Colossal

And much, much more interested in calypso. For the second set Rollins re-emerged with his regular band, a sextet comprising guitar, electric bass, trombone, drums and African percussion. Having fulfilled his evening's duty as the hard bop trio pioneer—he had eaten his veggies—now it was time for dessert. The set kicked off with "Sonny, Please," the almost R&B-inflected title track off of his latest album, released last year. The deep, thrumming groove hinted just slightly at Coltrane's "A Love Supreme," maybe because the two tenor men are forever linked in the collective jazz consciousness. No doubt many in the audience would have preferred to hear more classic material, but the overall energy in the hall continued to mount.

The jazz critic Stanley Crouch has complained that Rollins "often resorts to banal calypso tunes." But there was nothing banal about Rollins, whose parents were from the West Indies, rollicking through "Nu-Nile." He paced the length of the stage, stood at its edge, rocked and very obviously loved what he was playing; he conveyed a sense of joy that never fully materialized during the first set. And he hogged the song to himself, not letting any of his bandmates sneak in a solo of their own. There was time for that in "Don't Stop the Carnival," the calypso that closed out the set—percussionist Kimati Dinizulu and drummer Steve Jordan each thundered through substantial solos.

But the point of the evening, of course, was that first set, the trio. "Thank you for coming out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one day in the life of one man that you know," he told the crowd. Aw, shucks. That man is at a point in life, well past retirement age, where he can rest on his hard-won laurels and just coast on his reputation as a living legend. But instead Sonny Rollins has the audacity to go toe-to-toe with a younger version of himself, who just happened to be one of the best that ever was. How deeply satisfying that he could pull it off with such grace, poise and elder-statesman dignity. How stunning to see the genius of improvisation at play.

© 2007