So there we were, true hard-core fans, waiting patiently to see Sonny Rollins after his spectacular performance tonight at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa. I was told before the show he would meet me, but I’d have to wait as Rollins needs time to wind down after performing. I had no problem with that. I just wanted to carry on a little ritual I have after writing about musicians I admire of giving them a copy of the article. After Thursday night’s show I really understood why he needs to relax after a performance.

He’s pushing 80, but when he takes the stage hunched over like he mentored the bell ringer at Notre Dame the music animates him. He prowls the stage like an old lion, hobbling on creaky knees, and at times you can see him capitulate a bit to windedness, but he still manages to dazzle with that terrific tone and sheer stamina. There were times, especially during one uptempo number, where I sat slack jawed for a full minute thinking how can he do that?

It got me to thinking about the time I saw Count Basie as a teenager in the early ’80s. He was so near the end and had to be practically carried up to the piano bench, but still, it was the Count and seeing a luminary like that is half the thrill. It didn’t matter he could barely tinkle the ivories anymore.

But this was quite different. Sonny is still in rare form, even playing around with scampy little notes in his codas.

I love Sonny Rollins because he’s so devoted to the theme of anything he plays. It’s all in service to the theme and his phenomenal band knew to mostly back up Sonny and take the customary leads when appropriate. Backing him up were Clifton Anderson on trombone (who had a couple of riveting solos), Bobby Broom on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Victor See Yuen on percussion and Kobie Watkins with an ethereal performance on drums. After the show, watching Watkins take down his set we noticed his pants were wet. He had quite literally sweated his ass off. It was that kind of show.

After we waited 20 minutes for him an usher told us Sonny would need another 45 minutes or so and that he would meet us outside by the stage door. We couldn’t wait that long, but it didn’t matter. Sonny had already given his all for us and that was enough.

Bookmark to: