Rollins in Concert; Memories of the Village Gate

I don’t get out to see live jazz nearly as much as I would like. It’s tough when most of your favorite musicians are dead. Someone did send me a link, however, to let me know that Sonny Rollins is giving a concert in Tarrytown, NY, on Dec. 6. This is one I will make every effort to attend: Don’t know how many more chances there will be to see Sonny and, the truth is, his playing is still amazing. I saw him at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival a couple of years ago and he was creative, inventive and full of energy and musicianship. This is a benefit concert for an environmental group and for a premium ticket of $500 you get to meet Sonny. There was a time when you could see Sonny in a club and just chat

with him at the end of the evening, although he was always humble, shy and somewhat reticent. I saw that Art D’Lugoff, owner of the Village Gate, died a few days ago. I have many memories of seeing Sonny downstairs at the Gate back in the late 1970s. He was on a bill with McCoy Tyner and, between them, they had the old place shaking. My favorite memory of the Gate goes back to when I was a teenager, 16 or so, and I was underage and shouldn’t have been allowed inside. Plus, my girlfriend was only 14. We were walking on Bleecker Street looking for something to do. I saw a sign: Top of The Gate, Now Appearing: Bill Evans Trio. I knew of Evans from my dad. We walked up the stairs and they put us at a table, no questions asked. We ordered whiskey sours. During a break I went up to Evans and asked if he would play Waltz For Debby. He probably got a dozen requests like that a night. I figured it would impress my girlfriend. I called him Mr. Evans. He barely looked at me and he never played Waltz for Debby that night. It didn’t matter. I felt so cool just being there. Yeah, I’ll definitely go see Sonny on Dec. 6.