This is what we're listening to tonight -
along with the back story...
In 1959, saxophonist Sonny Rollins was at the height
of his fame: already considered one of the best tenor saxophonists and improvisers of the time, he released about twenty albums, composed several hits, played with some of the greatest jazzmen in history including Charlie Parker and John Coltrane... However, when summer came, he disappeared from the stage. "I didn’t feel I was playing well enough; not as well as I wanted." he said.
He will not record or perform in public for more than two years, an significant period for the jazzmen of the time.
"One day I was on Delancey Street, and I walked up the steps to the Williamsburg Bridge and came to this big expanse. There was nobody up there. So I started walking across the bridge and said, Wow. This is what I have been looking for. This is a private place. I can blow my horn as loud as I want." Because the boats are coming under, and the subway is coming across, and cars, and I knew it was perfect, just serendipity. "
In order not to bother his neighbours, Sonny Rollins then secretly began training on the Williamsburg Bridge almost daily. From the summer of 1959 to the autumn of 1961, the only way to hear him play was to go over this bridge. He usually played there alone, up to 16 hours a day. The musician also took advantage of this sabbatical to take up yoga, exercise, quit smoking, immerse himself in spiritual texts...
When Sonny Rollins finally returned to the stage in November 1961, he was a changed man. The album The Bridge (1962) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015. Sonny Rollins would continue his career for another half-century, recording over 50 albums, performing in the world's greatest concert halls, collaborating with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Max Roach, the Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen... In 2004 he received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
(Story courtesy of https://www.selmer.fr/en/)
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Valentines Day is coming up.
Know someone who'd like these?
Click on the picture above for information on these earrings.
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...
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