race still a touchy subject...

It's pretty funny the hornet's nest that opens up whenever anyone makes a statement concerning race. Seems as though just when we start to assume we as a country have evolved past racial differences, something conveniently pops up... Take for instance the storm of controversy surrounding Philadelphia Eagles QB, Donovan McNabb last week. In an interview to HBO, he stated that he felt that he as is judged differently than his white counter-parts. Now, the first reaction of a lot of people (especially those that are not black and that are not quarterbacks) would be... "There he go playing the race card again!" But, what he went on to say made a lot a sense. Lets explore race for a second in the NFL.
The National Football League is roughly 75% black but only 6 out 32 teams are starting a black QB. McNabb says that Black QB's have to work a little bit harder to make it than white QB's. Ok, no arguement from me. This however is the case in many areas of life. It's just the way of things. Whenever there are circumstances where some common group of people have a monopoly in a certain situation, the minority has to work harder to be accepted in that situation. Be it women referees breaking into the NBA or a white kid trying to be taken seriously as an underground rapper.
So in Mcnabb's case I understand where he is coming from. Also, I don't think he was crying racism as much as he was stating his feelings, very matter of factly. I think more than racism, human nature has a lot to do with occurances of exclusion. People simply hate change and tend to stick with what makes them comfortable. But lets not be naive, race will always be an issue until there are no more races.
McNabb is right when he says he is criticized differently. He is judged as a black QB. And what does that mean? Cursed by his own blessings. It is hard enough dealing with everything that comes with being a quarterback in the NFL but then lets not forget a short while ago, The head of the NAACP philadelphia chapter(oh, the irony!) criticized him for not running more and not playing black enough. Can you imagine someone in San Francisco criticizing Steve Young?? Don't forget he was a pretty mobile white QB. Now, can you imagine someone saying he's not playing white enough? ...see McNabb's point?

Legendary Sonny Rollins Comes Home 50 years Later to Carnegie Hall

My Observations...
A packed house turned out Tuesday night to pay homage and also help Mr. Rollins commemorate the 50th anniversary of his first time playing the Carnegie.
Sonny surrounded himself with an all-star cast. In his first set, Joining him on acoustic bass and possibly the number 1 bassist in the world today, was Christian McBride. McBride did not disappoint. Rollins’ distaste for pianos in his ensembles is well-known. Mcbride, filled that role almost perfectly. Acting as percussion while simultaneously layering on melodies as only he can. You feel yourself wanting Christian to break out but then quickly come to the realization that this is not “his” band and he must stay within the confines of the trio. Carnegie Hall is built for orchestras and not Jazz ensembles. The cavernous stage played havoc on the acoustics, a lot of the sound was absorbed and muddled into the high dome ceiling. However, this characteristic seemed to work for Mcbride as his low whole notes were allowed to reverberate as he trickled through scales in his solos on Some Enchanted Evening and Mack the Knife.
But not to be overlooked was Roy Haynes, the 80 something drummer who seems to still have the fervor and agility of someone a third his age. He went back and forth with his old buddy in a solo that seemed to go on for 15 minutes in the first song of the evening. Mr. Haynes seemed to effortlessly play traffic cop, ushering his cohorts through their respected solo’s.
Rollins Seemed to be more than willing to let the other members of the trio take center stage with him on this historic night. He never really immersed himself in his long signature solos, instead he seemed content on letting Mcbride shine and collaborating with on his solos. Rollins still filled the room with his low tenor grunts and showed remarkable breath control for a player his age. But again he is probably the great living tenor.

In His second set, Rollins was accompanied by his own band. The set was entertaining but less impressive than the first not just because of the personnel but because of sound issues.
In this set Rollins decided to return to his Island Roots with tropical Melodies and calypsos that was infused with west African rhythms. The most memorable moment of the second set was with African percussionist Kimati Dinizulu, who dazzled for 10 minutes with his conga solo on the second to last song. The second set seemed to feature the African conga player.
The entire evening, even though short lived, seemed to be a journey of where Rollins Came from, the era of Miles, Monk and Trane to where he is today. He is still stretching himself musically, challenging musical convention and innovating at the age of 77.