Rollins Offers Glimmer of Old Self

Halfway through Sonny Rollins’ performance at USC’s Bovard Auditorium on Monday night, he took a moment to recall having performed with such legendary artists as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. And one couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like for this equally renown tenor saxophonist to play in the vastly different settings that have surrounded him in recent years.

Three of the musicians in the band he brought to USC to open the weeklong L.A. Jazz 2002 festival--trombonist Clifton Anderson, pianist Stephen Scott and electric bassist Bob Cranshaw--have been part of the Rollins band for years; drummer Tommy Campbell and percussionist Kimati Dinizulu are newer additions. But granting the individual talents and the collective support they offer Rollins, it is not a group that can provide the sort of challenges present in the illustrious Rollins decades of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

That said, the music that was performed was an accurate representation of where Rollins, 71, has been musically for the latter stages of his career. Standards and originals made up most of the song list, and the ensemble playing was brisk and animated, if a bit lightweight in musical density. The other players were each given opportunities to step into the solo spotlight, diminishing the opportunities for Rollins to revive the extended improvisational adventures of his younger years.

In other words, Rollins was not in an atmosphere with the real potential to push his imagination to the limit. And it is to his credit as a improvisatory genius that, despite his relatively unchallenging surroundings, he occasionally tapped into solos that dared enough to recall some of his finest work.

His single extended improvisation, delivered over the Caribbean rhythms of “Global Warming,” was an example of Rollins skillfully using his most resourceful qualities. Here, as in other spots, he retained strong contact with the melody, quoting it throughout, paraphrasing, transforming, adapting and integrating its thematic elements into his soloing.

On “Here’s to the People,” he unleashed a set of choruses that had the feeling of a mini-history of jazz saxophone, resonating with echoes of Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Coltrane, as well as the bar-walking tenor saxophonists of the rock ‘n’ roll ‘50s. And his cadenza on “Say It Isn’t So” was a masterful display of his ability to charge through a thicket of harmony without abandoning his melodic touch.

Scott contributed an attractive solo filled with open space and contrasts of lightness and darkness on “In a Sentimental Mood,” and Anderson was a supportive front-line companion.

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L.A. Jazz 2002 continues tonight at 7 with a performance by the Christian McBride band. USC Bovard Auditorium, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, L.A. (213) 740-2167.