Some things in life speak to the spirit without the usage of a single word, like a smokey midnight jazz photograph by Lee Tanner. The faint scent of lilies in the distance, or the sweetened weary yet vibrant tones that soar out of tenor saxophone. When the tenor sax floats through the lips and into the vocal conversation of jazz enthusiasts and new fans alike, Sonny Rollins is definitely top ranking. In this classic gem, we are transported into 1959 and walked through the slick silky tone that fills the room.
The Sonny Rollins Trio spins the listener into the sweet sultry web of melodic melodies, making Sonny Rollins truly a weaver of dreams. Performing with their backs to the audience, an act that Mr. Miles Davis was infamously noted for, punctuated the attitude, poignance and boundaries that was consuming America during that time and continues today in a much shifted and sophisticated fashion.
The poem, ‘The Dream Keeper’, by Langston Hughes, comes to mind whenever this track hits the airwaves: ‘Bring me all of your dreams, you dreamer. Bring me all your heart melodies, that I may wrap them in a blue cloud-cloth, away from the too-rough fingers of the world.’ So take a note from Mr. Rollins and Mr. Hughes and be the keeper and weaver of your dreams – even when the chips are down and times aren’t so easy.
Sonny Rollins trio – “Weaver of Dreams”
Line up: Sonny Rollins (tenor sax), Henry Grimes (bass), Joe Harris (drums)
Dream Weaver by Langston ©1932
Sonny Rollins Trio live performance: 1959
