Stage of the Art

Sonny Simmons, personal belongings.
Photo Géraldine Postel

He grins when he hears that he is one of the leaders of the Avant-Garde Jazz Movement of the sixties along with Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and other great artists… Sonny Simmons, Jazz composer, alto sax and English horn player, believes that the notion of Avant-Garde has nothing to do with all of that: all he ever did and will ever do is play and compose music. His work stands as a witness to his history and beliefs which he shares relentlessly, a message to his generation and the next ones…

Mirror Photo #1 : Sonny Simmons’ Table, in transit at a friends house in Normandy, France. August 4th 2009.

A stone ashtray full of butts, and a white rolled up cigarette waiting to be lit. A yellow cigarette pack, “American Spirit” with its beautiful logo of an Indian smoking the peace pipe. Something very cool is going on here… It’s natural tobacco, no additives, and probably one of the least harmful cigarettes. In him, the deadly pleasures of smoking are balanced out by his own concern about his health. The paradox of being a smoking saxophone player while trying to stay as healthy as possible.
An English horn and an alto saxophone, both by Selmer: we’ve been told that this guy always keeps his instruments close at hand. These days, he smokes, he meditates, he plays the sax, which is how he spends most of his time. Below the ashtray is a green Bic lighter, he’s in France for a while, he bought it at the Tobacco shop around the corner…
Vitamin E drops and vitamin C capsules. American supermarkets have the largest vitamin sections in the world. Sonny Simmons tells us that he takes his vitamins everyday since he was young. Today at 76 years old, and despite his way of life, he can still play like the jazz like the master he is… (Hey! From now on, Vitamins for everyone)
In the middle, in a wooden frame, an award from the American Jazz Foundation. On it is carved: « Sonny Simmons, Lifetime Achievement Award. In recognition of all your gifts, all you have achieved in the Jazz Community, and a lifetime devoted to Music. Aug 4th 2008 ».

A year ago, Sonny Simmons received for his 75th birthday a Lifetime Achievement Award, no one knows how far he will go, but the old man is strong and healthy for his age and background…
Born in Louisiana, he started working in the cotton fields at age 6… He would go to Sunday mass in the Baptist Church where his father preached, where he learned to play music. His family emigrated to Oakland. Sonny Simmons was 12 and he still recalls the embarrassment of arriving barefoot in California.

He kept on playing 14 hours a day, upgrading from local gigs to concert halls. It was through the New York jazz scene and Woodstock that he found himself mixed in with Eric Dolphy, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrisson, Mc Coy Tyner, Sunny Murray, and so many others that should be remembered… Sonny Simmons fought, played, and recorded with the greatest… He kept going back and forth between New York and California where he was affiliated with the Black Panthers. Simmons went to jail, came out, recorded, played, recorded again, went back to jail, built a family, played some more, lost his family, started taking opiates at age 40, sled down the drain, spent thirteen years on the streets of San Francisco, playing saxophone for his survival. When he finally kicked the drugs and the streets, he recorded again, lived and travelled throughout Europe, went back to the US where he never stopped playing and composing…
With close to 60 albums, solo and sideman, he is no longer an outcast to the American society and, at 75 years old, his work is finally being recognised. As though his time was coming to an end. But far from it… He’ll be around for a while, and he will be forever in our record collections and in all dictionaries. He has seen and survived so much… Today, he carries his award around on every trip, as a reminder of who he is and what he owns: nothing but his talent and his horns.

Under his grand award lies an issue of Jet, featuring a picture of young Michael Jackson on the cover. A stunning editorial choice, which probably hasn’t changed since the 70’s. The title says «I Can’t Believe my Brother’s Gone »… a title that also fits Sonny Simmons, when he thinks of all his departed brothers…
If you are not part of the African American Community, you may never have heard of Jet. This weekly magazine was founded in 1951 by John H Johnson. Back then Sonny Simmons was 18 and ever since, he’s been a faithful reader... Interesting… How many people around you have been reading the same magazine for 57 years? A bit of background on Jet: the magazine was originally introduced as the weekly « Nigger News ». It immediately stood out in the American press as the only paper addressing the black community. From the beginning, Jet has distinguished itself with its columns on African American culture, as well as their coverage and support of the American Civil Rights Movements (1955-1968). The Movement started in 1955 after the murder of Emmet Till, a tragic story, followed in the same year by the Montgomery Bus Boycott triggered by Rosa Parks’ arrest, after which Jet continued to report all the evolutions of this fight for the dignity and respect of black people, as well as the rise of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the emblematic figures of the period, whose death in 1968 marked the end of the American Civil Rights Movement.
As Jet continues to report weekly on African American issues, it’s interesting to note that the magazine is and always has been based in Chicago… Barack Obama’s political home base.

Sonny Simmons, now aged 76, has seen and lived so much that an article such as this one would never be enough to pay homage to him, although we might suggest that this wooden award for “a life time’s achievement” should be made of gold. But it is made of wood, and it is all the man has, with his wisdom, his rebellion and his art. Sonny Simmons is great man, for his strength, his gifts, and for everything he has contributed to and been a witness of throughout this century of change and modernisation of the American society. He still stands today, and as he continues to deliver his message, he contributes to the global cultural evolution.

We will make sure that Sonny Simmons’ award be turned to gold, before it is to late. Yes we can!