Sonny played the Vancouver Jazz Festival at the end of June. Blogging the concert in Vancouver Jazz, Nou Dadoun wrote:
"...when he and the band came out, the bustling crowd gave him a standing ovation before he played a note...Sonny came out in a black shirt and white suit, his shock of white hair and dark sunglasses. He still has that colossus frame but it's fairly hunched over now that he's in his late 70s. But the energy he put out after the music started was incredible, the effect was a caged animal like a white leopard prowling the stage. It almost seemed as though he never stopped playing, his energy was so infectious - pacing the stage, challenging the other players, facing the drummer, taking swipes during other solos and unleashing torrents during his own solos."
Report from Vancouver by Peter Downey, Tour Manager
We flew into Vancouver on Sunday June 28 the day before the performance. We had the night off but ran into Pink Martini at the airport racing to their sound check.
Got checked into the hotel and Sonny did an interview with Norman Reid of CTV.
On Monday Sonny Rollins performed on the second night of the Vancouver Jazz Festival at the Orpheum. As he walked onto the stage the audience was on their
feet. He began with the My One and Only Love and kept driving until he ended with Strode Rode. After a few bows he came back out for an encore of Tenor Madness and the audience was still on their feet.
The festival atmosphere is always exciting. There are so many musicians
everywhere. We are always running into other musicians we know in the hotel lobby. Just ran into Al DiMeola and his band as well as many others. We have the day tomorrow and then we fly to Saskatoon. Sonny has never been there so we are really looking forward to it
After three memorable June gigs in Canada, Sonny travels to Sweden, Germany and France this month. Check his Itinerary for details.
New! Attention musicians and others who can read music, you can now purchase all of the music from Road Shows, Volume 1, and Sonny, Please as leadsheets and solo transcriptions.
Report from Toronto by Peter Downey, Tour Manager:
On Thursday, June 25 Sonny taped an interview for "Q" radio at CBC with Jian Ghomeshi to air Friday morning. The interview went very well and the rest of the day was free to enjoy the weather in Toronto that was so much better than New York.
Friday was the opening of the Toronto Jazz Festival and Sonny Rollins gave them quite an opening at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts. This is a pretty new venue for Toronto and Sonny has never performed there. The concert went very well as those who attended know. It began with Sonny, Please with most of the audience on their feet. The sound check wasn't quite as smooth as the concert.
We carry two wireless microphones that were designed for Sonny however they now need updating. I spoke with the microphone company a couple of weeks ago and they told me they couldn’t get another microphone to us for at least a month. We crossed our fingers and headed to Toronto. Unfortunately wireless isn't always friendly especially in a downtown area where there are several TV signals. Sonny's wireless wasn't working and the backup sounded horrible. We opted to use the wired microphone that is the backup to the backup but it wasn't working out. It didn't give Sonny the freedom and movement that he is used to.
The sound engineers at the venue came up with a great Sennheiser wireless but it had a beltpack and no mount for the saxophone. We convinced Sonny to wear the beltpack transmitter and with a little electrical tape managed to wire the new wireless to the old saxophone mount. We tested the whole thing about five minutes before the doors opened and it worked great. Thanks to Al and Bob at the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts for pulling this off.
The show went so well that the crowd was on their feet by the time they hit Strode Rode for the last song.
Sunday we are off to Vancouver. Sonny is taping an interview with CTV Sunday night and performing Monday at the Orpheum. See you there.
Just released from Doxy Records!
Blossom: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transription - $13.95
Nice Lady: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $13.95
Easy Living: MP3 File, Solo Transcription - $8.50
More Than You Know: MP3 File, Solo Transcirption - $8.50
Best Wishes: MP 3 file, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $13.95Tenor Madness: MP 3 file, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $13.95
Sonny Please: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $12.95
Park Palace Parade: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $12.95Nishi: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $12.95
Remembering Tommy: MP3 File, Lead Sheet, Solo Transcription - $12.95
Purchase Individual Lead Sheets / Solo Transcriptions
Thanks to Howard Mandel and the Jazz Journalists Association for Awarding Sonny
Musician of the Year, Tenor Saxophonist of the Year, and Road Shows, Vol 1,
Best Historical Recording, in their annual Jazz Awards ceremony.
After his Austin, Texas gig, Sonny did a television interview.
Listen to Sonny's radio interview with Michael Eric Dyson
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Doxy Records latest release, Decade by trombonist Clifton Anderson, debuted in January and has been getting quite a bit air play and enthusiastic reviews. Clifton's group also played a very successful gig at Dizzy's Coca Cola at the beginning of February.
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