Reflections From Sonny Rollins, 1965

I must admit, I’m putting a lot of time into my regular gig these days, and not spending too much on eBay. So, this morning, looking for something quick and simple to write, I came upon an old Downbeat from August 26, 1965, with a cover story titled: “The Further Adventures of Sonny Rollins: A revealing conversation with the controversial tenor saxophonist, by Joe Goldberg.”

Without doing major analysis, I will offer a couple of revealing quotes: One today and one tomorrow. Here’s today’s:

“The average Joe knows just as much as I do – he knows more than I do. I’m the average Joe, and I think people recognize that. That’s why I play standards. Everybody knows Stardust. These guys who play only their own tunes, they can cover up a lot of things, but if you play the melody of Stardust, everybody can tell whether you’re doing it right or not. I’ve called tunes like that to guys who didn’t know them. How can you call yourself a professional musician if you don’t know all those songs?”