{"id":4032,"date":"2022-02-23T17:52:24","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T23:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2022-02-23T18:02:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T00:02:08","slug":"sonny-rollins-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/sonny-rollins-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Rule: A Conversation with Sonny Rollins (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this second part of our conversation with Sonny Rollins, we do a deeper dive into one specific area we circled in the first<\/a>. Music plays a significant role, including some coverage of his various outings as a sideman and his retirement from performance. But in our continued discussion, the focus is more on Rollins’ perspective on life in general. By digging into his philosophical views, we can obtain a fuller view of the Saxophone Colossus’ output, one beyond specific notes or phrasings. We can get to the core message of his life’s work and, in the process, hopefully, draw out even more color in his already vibrant art. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PG:  Is there anything you had hoped to explore musically but did not?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR: Yeah. But that\u2019s that. Who knows? When I come back next time, maybe I won\u2019t be a musician. I don\u2019t contemplate being a musician next time. I don\u2019t really contemplate anything about the next life. I\u2019m not a fortune teller. <\/p>

It\u2019s not about that. It is about my whole journey. Each of us is on our own journey. You may have to live many times before you even get an idea of what everything is all about. The only thing I know is that I want to be a person that lives by the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would want them to do to you. That is a standard message that all religions preach before they go off into their specific wants and desires. All religions – Taoism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, whatever – teach the Golden Rule. Each one of them. All religions ask us to treat one another with respect. But then each goes off into their own practices. Things like that you can\u2019t eat certain foods or must pray in a manner specific to that faith. In a way, these specific things segregate religions from each other. And those divisions are part of why the world is the way it is, with people killing each other. But they all preach the central idea of treating other people in the way you want to be treated. There is nothing new about that. It is as old as any other structures we have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: Unfortunately, we human beings still struggle with treating others with respect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SR: I know. I don\u2019t know why that seems to be the way we were made. Maybe struggling with it is part of why we have to learn. If we didn\u2019t struggle, everything would be hunky-dory. There would be no wars in life. There would be no hatred in life. Until we get past our struggles, those things won\u2019t go away. How you get past them is too much for me to contemplate. I\u2019m not God. But I do know that is the way it is and we need to learn. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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