Sonny Rollins
@sonnyrollins
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The official account of Sonny Rollins, the Saxophone Colossus.
New York, New York
Joined August 2009
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My wishes for the planet in 2024: No killing. No killing. Don't kill anyone, anywhere, for any reason. –S.R.
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Even though I can’t blow my horn anymore, I can still think and do my music in my head. I’m grateful for that. Music is so great, and so great to me. However, this stupid crazy world won’t go away and give me my peace. 1/7
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Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins was born in New York City on this day in 1930. "So far so good for me. It’s all good." –S.R.
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"Greetings, everybody. 'Sonny Rollins is alive and well and living in upstate NY!' Not only living, but learning. For instance, in this world there is a big picture & a little picture. I'm all about the big picture, and therefore it's all good all the time. See you later. –Sonny"
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This kind of thinking makes you an unhappy, ignorant person—just as I was. Look, the Golden Rule is a start. I am learning every day, and now I can do my music mind with my Golden Rule mind. So far so good for me. It’s all good. —Sonny Rollins (8/19/22) 7/7
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Happy birthday, Thelonious Monk! "To Thelonious, my guru, and our guru." –S.R. (photog. unknown)
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On Roy Hargrove: “Having been fortunate to play with the super, super trumpet stars of the day, I found it inconceivable that this new kid on the block could be in that class, could be that good. He was. He is, and will always be.” -- S.R.
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On Wayne Shorter's passing: "This is too bad. Too bad for us." – S.R.
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Happy Birthday Thelonious Monk! "I looked up to him as a father figure—a guru, really, he was really into that music—that's all Monk cared about. He told me, 'Man, if there wasn't music in this world, this world wouldn't be shit.'" –S.R. to Musician Magazine, 1988.
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Art Kane’s “Great Day in Harlem” photograph was taken on this day in 1958. “Jazz had been seen as a bunch of ghoulish characters that came up after it got dark, like Dracula… this picture showed jazz musicians to be people.” –S.R., to CBC Radio (2019)
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"Hello everybody, let’s be safe and try to be healthy and try to think healthy and try to think safe for everyone in the new year." —S.R.
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My life changed when I began accepting the Golden Rule. Every endeavor became a positive endeavor. My world became positively positive. I began to understand that everything in life doesn’t start and end with me! “I have to get mine first, and never mind anyone else.” 6/7
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"It’s not about your music—it’s about what makes your music your music. ... You have to have a reason for your music—something besides the technical. Make it for something. Make it for kindness, make it for peace, whatever it is. You know what I mean?" –S.R., to the NYer, 2020
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"Happy birthday to all born on this day, including me." —S.R.
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Following up on my hopes for 2024 -
People: stop killing each other. We need to get a realization in our minds that this ancient way of life is now over. No more killing! –S.R.
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“There were people, generations before myself, and all of these people were legends to me. ... This picture showed jazz musicians to be people.” Sonny Rollins on Art Kane’s “Great Day in Harlem” photograph, taken this day in 1958.
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Happy birthday to the High Priest, Thelonious Monk. "Monk was my guru... we had the same feeling about life, we agreed about everything." Sonny Rollins talks about his relationship with the pianist and composer:
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Happy Birthday to Sonny Stitt. "Sonny was a key player in the bebop world and also somewhat of a mentor to me, introducing me to his father, who was an important musician in documenting Black spiritual compositions. We say hello to you, Sonny. You’re still with me, man." —S.R.
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I’m not about trying to get over on somebody else by lying, cheating, or stealing from them. As the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Okay? 4/7
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"I am trying to live in a different world, besides the world of the [pandemic]. I’m trying to live in a world of the spirit wherein I am concentrating on things such as the golden rule."
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I’ve had people lying, cheating, and stealing on me. We all have. And I didn’t like it. So doing it back to someone was not an option. 5/7
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That was until I found out how to deal with the stupidity of it all. I found something I’ve known about all my life. I found the Golden Rule again. 2/7
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“Jazz had been seen as a bunch of ghoulish characters that came up after it got dark, like Dracula… this picture showed jazz musicians to be people.” Sonny Rollins talks to the CBC about Art Kane’s “Great Day in Harlem” photograph, taken this day in 1958.
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Most people have heard about the Golden Rule but never really focused on it. Never really checked it out. Here is what the Golden Rule did for me: 3/7
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"We’ll be able to, as musicians, play serious jazz. I think it will prevail. I can’t prophesize, but I have a strong intuitive feeling that it will be stronger than ever and have another shot at trying to turn this world around." S.R. to the NYer on jazz after the pandemic (2020)
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"You have to respect your audience... but you have to play your own feelings and your own truth. Play for yourself because that’s ultimately what the audience wants... They want to hear what you’re feeling—that’s the music. That’s jazz." S.R., to Joshua Redman in JazzTimes (2005)
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The great pianist McCoy Tyner has passed. Here he is in a duet with Sonny Rollins on Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" in 1975. "The great jazz town of Philadelphia. The real McCoy." - S.R.
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"John had that sound on tenor... you could tell it was him instantly. When you were around him you felt like you were with a genius.... Almost like a minister, a minister of music." —Sonny Rollins on John Coltrane (born this day in 1926), 1988
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"When I look back on the people that I've played with, it's unbelievable. They're not physically here, true. But they are here… We got Beethoven, you listen to him. I don't care that his body ain't been around here for a long time." --S.R. to NPR, 2017
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Happy Birthday Coleman Hawkins! “I think Hawkins is the one that gave me the sense that this is something beyond even the feel-goodness of music. Not that there’s anything wrong with the feeling-good aspect of music.” –S.R. (1997)
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Happy Birthday to pianist/composer Herbie Hancock! Here he is in 1964 with Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, and Roy McCurdy on Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time," from the RCA Victor album of the same name.
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Happy Birthday to the immortal Clifford Brown! "He had a profound influence on me as a man—here was a guy who was really a channel for all of this fantastic music, without getting hung up on any side trips." –S.R. to Musician Magazine, 1988
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“That’s what improvisation is all about: losing conscious thought. You can’t think and play at the same time. ... You just have to put yourself in the state of mind where there’s no conscious thought. And then let the music come out.” --S.R., in Pitchfork Review, 2017
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The great Pee Wee Ellis has gone to a better place. I will miss him enormously. He and his lovely wife always visited with me when they came to the States. (cont'd) ...
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Happy Birthday to Miles Davis. "Miles was a seeker… he didn’t just go the way other people were going, he had his own approach." Sonny Rollins talks about his experiences with Miles in this 2007 interview:
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"To Mtume, job well done. Hope to hang out with you some more." –S.R.
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"I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music."
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"That's the reason I think we are all here really, to help others. Everything is part of some good plan... This world is meant to be the way it is, and we are meant to be here trying to deal with it. Keep fighting for whatever you think is right." –S.R. (2021)
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Sonny Rollins' 1957 LP "Way Out West," with an iconic cover photo by William Claxton, born on this day in 1927. "[The cover] was a big thing... it was as striking then as it is now. The fact that I’m answering questions about it 60 years later speaks to its appeal!" –S.R. (2018)
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A Great Day in Harlem: Sonny Rollins and Robert Benton celebrate 60th anniversary of the iconic jazz photo | CBC Ra…
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Celebrating the 100 anniversary of Thelonious Monk's birth
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On this day in 1956, John Coltrane joined the Sonny Rollins Quartet to record Sonny's blues 'Tenor Madness.' "He was like a preacher in a way. Coltrane didn’t waste time. He didn’t do things frivolously. Everything he did was important." –S.R. (2016)
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On this day in 1957 (at 3am!) Sonny Rollins (w/ Shelly Manne & Ray Brown) recorded his album Way Out West. "It was maybe the first time I went out to the West Coast–I’m a New York guy," he told People in 2018. "I had great musicians, it was a joy for me."
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Happy Birthday Duke Ellington! Here's his "In a Sentimental Mood," performed by Sonny Rollins with Milt Jackson, John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke, from the 1953 Prestige LP Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet.
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"Art matters today more than ever because it outlives the contentious political veneer that is cast over everything." (S.R.) Aidan Levy (author of the biography Saxophone Colossus) surveys "The Secret Literary Life of Sonny Rollins," this week
@Tidal
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Sonny Rollins made his Carnegie Hall debut on this day in 1957, on a bill that also featured Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.
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"That's meditation. When you're thinking and you're blowing, whether you're practicing or a solo... Playing your horn, that's it, man." Sonny Rollins joins David Sanborn for part 2 of his interview on "As We Speak":
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Happy Birthday to the one and only Duke Ellington, born this day in 1899. Here's his ballad "In a Sentimental Mood," recorded by Sonny Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1953.
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... a message from Sonny Rollins on his 89th birthday, 9/7/19.
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On February 16, Craft Recordings will release a deluxe edition of Way Out West, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the recording session.
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Happy 120th birthday to the American musical legend Edward Kennedy Ellington. Here's Sonny Rollins performing Duke's "In a Sentimental Mood" with the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1953.
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"We must remember that music is one of the beautiful things of life, so we have to try to keep the music alive some kind of way, and maybe music can help. I don't know, but we have to try something these days, right?" —Sonny Rollins, in performance September 15, 2001.
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Happy birthday to pianist, vocalist, and composer Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (1904–1943). "When I was young, growing up in Harlem, I heard Fats Waller perform. His playing struck me, and I realized that jazz would be my path in this life." —S.R. (2020)
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Happy Birthday Miles Davis! Here's the trumpeter with Sonny Rollins on Sonny's "Doxy" in 1957. “Miles was a seeker… he didn’t just go the way other people were going, he had his own approach.” –S.R. (2007)
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Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," recorded by Sonny Rollins with bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones for the Blue Note album A Night at the Village Vanguard on this day in 1957.
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Happy Birthday to comic artist Jack Kirby! "Someone told me that Wayne Shorter used to do comic books when he was a kid. I used to too. I was into heroes... I dug Captain America, and that cat who created him... Jack Kirby—he was my man!" –S.R. to Musician Magazine (1988)
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Happy Birthday to bassist Wilbur Ware, born in Chicago on this day in 1923. Here he is with Sonny Rollins and Elvin Jones on Sonny's "Striver's Row," from the 1957 Blue Note LP A Night at the Village Vanguard.
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“Jazz transcends life and death as we know it on this planet. [It’s] something that’s more universal, eternal. It’s a force of nature, it’s a feeling, it’s a sense of liberation… I’m optimistic about the soul – so therefore I’m optimistic about jazz.” –S.R. (2007)
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"There's no ending to our quest, there's no doubt about it. That goes on past this life... it goes on forever." Sonny Rollins in conversation with David Sanborn on WBGO's As We Speak (Part 1):
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Happy Birthday to saxophonist, bandleader, and "King of the Jukebox" Louis Jordan (b. 1908). "I discovered Louis Jordan... that was a trip. He was doing this amazing stuff with jazz and blues and just a great sax player. That was when I really noticed the saxophone." –S.R. (2011)
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RIP Lorraine Gordon of the VIllage Vanguard
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Happy Birthday Ornette Coleman! Here's the saxophonist/composer with Sonny Rollins, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes, recorded live at the Beacon Theater in NYC in September 2010, and released on Road Shows, Vol. 2:
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Charles Christopher Parker, Jr. was born 100 years ago today. Here he is (as "Charlie Chan") in 1951 with Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Roy Haynes on "Serpent's Tooth." "Happy birthday, Charlie Chan—our Prophet." –S.R.
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"I think it's very important to have your personal self together—it's even more important than music. Because you have to have yourself together as a person to express yourself in music." —S.R. (1982)
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“It was so wonderful to be so close to the sky up there, any time of year... it was a spiritual feeling to me." Sonny Rollins talks to The Guardian about the long months he spent practicing on "The Bridge":
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Happy Birthday Clifford Brown! Here he is with Sonny Rollins in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet playing Bud Powell's "Gertrude's Bounce" in 1956. "We used to call him an angel, because he was so gifted, so perfect a person." —S.R. (2016)
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Happy Birthday to vibraphonist Milt Jackson, born New Year's Day in 1923. Here he is with Sonny Rollins and the Modern Jazz Quartet on Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," featuring John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; and Kenny Clarke, drums.
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Happy Birthday Coleman Hawkins! “I think Hawkins is the one that gave me the sense that this is something beyond even the feel-goodness of music. Not that there’s anything wrong with the feeling-good aspect of music.” –S.R. (1997)
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Happy Birthday Abbey Lincoln! Here's the vocalist with Sonny Rollins, Kenny Dorham, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Max Roach on Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog, Jr.'s "Don't Explain," from the 1957 LP Abbey Lincoln with the Riverside Jazz Stars:
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Happy Birthday McCoy Tyner! Here's the pianist with Sonny Rollins in a duo performance of Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," from a 1975 episode of WTTW's Soundstage featuring DownBeat Magazine Poll Winners:
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Happy Birthday Ornette Coleman! Here's the saxophonist/composer with Sonny Rollins, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes, recorded live at the Beacon Theater in NYC in September 2010, and released on Road Shows, Vol. 2:
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Thelonious Monk's composition "Friday the 13th," recorded for Prestige Records with Sonny Rollins, Julius Watkins, Percy Heath, and Willie Jones on this day (also a Friday!) in 1953.
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Happy birthday to Elvin Jones, born this day in 1927! Here he is with Sonny Rollins and Wilbur Ware on "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," from A Night at the Village Vanguard, recorded for Blue Note in 1957.
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Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," recorded this day in 1957 by Sonny Rollins with pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Roy Haynes, for the Riverside LP "The Sound of Sonny."
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Happy Birthday Elvin Jones! Here's the drummer with Sonny Rollins and Wilbur Ware on Sonny's "Sonnymoon for Two," from the 1957 Blue Note LP A Night at the Village Vanguard.
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Happy Birthday Miles Davis! “Miles was a seeker… he didn’t just go the way other people were going, he had his own approach.” –S.R. (2007) Here he is with Sonny Rollins on Denzil Best's "Move," from the Blue Note album Birdland 1951:
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"Salute to my older brother, Dr. Val Rollins, who passed last week. He inspired me." --S.R.
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"The Bridge," the title track from the 1962 RCA Victor album by Sonny Rollins featuring guitarist Jim Hall, born on this day in 1930. "I got a note in the mailbox and it said, Dear Jim, I'd like to talk with you about music. Signed Sonny Rollins."
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Bassist Henry Grimes has passed. "Henry was a loyal member of several Sonny Rollins organizations over the years. Words cannot express my gratitude to him. May he have wonderful, celestial journeys to come." –S.R.
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"To me life is not about enjoyment or, in other words, getting for yourself. That’s not why we’re here. The reason of life, to me, is all about giving. Giving is what gives me happiness. Making somebody else happy is the greatest thing you can do." –S.R. to Vulture, 2017
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"America is deeply rooted in Negro culture; its colloquialisms, its humor, its music. How ironic that the Negro... who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is rewarded with inhumanity." -S.R. in notes for Freedom Suite, rec. today in 1958
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Happy Birthday to the great pianist, vocalist, and composer Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller! “He influenced me very much... His music was such a mood lifter; he made sunlight shine every place just by listening to him.” –S.R., to International Musician (2009)
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"Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise," from the 1958 LP "A Night at the Village Vanguard" by the Sonny Rollins Trio, feat. bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones (born this day in 1927), "definitely one of my favorite drummers, as far as rapport." -S.R.
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Happy Centennial Birthday to Max Roach! Here's the drummer with Sonny Rollins, Kenny Dorham, Ray Bryant, and George Morrow, performing George Russell's "Ezz-thetic," released on the 1956 EmArcy album Max Roach + 4:
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