Woody Haut's Blog: Inside the Mind of an Improvisor- The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, edited by Sam V.H. Reese (NYRB Books)

The great tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins will be 94 this September. Until a few years ago when pulmonary fibrosis forced him to retire from playing music, he was arguably the preeminent improvisor in jazz, and had been so for a number of decades. Ironically, Rollins, who grew up in Harlem, his parents having relocated there from the Virgin Islands, has always been not so much a loner as the music's supreme individualist, insisting, over his long career, on going his own way, whether that meant honing his chops on Brooklyn Bridge, cutting his hair Mohican-style, appearing as a cowboy and recording I'm An Old Cowhand on his 1957 album Way Out West, or his penchant for solo performes. Ironically, even though he has played alongside just about every in-demand post-WW2 musician, Rollins, unlike Coltrane, Coleman, Miles, etc, is perhaps singular in not being associated with a stable group of musicians. In other words, there is no definitive Sonny Rollins quartet or quintet that comes to mind when thinking of his music. As pianist and writer Ethan Iverson has pointed out, Rollins' bands are not his music.

"It happens all the time, I know- but it's not going to happen to me.You guys have forgotten that you are here to play for me. You're supposed to be playing for me. Accompanying me. Helping me to do something."

More evidence of Rollins' individualism, someone who was constantly testing the waters, changing line-ups according to the occasion and the evolution of his music. Through it all the one constant feature of his music has been his increasingly powerful sound, straight out of the islands through Harlem, influenced by Coleman Hawkins ("My musical idol.") as much as Louis Jordan or Charlie Parker. Not to mention a unique sense of improvisation and timing, and a wealth of material- his own as well as the Great American Songbook, to dip into at a moment's notice. One can literally listen to Newk for hours without hearing a single cliché save those he emits with a sense of humour and irony.

"There is today in existence a fraternity of people. People who were all irrepressibly drawn to the 'horn of horns,' 'the instrument of instruments,' the saxophone. Within its proportions we saw a better and more beautiful world. We saw, and see the means towards a better human being; towards the perfection of ourselves."

The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, edited by Sam Reese (to be published in April 2024), provides an insight into what makes this incredible musician tick. The notebooks, which begin in 1959 and end in 2010, cover the greater part of his musical career. Naturally, much of it is about music- some of which might be hard to grasp by non-musicians- but many of the entries veer off into other interesting and unusual directions, taking in matters spiritual, political, dietary, physical (breathing and playing exercises, yoga, fasting), medical (the effect of dentistry on his playing), and cultural. There are also various personal reminders to himself as well as letters to such dignitaries as Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton. With such a range of interests and intellectual depth, it's not surprising that Rollins, aware that everything changes and all things must come to an end, would be humble enough to accept his transition into retirement.

"The idea of 'teaching' music in the prescribed manner is our attempt to present people with a view of that finer side of their nature which is akin to such things as trees, grass, sky, among other natural phenomena."

Are there any similar notebooks by jazz musicians? Off-hand, I can't think of any. Though what did come to mind while reading The Notebooks... were those two pieces of paper on which Thelonious Monk wrote out guidelines (see below) for his, or any, musicians. Then I thought about Ornette holding forth in Stephen Rush's Free Jazz, Harmolodics and Ornette Coleman. The only other comparative book that comes to mind is the more conventionally organised A Power Stronger Than Itself by AACM musician and composer George Lewis. However, Rollins' Notebooks is more substantial than Monk's wonderful instructions, easier to grasp than either Rush's book, and easier to read than Lewis's incredible history of the AACM and American Experimental Music.

"Someone once said 'the easiest way is not always the best way.' Although no doubt this quotation was well intentioned it is in fact only half correct. In truth and in all practical applications...the easiest is the best way."

In the end, The Notebooks show Rollins to be what we have long expected- a person of intelligence, with a wide range of interests, and no small amount of wisdom. The world is lucky to have been graced by his music- from his playing with Bud and Richie Powell, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Horace Silver, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk to Herbie Hancock, Tommy Flanagan, Jim Hall, Don Cherry and Bill Higgins. Actually, it's hard to imagine a world in which Sonny Rollins' music does not exist. Of course, as with anyone's notebooks, you have to have some interest in, and appreciation of, the person making those entries. But since Rollins remains one of the best known names in jazz, there should be no shortage of listeners ready and willing to turn the pages of this volume that weighs in at only slightly more 150 pages. With all that it includes, it's the ideal book to read before, after, or alongside Aidan Levy's biography, Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins, along with your favourite Sonny Rollins tune playing in the background.

"No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up."

"'Technology is the means of going backwards faster.'- Huxley"

"I like to play and let the crowd settle and then lull and then wake them up with something outrageous... [So] that just when they begin to lose interest I shock them back to reality... the reality of me, me and my sound, my communication through ancient ritual sound."

"Invested with sanctity

(Schopenhauer)

Phenomenology

Ideologs

(Ide-a-logs)

Polemical

Geo-political

Mitigate

Metamorphosis

Antipathy

Antithesis

The order has been whispering to me at just such times as I would lose vision.