Legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins performed a benefit concert before a full house at the Music Hall in Tarrytown on Sunday, December 6, leading his regular working band through nearly two hours of music that had the crowd absolutely thrilled.
The concert marked the first time Clearwater, over the course of its forty-year history, has ever hosted a musical event dedicated solely to jazz. It was also the first benefit concert Rollins has headlined in his long career.
Rollins hit the stage of the Music Hall wearing a red silk shirt and his trademark bandstand sunglasses. Joined by bassist Bob Cranshaw, trombonist Clifton Anderson, guitarist Bobby Broom, drummer Kobie Watkins and percussionist Victor See Yuen, Rollins lit into the upbeat title track of his 1998 recording Global Warming, a self-penned composition that emphasizes his environmental concerns. Next up was a reading of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” a ballad that featured a musical dialogue between Cranshaw on electric bass and Rollins. The show was capped with a rousing, twenty-minute long encore, “Tenor Madness” (another Rollins original), in which the saxman delighted the audience with some hearty honking. Rollins’s sidemen were all given moments in the spotlight to showcase their talents, but nearly all of the afternoon’s fiery improvisations emanated from Rollins and his tenor saxophone.
“Sonny was fabulous,” said Michael Myerson, a Clearwater board member who attended the concert. “I’ve been listening to his music for over 50 years, and even now, at nearly 80 years old, Sonny is still playing at the same high level as I remember as a kid. The phrase ‘living legend’ gets tossed around a lot, but there are actually few of these legends among us, and Sonny Rollins, like Pete Seeger, is one of them. For Sonny to contribute his artistry to the cause of defending and preserving the Hudson River is a tribute to Clearwater’s important work and Sonny’s own humanity.”
Renowned actors and rivertown residents Debra Winger and Arliss Howard hosted the concert and introduced Rollins. Also speaking at the event were Jeff Rumpf, executive director of Clearwater; Maija Niemistö, onboard educator of Clearwater; and Samantha Heyman, one of the two captains who pilot the sloop Clearwater.
