly, by becoming more skilled on the instruments that I play allows me the freedom to play without as much technical attention as I once needed. I am certainly not putting myself on the same musical virtuosity as a Rollins or Bird. I work with what I have developed over the years and continually strive to improve my musical skills each day.
Lessons: Practice and Listening
There is a primary lesson that jazz musicians like Sonny teach us; first, the need for a practice routine is primary. In order to play music in the moment, in any genre, you have to be able to have some level of comfortable familiarity with the instrument you are playing. This only comes by spending time with your instrument. Secondly, you have to spend hours listening to albums of the musical greats. You have to sit down and listen to these albums attentively and repeatedly. In this age of streaming music where you can stream anything you want at any time, I see the level of virtuosity increasing while the level of musicality is dropping drastically. By repeated listening to a smaller catalog of music your musical knowledge will be more deeper and more mature. Then that you can easier develop your own musical style and language. It also does not matter if you play the same instrument or not when you listen to these recordings. I used to be obsessed with listening to other guitar players. Now I can learn more musically when I focus on other instruments on the recording.
Sonny’s Development
I want to reflect a bit on Sonny’s vast catalog of music, both as a leader, a collaborator and sideman. Sonny’s catalog is a treasure trove that can provide years of listening pleasure, but also great wisdom in musicality. Following his career, you can hear his development as he finds himself over the course of these recording sessions. While Sonny may not look at his recording career as favorable, since he is very critical of his recordings, I think examining his vast catolog has great relevance for musicians and us listeners alike. His playing changes quite a bit from his earliest recordings even to the late 50s when he takes his first sabbatical.
He makes his first recordings in 1949 on the Savoy and Blue Note labels. There is one with Fats Navarro and one with the great pianist Bud Powell appearing on Blue Note and J. J. Johnson's Jazz Quintets on the Savoy. Sonny is only abut 19 years old on these dates. His playing although very good is not as developed as you hear on later records like ‘Way Out West’ ‘Saxophone Colossus’ or ‘Tenor Madness’. Of course, on these shorter songs and not being the leader, he does not have the same time to develop extensive solos on these dates. However, you can hear that he makes a statement on these brief solos. He says what he needs to say and then steps back. He is playing with giants on these dates and is just getting his footing. Sonny is more in the shadows on these early recordings. More importantly, Sonny is learning how to play with others in the studio.
Just a couple of years later on the Miles Davis recording date of 1951 which would become the 1956 album ‘Dig’, the sound of Sonny is progressing although still not where he wants to be. Of course, Sonny is never where he wants to be. While his playing is pleasure to hear, it is apparent that he is still developing a wider vocabulary and his tone on the reed has still not developed to a mature level. Let us move forward a few years up to a 1954 recording session with Miles, which would become ‘Bags Groove’. Here Sonny has contributes three songs, Airegin, Oleo and Doxy, now all considered jazz standards. In just three years, Sonny has moved up another level. He is composing his own tunes. He seems to be focusing on melodic improvisation. He is still expanding his vocabulary and is improving his tonal articulation.
When we get to 1955, and Sonny’s third solo outing ‘Work Time’ in my opinion, we hear yet another player on another level. His improvising has improved immensely. In addition, he has more room to play longer solos and he takes advantage of it. He now has a more extensive vocabulary, his virtuosity has improved, and he now express himself more freely. Listen to his playing on ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’. The tone quality of his horn is more clear, powerful and articulate. It is unbelievable how much he progressed as he moved through the rest of the 50s. His three albums in 56’ and 57’ with Max Roach and Clifford Brown are legendary. His stellar albums such as ‘Sonny Rollins Plus 4’, ‘Tenor Madness’ and ‘Saxophone Collosus’ in 56’, have become essential jazz listening. 1957 prouldy boasts of three albums for Blue Note, Sonny Rollins ‘Vols 1’ and 2, and ‘Newk’s Time’ along with the legendary ‘Way Out West’ on Contemporary. In 58’ Rollins composes his famous and most avante garde composition yet with his ‘Freedom Suite’. He adds ‘Sonny Rollins and Brass’ and the classic ‘Contemporary Leaders’ to close out the 50s then taking a leave of absence to go back to the woodshed on the Williamsburg Bridge.
His progress over 10 years is incredible and the 60s would be no different. At the time, Sonny had rose to fame as the best tenor player on the scene. Those in jazz circles, fans and musicians alike were perplexed by his leave of absence. How much better could he get? Another lesson for us. We are never good enough! We can always improve ourselves and this applies not only to music, but also to our own personal lives. Sonny often refers to the spiritual side of music, which comes from the development of the person. After a year and half sabbatical, going back to the woodshed both musically and spiritually Sonny returns with a stellar album. His 1962 iconic classic titled ‘The Bridge’ would introduce Sonny back into the fold with little loss of fanfare. More importantly, he returns spiritually refreshed. His virtuosity, musicality and tonality is more developed and he is ready to make new music. To hear Sonny in his live environment in the 60’s, I recommend listening to a previously unreleased live recording of him from 1967 in the Netherlands called ‘Rollins in Holland’ on Resonance Records.
I could go on and on about Sonny’s immense catalog and many more great albums such as his 60’s albums like ‘Sonny Meets Hawk’, ‘The Standard Sonny Rollins’, ‘Sonny Rollins on Impulse’, and his soundtrack of ‘Alfie’. The 70’s Sonny provided us with the ‘Easy Living’ and ‘Don’t Ask’ records and the 80’s with ‘Love at First Sight’ and ‘Sunny Days, and Starry Nights’. Despite what I view as a move away from the traditional jazz mold during the 70s and 80s his musicality and creative mind was still flowing. In the later years I believe Sonny is best captured on 4 live recordings he released from 2008 to 2016 called ‘Road Shows’ which consists of Volume 1 through 4. This is where you can truly hear the awesome Sonny Rollins still playing in the moment! In his 70s, he still has it! All four of these releases are worth adding to your Rollins collection.
Practical Lessons for Saving Today’s Lifeless Music
Going back to Sonny on a practical level, I would like to briefly examine of my favorite albums of his. Let’s take Sonny’s album, ‘Now’s the Time’ recorded in 1964. This 34-minute sonic treat can confer a wealth of musical knowledge and wisdom to the serious listener. I have played this record on my turntable recently probably 20 times. I hear something new on each listen. Not only is there the astounding playing of Rollins, but you also have the engaging piano playing of Herbie Hancock. The great bass playing of Ron Carter and Bob Cranshaw are worthy of study. How about the incredible drumming of Roy McCurdy? Listen to those drum fills and trading fours on ‘Blues N Boogie’? When you listen to 52nd Street Theme, Sonny’s intensity and improvisational playing will blow you away. The intense interaction between the players is breathtaking. Learn how to improvise with the rhythmic qualities of music, which Sonny says, gives the music life. Notice how Rollins holds a single note in his solo towards the end of ‘Four’. Listen closely and learn how to phrase your own musical statements. There is a wealth of musical knowledge to be gained by listening closely to this recording no matter what genre of music or instrument that you play. This knowledge can improve your playing as well as your compositional skills.
When I am recording my own songs these days, I often compose parts of it on the spot rather than writing it out. The only part that I write down are the lyrics and even those are often modified spontaneously according to how I structure the song. When I play a guitar solo, I often will only record it a couple of times from beginning to end, not editing them or splicing them together. This gives the recording an authentic spontaneous sound, even if it isn’t always technically perfect. It is often that initial spontaneity in those few takes, which will convey the true emotional message of the song. To me this is how you can best capture “playing in the moment” in the studio. I think that this improvisational element is what is often missing from today’s popular music. Jazz does not have the monopoly on improvisation. Jazz is the surely the genre where it has been a foundational element and as such has been freely to develop more fully. While other genres such as the blues and rock music, especially in live concert setting can and do have some sense of improvisation, it has never been a main point of focus. More importantly, it has never been a point of focus in the recording studio as it has been for jazz, especially on modern recordings. For me, this is now a primary focus of my present musical recording endeavors.
In my opinion, much of today’s recorded music in the singer-songwriter, pop, R&B, rock, progressive and even the Jazz genre have become stale and over-produced. Everything sounds too polished, too perfect and is often void of any emotional musical engagement. It needs to be reinvigorated with more of a live, raw, improvisational element. This element has slowly been pushed out of recorded music. While technological developments have been wonderful for musicians, it has also led to a decline in music quality as a whole. We are no longer looking for that live acoustic sound that recorded music originally sought to reproduce for the music lover. For a while, there used to be a balance between the studio project and the live project. That is no longer the case.
Conclusion: Improvisation Can Improve Modern Music of All Genres
Most modern recordings are lifeless sounding. The music is void of the human element now giving way to an electronic presence that is no longer under the creative management of the musician; it has become the musicians’ substitute. I believe that those who look to musicians like Sonny Rollins, regardless of genre, can bring back that basic human element to recorded music by adding in a raw improvisational element. Sonny Rollins always said that he felt he never made that perfect record that he was always seeking to make. In my estimation, this is a good thing. This is what makes Sonny so good! Isn’t it wonderful that as an imperfect human being, he can give us so much enjoyment by listening to what he considers to be imperfect recordings? No matter how imperfect these albums may be, some of them are among the best ever recorded, and that is certainly more than enough for those of us who appreciate great music! What are you going to do to become a better musician and how are you going to apply your development to your next recording? Sonny has some answers indeed!
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