Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert is a 2005 live album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, recorded in Boston on September 15, 2001.
Background On September 11, 2001, the 71-year-old Rollins heard the World Trade Center collapse from his Greenwich Street apartment only a few blocks away, and was forced to evacuate with only his saxophone in hand. (Originally published in DownBeat, November 2000.) Although he was shaken by the incident, he traveled to Boston four days later to fulfil an engagement playing a concert at the Berklee Performance Center of Berklee College of Music. The live recording of that performance was released on CD in 2005 as Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert.
Reception
Writing for AllMusic, Scott Yanow praised the album, saying that it was "arguably Sonny Rollins' best recording of the past decade, and is a highly recommended set", and that "[w]hile many of his detractors feel that his studio recordings since the 1970s have not had the excitement of his live concerts, they should find much to enjoy on this passionate if not flawless set". The review concluded that "[h]is playing sounds a bit like a purging of bad memories, while at the same time seeming hopeful about the future."
Rollins's performance of "Why Was I Born?" won the 2006 Grammy Award for Jazz Instrumental Solo.GRAMMY Award Winners , Grammy.com. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
Track listing "Without a Song" – 16:37 "Global Warming" – 15:16 "Introductions" – 0:59 "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" – 10:57 "Why Was I Born?" – 16:14 "Where or When" – 12:20
Personnel Sonny Rollins – tenor saxophone Clifton Anderson – trombone Stephen Scott – piano Bob Cranshaw – electric bass Perry Wilson – drums Kimati Dinizulu – percussion
References