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Sonny Rollins is one of jazz’s true giants, ranking up there with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and John Coltrane as one of jazz’s all-time great tenor saxophonists. After learning to play the piano, he took up the alto sax and quickly switched to tenor in 1946. He made his recording debut with Babs Gonzales in 1949. That same year, Rollins made a major impact on dates with J.J. Johnson and Bud Powell, the latter session matching him with the the great Fats Navarro. Rollins' musical abilities were immediately recognized by the jazz world and he began recording with Miles Davis in 1951, and with Thelonious Monk two years later. After a brief hiatus from music, Rollins joined the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet in late 1955, which he continued after Brown's death until 1957. From that point on, he was always a leader.Sonny Rollins' series of brilliant recordings for the Prestige, Blue Note, Contemporary, and Riverside labels in the 1950s proved him to be in peak form and he was acclaimed as the top tenor saxophonist of the time. Therefore, Rollins' decision to drop out of music from 1959-1961 shocked the jazz world. When he came back in 1961 with a quartet featuring Jim Hall, his style was largely unchanged but he soon became a much freer player who was well aware of Ornette Coleman's innovations. he even used Ornette's cornetist Don Cherry for a time. Although his playing was a bit more eccentric than before, Rollins was a major force until he again decided to retire in 1968.Upon his return in 1971, Sonny Rollins was more open to the influence of R&B rhythms and pop music, his recordings since then have not always been essential (often using sidemen not up to his level) but Rollins remains a very vital soloist. His skill at turning unlikely material into jazz, his unaccompanied flights, and his rhythmic freedom and tonal distortions have proved Sonny to be one of the true masters of jazz.
