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COLOSSUS

COLOSSUS, a 17-piece modern jazz orchestra, comprises some of the most promising young talent on the music scene today. Based in Rochester, NY, COLOSSUS consists of current and former students of the Eastman School of Music. Co-led by three award-winning composers, Dave Chisholm ("Radioactive," "Calligraphy") of Fairbanks, AK; Mike Conrad of Bettendorf, IA; and Levi Saelua of Sacramento, CA, COLOSSUS has been gathering a loyal following since its inception in the fall of 2012. Performing only the compositions and arrangements of Chisholm, Conrad, and Saelua, COLOSSUS delivers an original and innovative sound, as evident on their stunning debut album simply titled "COLOSSUS."

Colossus: Colossus

by Jack Bowers
August 2, 2013

Colossus is the name of the album and the band, a seventeen- piece ensemble formed in 2012, comprised of present and former students at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and co-led by trumpeter Dave Chisholm, trombonist Mike Conrad and saxophonist Levi Saelua. While the music is decidedly contemporary, its essential components--melody, harmony, rhythm, improvisation--are the same as those that have defined jazz from its inception. In other words, it is modern with almost none of the sometimes ...

Recording

Billy Mitchell: Detroit Colossus

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 27, 2017

It's a disgrace that many of Billy Mitchell's leadership albums aren't available on CD or by download. Mitchell was a tenor saxophonist of extraordinary power and skill, and yet today he's virtually unknown. Many jazz musicians had the misfortune of recording for labels in the 1960s and '70s that were so small that the master tapes were lost, erased or misplaced. In the case of Michell, several of his most important recordings were for Xanadu. Sadly, many of the label's ...
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Interview

Saxphone Colossus Sonny Rollins Interviewed at All About Jazz!

Source: All About Jazz
February 7, 2012

Making two trips to the White House within a calendar year, to receive two of the nation's most prestigious awards bestowed upon artists, is more than fairly momentous. Those are significant feathers in the ol' cap—surely reasons to crow or, at the very least, feel pretty satisfied about oneself. So it had to be a hell of a year for Sonny Rollins—had to be. But, with the ever level-headed, realistic and humble Rollins, one wouldn't really notice it. He doesn't ...
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Book / Magazine

Books - Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins by Bob Blumenthal

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
February 24, 2011

Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins by Bob Blumenthal My rating: 4 of 5 stars The great saxophonist Sonny Rollins has been an iconic figure in jazz for nearly sixty years but has never been the subject of a proper biography. This book does not fill that void either but is a very worthy volume regardless, featuring the amazing photography of John Abbott who captured Rollins in public performance and private moments for the past several decades. Abbott's photography ...
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Recording

Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (Ojc, 1956)

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland
January 20, 2011

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins was beginning an awe inspiring burst of creativity when this album was recorded on June 22, 1956 in the company of Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Max Roach on drums. Developing some of the thematic material that he would continue to explore for the rest of his career, the album opens with the immortal “St. Thomas" one of the most immediately recognizable songs in jazz, with a calypso melody that imbeds itself ...
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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catching up with the "Saxophone Colossus"

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 9, 2009

Today's video showcase spotlights the great tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who's coming to town to perform in a concert sponsored by Jazz St. Louis on Saturday, September 19 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.There's lots of Rollins video material available online, including many vintage clips as well as a bunch of recent interviews and short documentary-style pieces, many of them done for Rollins by Bret Primack, aka the Jazz Video ...
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Radio

New Video Blog: Jazz Video Guy Meets the Saxophone Colossus

Source: All About Jazz
December 2, 2008

"Sonny Rollins Is a Work-in-Progress" is the first entry in a new bi-weekly video blog from the Jazz Video Guy, Bret Primack. Celebrating two new releases by the Saxophone Colossus, “Road Shows, Vol. 1," and “In Vienne," the initial video blog entry features exclusive video of Mr. Rollins and Roy Haynes during the rehearsal for Rollins's celebrated 50th Anniversary Carnegie Hall concert in September 2007.

“My blog provides a backstage pass into the world of Jazz," explains Primack, who has ...
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