Sonny Rollins Remembers Ben Webster, Pres and Hawk

Raw Video from a 2008 Interview Bret Primack did with Sonny Rollins where he discusses Ben Webster, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

11 years later (2023), and this colossus of a musician is still with us ❤

[@JazzVideoGuy]

He's hanging on.

[@SILOETTE100page]

man, i'm so lucky to be alive in your life time Sonny. thankk you

[@jandeboer426]

Rollins is a league of his own. He is smart and very special person. People who like jazz, or music in general, must see him live. What a sound and performance. .

[@andrewtannenbaum1]

As a teenager I asked Sonny Rollins how to improve my improvisation skills. He answered, "practice, practice, practice".

[@saxworldwide]

Fascinating.....

[@Frankie-O]

🤩

[@joshuaklein2859]

I’ll never forget Sonny Rollins saying at the end of summer Lincoln Center outside gig “ don’t forget not to forget.” :)

[@twangbarfly]

Fantastic and illuminating interview - I thought I couldn't like Sonny Rollins any more, then I see this! Thank you for the great work. You are providing PRICELESS sources of information and inspiration, Bret!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

twangbarfly Thank you, appreciate the kind words.

[@lesterwyoung]

Great articulate analysis by a great saxophonist.

[@mickcarlon8147]

Yes, geniuses can also be humble individuals. Mr Rollins is our North Star.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

True dat.

[@meckel1271]

As Sonny reaches the end of the road, thank you for recording these.

[@tomscott1741]

Yes thank you Brett primack! These Sonny Rollins interviews that you have done have been vitally important to my life and has helped me out tremendously! If you have anymore please release them LOL. Thank you very much! Words can't describe how much I appreciate the Sonny Rollins interviews

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Thank you!/

[@clivecolledge4191]

Thank you for this interview with a creative genius.

[@benjaminlamza4569]

A precious lesson in Jazz History, thanks Bret!!!

[@mymixture965]

Play from the heart, with the soul, with your brain, cold warm, sensitive...who cares, the individual message counts, to hear that from one of our masters makes my day. I always was a fan and transcribed a lot of his playing, so much melody.

[@helluvagun]

Nize to hear all that from a legend!

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks so much for posting.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Our pleasure!

[@michaelhashim8595]

THANK YOU, BRET! Incredibly valuable and fascinating and nourishing.

[@acohen1980]

Brett, What a privilege it must be to be part of this posterity...thanx brother.

[@shiritzhaki5333]

This is gold! Thank you bret

[@Icreatemore]

This is an incredible gift to share...thanks

[@Dang...]

Thanks for posting this gem! Sonny Rollins is one of my music heroes.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Glad you dig, Dan

[@1955drv]

Thank you for sharing

[@bluzizalright]

These videos are of historic importance and I really appreciate the time that goes into producing them; please steady that camera and keep the focus steady as well :)

[@JazzVideoGuy]

appreciate the feedback

[@mortweiss3151]

Great Interview!!!!!!!

[@Bird_Coltrane_Monk_Dizzy1113]

Awesome. Thanks for posting!

[@jazzsoda]

this is my 3rd or 4th time watching this, what a gem, thank you jvg

[@monkeydooswingband831]

Thank you, Jazz Video Guy.

[@RobertCater-gu8ts]

Hey video guy, great video on the Colossus, it’s like a master class on Jazz, and how we choose to live this life. I love jazz, but hearing from this Master, I feel something more. Thanks!😊

[@dasglasperlenspiel10]

This is so inspiring!

[@sheskimusic]

Thank you, Bret. So informative and so valuable. Especially to those of us involved in the music and see Sonny as an idol. It makes something different related to the music.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@helluvagun]

His bite is just like mine! Worn! From playing the horn!

[@PhrygianPhrog]

This is amazing. Wow, before youtube I used to tape ANYTHING about jazz on VHS like gold dust and watch it over and over.

[@agamemnonpadar5706]

+Ten Player Same here in Germany! When I was young in the 80s I often discussed with a friend, who is now a pro sax player, how nice it would be to see all the visual recordings of jazz greats of the past and present. When it was shown (very rarely) on TV you saw it when you had time and it was gone. So KZbin is like a dream have come true. In the 70s there was a TV broadcast of Count Basie from Munich and my parents sent me to bed cause there was school next day. It was a lost night, I couldn't sleep :-)

[@kafenwar]

+Agamemnon Padar A similar thing happened to me back in 1973 when Duke Ellington came on TV. I had to be in bed by 9 o'clock and missed it. I saw it 38 years later on KZbin...

[@agamemnonpadar5706]

kafenwar This is funny, even missing the Duke must have been really bad. There are a few concerts on KZbin I have seen, which is especially nice... like Earl Hines in Antibes and the Lionel Hampton Big Band at the Nice Jazz festival. Its so much fun to relive these again and your childhood/youth at the same time.

[@sherriekoberevans3935]

know what you mean

[@jameelboone4882]

Thank You!

[@123must]

A great man ! A lot of thanks

[@edwardjons8684]

This video just popped up in my feed. Thanks for all your work jazzvideoguy - you have posted so much great content. Defeat the algorithms!

[@mjcruiser4238]

The way I heard the Joe Louis story was “ sometime in the late forties Ben happened to get in an elevator with the Champion -he supposedly said “hi -ya doin Champ” and gave Louis a shot in the stomach. Louis responded with a -“fine -how you doin Ben -and gave Webster a shot in the stomach -doubling the saxophone player up”!

[@ethanlander4252]

God I love listening to Sonny speak

[@bryandickerson5365]

Human intelligence, communication and creativity are so interesting. Here we have a man known for his musical wit, dexterity and “architectural” complexity yet when he communicates in words he struggles a little bit, like most of us, to communicate all the experiences he’s had. I love seeing that he’s human like the rest of us and it makes me love him even more! I too feel truly blessed that I get to live in the age of Sonny and have had the joy of hearing him live multiple times. A beautiful musician - a beautiful human being!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Well said.

[@glenntomassi3442]

Fantastic

[@sherriekoberevans3935]

glad these intrviews were done

[@jupiterlegrand4817]

Interesting stuff from Sonny, but could you get in a little tighter with the camera...?

[@michaelbarton3277]

Yeah, I thought we were about to do a dental exam on the great man..

[@pulesenatla1314]

Amazing

[@MrAnderswt]

Only a fool wouldn´t appreciate both Hawkins and Young.

[@ES150L7C]

Great...

[@annapluskota3247]

Amazing...

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@davidram361]

right on Sonny!

[@shotapebbles]

just casually curling the mo......

[@nickharvey2105]

😊

[@petershaw80]

What a great guy. Should be compulsory viewing such modesty

[@madbebopper]

I loved this as I love all of the interviews you have done, Brett. I would love to hear about what the musicians all feel about Don Byas. He was an equal and was well respected by Hawk and Ben and replaced Lester in Basie's Orchestra. I always felt Don was overlooked but I am sure he had left the US long before Sonny started to play professionally but he may have heard him before he left the country.

[@dylanmenzies3973]

Deep stuff

[@JazzVideoGuy]

totally

[@stimpy1226]

Beside Sonny, I really love the soft sound of Houston Person. He did several recordings with Mr. Carter and they are just so beautiful to listen to.

[@theopaopa1]

9:13 :) 13:42 thank you, big master sonny, sober and clever bret and jazz video guy

[@elwoodwhite2499]

Wonderful! old school but New well balanced Man with a world of human experience super Keep it Real intelligent understandable Alert and up at the top of his craft for sure with the best!

[@JazzVideoGuy]

oh yeah

[@contactkeithstack]

youtube= New improved Encyclopedia

[@leegollin4417]

He's a genius.

[@Frankie-O]

Sonny Rollins is the jazz genius.

[@LilieFu]

Pres 4:32

[@HP_____]

Great interview. But why did the camera need to be so close to his face? I have always find that intrusive... almost disrespectful. Sonny Rollins deserves a respectful distance. Unless the video image has been cropped, the cameraman could do better.

[@JazzVideoGuy]

Yup, I had to fire that cameraman after the shoot. He's now a ditch digger in Mississippi.

[@luvmyrecords]

@@JazzVideoGuy 🤣🤣🤣

[@HP_____]

Glad the cameraman is fired! I ended up listening and not watching, like a podcast.

[@loveyouall66]

THANK YOU GOD FOR PREZ, BEAN, ROLLINS, AMMONS, AND ALL THE OTHER GREAT TENOR GUYS. IT'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT THAT TENOR SOUND.

[@carlenechestnut9423]

loveyouall66

[@nononouh]

8 12

[@advancedguitar1]

Watch this version of st Thomas played entirely on bass by a very talented player kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3ndnIWOlN2jjKc

[@MrSteven2945]

did he call lester young he-she what a Freudian slip.....wow

[@rolanddoucet458]

Very bad interviewer. Knows a lot but doesn't have a clue about how to interview.

[@twangbarfly]

Roland Doucet Disagree - Bret gave him some subjects and let him talk. Sonny Rollins is obviously highly intelligent and articulate and well capable of catching the ball and running with it. It was great watching him and listening to him reminiscing about his heroes rather than dancing around questions chucked in willy nilly.