Well what can I SAY? Aargh!! F.....g EXTRAORDINARY!! To express "many thanks" would be ridiculously inadequate. EVERYONE's on top form here. This video-reel rescue is utterly PRICELESS!!!
Amazing Sonny at Ronnie Scotts my old hang out! A fabulous session. Rufus Harley on bagpipes and Soprano! Wade in the Water WOW! The entire band Awesome! Loved seeing my old friend Ronnie again too RIP
Thank u thank u VERY much for that information. Although it's given before the clip commences that's difficult to reacquire without replaying the non-musical part, and Sonny's own announcement I find verging on inaudibility, so thanks once again!! 👍👍👍
I was just about leaving secondary school the, and never in my wildest dreams would have thought i would be playing the sax today, and watching all the jazz greats do their stuff.
Jamie, I really like your program. I’m certain your enthusiasm is introducing jazz music to a whole new audience of all ages. I count myself on that number and I’m 69!! Dare I say you’re a great musician but broadcasting shows like this is your niche. Obviously the two go hand in hand as you wouldn’t be able to stand in awe of these great jazz guys without a real appreciation of the music, it’s craft and the context of the compositions. If you haven’t already considered it you should write a book.
Sweet Jesus, why doesn't Jamie Cullum just shut up? I'd love to have heard more of Sonny noodling in the music shop. Great live clips though. What a legend.
I just listened to a 10h European podcast radio show on Sonny Rollins (yes, 10x 1h, covering 1951-2001 !!!). My opinion of Rollins is that it seems very overrated to me. First of all as a player, he does not seem to me better than Johnny Griffin, Stitt, Roland Kirk, Phil Woods, Lateef ... but enjoys a much more important reputation ... and unjustified in my opinion. Ok he plays well, but not better than the musicians I mentioned. In terms of composition, he did not compose anything, everyone knows that St Thomas is a Caribbean folklore already recorded by Randy Weston in 1955 under the title Fire Down There. His other compositions from the 50s ... well, Oleo, Airegin etc ... this can in no way be compared to the compositions of Trane, Bird, Monk or Shorter ... also, his playing and his sound are terribly degraded after 1966 (36 years). It seems that he was traumatized by the arrival of Ornette, Trane, Ayler ... In the 60's he tried to be more free than Ayler, more calypso / blues than Ornette, and more mystical than Trane, but he didn't. did not succeed. Then in the 70s / 80s he tried to be funky, disco ... with really ridiculous and cheesy results ... Did he want to be funkier than James Brown himself? Also, in the radio show they say that he was paid current $ 300,000 for himself to record the Nucleus album (so listen to the result !!!!), and that, for his concerts, his financial claims were unrealistic, only the big festivals could afford it. He played with the Stones but didn't want to go on tour with them because, according to Jagger himself, he wanted too much money! I mean, I'm not making anything up here. In my opinion, he should have remained what he was before, a disciple of Bird at the Tenor, and quit at the age of 40 to leave a quality job, and without trying to follow fashion. Thank you for not insulting me because I have documented myself on Rollins and I like to have constructive discussions without being attacked on my person.
Much of what you say seems to be true to me, however, I have seen him play live and been absolutely mesmerized by his brilliant improvisation and outside/inside playing.
Like assholes, you know the opinion analogy, yours is in the minority. There is no such thing as a best anything, Rollins though is definitely in the conversation. His virtuosity on the instrument is unchallenged, perhaps that’s what misleads you as he’s not interested in restating what’s been already played by others, over and over again. He suffers from the same problem that affects most great jazz musicians, their casual fans are only interested in hearing the same old stuff and aren’t willing to invest the effort in following the musician in explorations of more challenging repertoire. That’s why people in 2024 are just now discovering the jazz music of 40 or 50 years ago.
Great to see a piece of history! Thank you for your efforts!
Well what can I SAY? Aargh!! F.....g EXTRAORDINARY!! To express "many thanks" would be ridiculously inadequate. EVERYONE's on top form here. This video-reel rescue is utterly PRICELESS!!!
You can only experience so much in a lifetime. I'm glad my ears experienced this.
Amazing Sonny at Ronnie Scotts my old hang out! A fabulous session. Rufus Harley on bagpipes and Soprano! Wade in the Water WOW! The entire band Awesome! Loved seeing my old friend Ronnie again too RIP
I was at Ronnie's during this gig
A treasured memory, I would think!
Yes it was. I asked him if he could do a gig for me in Liverpool and he said to ask to his Japanese wife who said he was fully booked.. Happy days!!
Bob the Juke Japanese wife??? Lucille was from chicago
Ooops! Must be mixing up bookings!
Robert Hardy are you one of the young men sitting at the front with a pint??
Pipes superb on Swing Low, the whole set is sublime to these old ears
Amazing performance film. Glad it survived.
And jazz bagpipes! omg.
Sonny Rollins - tenor sax, Rufus Harley - soprano sax, bagpipes, Yoshiaki Masuo - e. guitar, Bob Cranshaw - e. bass, David Lee - drums
Thank u thank u VERY much for that information. Although it's given before the clip commences that's difficult to reacquire without replaying the non-musical part, and Sonny's own announcement I find verging on inaudibility, so thanks once again!! 👍👍👍
Wow, just another superb SR performance. Thank you for sharing!
Amazing! I was at Ronnie Scot's when this was filmed. Who knew?
I was just about leaving secondary school the, and never in my wildest dreams would have thought i would be playing the sax today, and watching all the jazz greats do their stuff.
It blindsided me when the dude started playing bagpipes!
Sonny is a force of nature.
A hidden gem. Thank you for posting~!
Absolute pleasure ! Thank You XxXxX Listen to the list of artosts playing at Ronnies in the following weeks ~ Jeez ! WoW !
What a great find.Tanks for posting.
Jamie, I really like your program. I’m certain your enthusiasm is introducing jazz music to a whole new audience of all ages. I count myself on that number and I’m 69!! Dare I say you’re a great musician but broadcasting shows like this is your niche. Obviously the two go hand in hand as you wouldn’t be able to stand in awe of these great jazz guys without a real appreciation of the music, it’s craft and the context of the compositions. If you haven’t already considered it you should write a book.
That is a wonderful, thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for sharing this man.
Great band!
Thank you 👍
great thank you.....
Masterful
love it
Only............WOOOOOOOWWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's criminal to talk over Sonny Rollins. Just play the freaking music!!!!
Come on, this is welcome archive, if this work hadn't been done, we wouldn't have been none the wiser.
Sweet Jesus, why doesn't Jamie Cullum just shut up? I'd love to have heard more of Sonny noodling in the music shop.
Great live clips though. What a legend.
as me , anyone could be seeing jack dejohnette on drums?? is really very similar..great post
What's the song starting around 34:00?
sais
Err hang on. Unlikely Sonny Rollins was the greatest saxophone player ever?? Is that what you said??
stop talkin !!
Rollins has his place but come on - the greatest?? Bird, Coltrane to name just two..
Some of what Rollins plays is just ugly brutish farty stuff.
I just listened to a 10h European podcast radio show on Sonny Rollins (yes, 10x 1h, covering 1951-2001 !!!). My opinion of Rollins is that it seems very overrated to me. First of all as a player, he does not seem to me better than Johnny Griffin, Stitt, Roland Kirk, Phil Woods, Lateef ... but enjoys a much more important reputation ... and unjustified in my opinion. Ok he plays well, but not better than the musicians I mentioned. In terms of composition, he did not compose anything, everyone knows that St Thomas is a Caribbean folklore already recorded by Randy Weston in 1955 under the title Fire Down There. His other compositions from the 50s ... well, Oleo, Airegin etc ... this can in no way be compared to the compositions of Trane, Bird, Monk or Shorter ... also, his playing and his sound are terribly degraded after 1966 (36 years). It seems that he was traumatized by the arrival of Ornette, Trane, Ayler ... In the 60's he tried to be more free than Ayler, more calypso / blues than Ornette, and more mystical than Trane, but he didn't. did not succeed. Then in the 70s / 80s he tried to be funky, disco ... with really ridiculous and cheesy results ... Did he want to be funkier than James Brown himself? Also, in the radio show they say that he was paid current $ 300,000 for himself to record the Nucleus album (so listen to the result !!!!), and that, for his concerts, his financial claims were unrealistic, only the big festivals could afford it. He played with the Stones but didn't want to go on tour with them because, according to Jagger himself, he wanted too much money! I mean, I'm not making anything up here. In my opinion, he should have remained what he was before, a disciple of Bird at the Tenor, and quit at the age of 40 to leave a quality job, and without trying to follow fashion.
Thank you for not insulting me because I have documented myself on Rollins and I like to have constructive discussions without being attacked on my person.
Much of what you say seems to be true to me, however, I have seen him play live and been absolutely mesmerized by his brilliant improvisation and outside/inside playing.
Like assholes, you know the opinion analogy, yours is in the minority. There is no such thing as a best anything, Rollins though is definitely in the conversation. His virtuosity on the instrument is unchallenged, perhaps that’s what misleads you as he’s not interested in restating what’s been already played by others, over and over again. He suffers from the same problem that affects most great jazz musicians, their casual fans are only interested in hearing the same old stuff and aren’t willing to invest the effort in following the musician in explorations of more challenging repertoire. That’s why people in 2024 are just now discovering the jazz music of 40 or 50 years ago.
The bagpipe sounds like shit.
Thank you, Pieface.
What's the song he plays around 24:35 ?
What's the song they're playing at about 24:40?
Did you find the name of this song?
Found it. Song called -'To a wild rose'