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| Rollins to open Carolina Performing Arts season Carolina Performing Arts will begin its 2009-10 season with a performance from tenor saxophonist and jazz icon Sonny Rollins. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in Memorial Hall's Beasley-Curtis Auditorium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Other stops on Rollins' 2009 tour include St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., London, Paris, and Stuttgart, Germany. Rollins' concert marks the beginning of the fifth season of performances in Memorial Hall since its 2005 renovation. His is one of three performances featured in the 2009-10 Carolina Performing Arts jazz series, which also includes trumpeter Terence Blanchard on Feb. 26 – part of the 2010 Carolina Jazz Festival – and guitarist Pat Metheny on April 7. With a musical career that spans more than half a century and includes collaborations with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Rollins, 79, is one of the last surviving jazz legends of his generation. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. He earned the nickname "Saxophone Colossus" after his critically acclaimed 1956 album of the same name. "Sonny Rollins is truly one of the last living legends of jazz, and Carolina Performing Arts is incredibly proud to have him set the tone for our fifth season, " said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at UNC. "A concert from an artist of such skill, experience and importance to the world of jazz will be the perfect start to this exciting year at Memorial Hall." Rollins is widely recognized for the lengthy, improvisational saxophone solos that he began developing in the 1950s. His innovative work in jazz trios, with only a bassist and drummer, gave him the freedom to experiment and develop his distinct solo style. A constant innovator and self-critic, Rollins also is known for his two sabbaticals from the recording industry, which greatly influenced his life and his music. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |