Sonny Rollins Profile

The last survivor of the generation of giants who revolutionized jazz in the 1950s, Sonny Rollins played and recorded with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk while still in his teens. By the end of the decade, he reigned supreme as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz. Rather than follow the easy path to commercial success by repeating his past performances, he left the stage for three years at the height of his fame to practice alone on New York's Williamsburg Bridge, single-mindedly pursuing his own elusive ideal of perfection. Throughout his career he has taken leaves of absence for travel, study and meditation, always to return with a new approach to music.

He has recorded in a dazzling variety of styles, from the hard bop of his youth to the free jazz, avant-garde, fusion, Latin jazz, funk and R&B of subsequent decades. A formidable composer and bandleader, he is unparalleled in his imagination and expressiveness as a soloist. Armed with a devastating technique and an encyclopedic knowledge of popular song, he holds audiences spellbound with a seemingly endless flow of melodic invention.

A 1956 album title still captures his enduring stature in the world of jazz: Saxophone Colossus. In his eighth decade, he is still going strong. Always spontaneous, always unpredictable, with Sonny Rollins every performance is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.