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He came out on stage ready to play! Took no prisoners. I saw him here (Umbria Jazz Fest) a few years ago and his performance was a bit erratic. He seemed to (relatively speaking now) ramble for long periods but then he would drop a bomb that would knock you right out of your seat. I also thought his rhythm section was pretty perfunctory, then.
This time he was much more consistant and just burned from the first note. I don't think there was a lag anytime in his performance. He was just great, and I felt there was an improvement in his rhythm section. For the life of me I don't know why he keeps Bob Cranshaw but the percussion player seemed to add some energy. The guitar player played extended solos consisting entirely of single-line ideas and, I don't think, once mixed is textures up with chording. While he did play some good ideas, overall I found it a bit, uh, uninteresting. There are so many absolutely killin' rhythm-section musicians, for the life of me I don't know why Sonny doesn't use them. And his 'bone player could easily be replaced with a more dynamic player.
To reiterate, Sonny burned and it was a joy, as well, to see this man at his age perform like he did. It was also touching to match up what I read about his plight and trek down hundreds of stairs in darkness on 9/11 with seeing how physically hindered his walking is. That must have been quite a painful and frightening trip. What a big heart!!!
This time he was much more consistant and just burned from the first note. I don't think there was a lag anytime in his performance. He was just great, and I felt there was an improvement in his rhythm section. For the life of me I don't know why he keeps Bob Cranshaw but the percussion player seemed to add some energy. The guitar player played extended solos consisting entirely of single-line ideas and, I don't think, once mixed is textures up with chording. While he did play some good ideas, overall I found it a bit, uh, uninteresting. There are so many absolutely killin' rhythm-section musicians, for the life of me I don't know why Sonny doesn't use them. And his 'bone player could easily be replaced with a more dynamic player.
To reiterate, Sonny burned and it was a joy, as well, to see this man at his age perform like he did. It was also touching to match up what I read about his plight and trek down hundreds of stairs in darkness on 9/11 with seeing how physically hindered his walking is. That must have been quite a painful and frightening trip. What a big heart!!!