Without a Song (The 9/11 Concert) by Sonny Rollins

Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Stephen Scott (piano, kalimba); Bob Cranshaw (bass guitar); Perry Wilson (drums); Kimati Dinizulu (percussion). Liner Note Author: Bob Blumenthal. Recording information: Berklee Performance Center, Boston, Massachusetts (09/15/2001). Recorded on September 15th, 2001, WITHOUT A SONG is a live recording by jazz icon Sonny Rollins, observing the World Trade Center disaster that occurred just four days prior to the concert. Rollins was one of the few musicians from jazz's golden age still performing with a sense of vitality, and that is especially clear on this recording, which is imbued with the gravity appropriate to the aforementioned tragedy. Yet the proceedings are never overwhelmed by pathos or grief. Instead, Rollins and his five-piece ensemble offer spirited takes on the standards "Where or When" and "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," and Rollins's own Latin-inflected "Global Warming." The wit, range, and dexterity that made the saxophonist's name are...