Jazz giant and multiple-Grammy-winner Sonny Rollins will kick off Carolina Performing Arts' '09-10 season

From staff reports

CHAPEL HILL -- Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who burst from the Harlem jazz scene in the 1950s and has been recording influential tunes in all or parts of six decades, will kick off the Carolina Performing Arts' 2009-10 season on Sept. 22.

With a musical career that spans more than half a century and includes collaborations with Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Rollins, 79, is one of the last surviving jazz legends of his generation.

WHAT: Sonny Rollins concert to open Carolina Performing Arts' 2009-10 season.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22.

WHERE: Beasley-Curtis Auditorium in UNC's Memorial Hall.

TICKETS: Tickets for Rollins' performance, $45 and up, are now on sale online at www.carolinaperformingarts.org, by calling (919) 843-3333 or at the Memorial Hall Box Office on Cameron Avenue, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. Tickets are $10 for Carolina students.

Sonny Rollins website: http://www.sonnyrollins.com/

He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. He earned the nickname "Saxophone Colossus" after his critically acclaimed 1956 album of the same name.

"Sonny Rollins is truly one of the last living legends of jazz, and Carolina Performing Arts is incredibly proud to have him set the tone for our fifth season," said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at UNC. "A concert from an artist of such skill, experience and importance to the world of jazz will be the perfect start to this exciting year at Memorial Hall."

Rollins is widely recognized for the lengthy, improvisational saxophone solos that he began developing in the 1950s. His innovative work in jazz trios, with only a bassist and drummer, gave him the freedom to experiment and develop his distinct solo style. A constant innovator and self-critic, Rollins also is known for his two sabbaticals from the recording industry, which greatly influenced his life and his music.

Other stops on Rollins' 2009 tour include St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., London, Paris, and Stuttgart, Germany.

Rollins' concert in Beasley-Curtis Auditorium marks the beginning of the fifth season of performances in UNC's Memorial Hall since its 2005 renovation. His is one of three performances featured in the 2009-10 Carolina Performing Arts jazz series, which also includes trumpeter Terence Blanchard on Feb. 26 -- part of the 2010 Carolina Jazz Festival -- and guitarist Pat Metheny on April 7.