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In Reply to: RE: Sonny Rollins posted by Orchardist on January 18, 2017 at 13:09:27
is the physical joy he transmits (along with that hardy tone and the constantly evolving lines).
Saw him many times in the late 70's, into the 1980's & 90's and his stage presence always reflected his music.
He used a bell mic early on and would roam the stage in joy, a smile visible as he played,
obviously enjoying the music as much (if not even more than) the audience.
He's a treasure.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure
Follow Ups:
Hate 'em.
( The PA Systems, Not Jazz...)End Rant.
Edits: 01/19/17
was at the GAMH, where he hardly needed any amplification.
Don't remember his sound being at all bad and the best part was when he'd speak into the bell with that funny voice of his, using it as a microphone.
Worse sound from his horn was at Zellerbach, which generally is horrible anyway.
1979 at the Berkeley Jazz Fest (with Weather Report and Pat Metheny) was... delicious.
The combo of venue AND sound guy makes the big difference IMO, not just the PA.
The PA is just a tool that needs to be used correctly.
Unfortunately many of the users of that tool don't seem capable of that.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Normally I don't attend festivals or big venue jazz concerts for that reason. But I've been to plenty of clubs that had either good or at least decent systems, and they only mic horns and piano. For instance, I can't remember ever leaving the Vanguard thinking the sound was terrible. Actually, most of the times I've been bugged at the sound at clubs has been due to the musicians (particularly drummers and amplified bass/guitar) rather than the club's system.
OTOH as a player working large venue gigs I'd definitely agree with you. Even when the venue has had good gear the sound out front sucks most of the time, and the sound via stage monitors has also been terrible.
I once did a tour with an r&b group in France - all large venues within a 90 minute ride from Paris - and we had good sound everywhere (including stage monitors). They contracted a specific sound company to travel with us and it was damn near the only time IME the setup/board guy had a clue re: tone/balance/sensible overall volume.
This guy (sound crew chief) somehow was able to make a wide variety of PA systems sound pretty damn good. Hence, though there's a lotta bad PA's I suspect an even the bigger problem is the sound guys/gals.
I can't remember the last time I heard a jazz concert that wasn't to some degree spoiled by the sound system.
Listening to jazz musicians play live is always better than listening to my home system. But listening to them play through crappy p/a equipment? Not necessarily.
Happy listening,
Jim
"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno
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