Jazz Review : Sonny Rollins in Superlative Form at Ambassador Finale

The real Sonny Rollins showed up at the Ambassador Auditorium on Thursday night. The musical authenticity of his performance--which, in recent years, was not always up to its usual lofty levels--was especially fitting for a concert that closed out the jazz portion of what will apparently be the Ambassador’s final season.

Looking fit and animated, wearing a dark outfit that perfectly framed his snowy beard and gleaming tenor saxophone, Rollins was fully in command of both the music and the stage. Typically, much of his program was devoted to further explorations of a group of standard tunes. And, as always, he chose pieces not common to the jazz lexicon--”You,” “Where Are You,” “What a Difference a Day Makes,” “Long Ago and Far Away”--juxtaposing them against the vibrant island rhythms of his own “St. Thomas” and “Duke of Iron.”

In almost every solo, Rollins revealed some of the finest playing heard from him in years. A long, stretched-out cadenza at the close of “Cabin in the Sky,” for example, was vintage stuff, cruising through sudden chromatic shifts, tossing in randomly disconnected quotes from “Over the Rainbow” and “Happy Birthday,” and ripping off the driving, middle register licks that were the meat and potatoes of his cutting-edge work in the ‘50s.

“St. Thomas” and “Duke of Iron” have generally been highlights of his performances. But he occasionally has used their undeniable energies to salvage otherwise pedestrian outings. This time, however, Rollins carefully paced his lengthy strings of choruses, avoided the obvious, and built solos that were classic illustrations of his knack for generating rhythmic drive out of melodic riffing.

Drummer Billy Drummond, pianist Kevin Hays and percussionist Victor See-Yuen, all fairly new to the band, brought a youthful spark and energy to the proceedings that seemed to ignite Rollins’ creative spirits. And old hands Clifton Anderson on trombone and Bob Cranshaw on bass, fulfilling familiar roles, circled Rollins’ every move in an association that was as amiable and supportive as it was musically interactive.