Born in 1930 in New York City, Sonny Rollins is an all-time music great. In his seven decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as leader and is widely recognised as the Godfather of improvisation and one of the most influential saxophonists of all time.
Rollins grew up in the neighborhood where Monk, Bud Powell and his early idol, Coleman Hawkins, were pioneering bebop in the jazz clubs. A prodigy from the start, by his early 20s he was playing alongside the very same Powell and Monk alongwith Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. He wrote three standards before his 25th birthday: “Oleo,” “Doxy” and “Airegin.”
A supreme player who possess rare power and inventiveness, Rollins took a famous hiatus from music in the late-50s, partly to cure heroin addiction and partly to reconnect with music and with life. During this year, he spent every day playing on the Williamsburg Bridge on his own, often for 15-16 hours a day, no matter the season. He said of the experience: “Playing against the sky really does improve your volume, and your wind capacity. I could have just stayed up there forever.”
Eventually he returned to the scene and enjoyed a hugely fruitful period with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. In the decades since, he has acted as a pioneer of avant-garde saxophone, championing unaccompanied solos and shifts in tone and color long before it became standard practice in modern jazz.
In recent years he has continued to collaborate far and wide, uniting with artists of all stripes, from the greats like McCoy Tyner and Ron Carter to younger musicians, notably with the british electronic producer Floating Points in 2021. He has continued to record well into his 80s and now 90s and stands as an example for all jazz musicians in the newer generations.
Qwest TV is proud to welcome him as a Guest Curator and here unveils his personal playlist, featuring the heroes and mentors of his youth like Bud Powell, Coleman Hawkins and Thelonious Monk as well as rare performances from icons like Louis Armstrong, Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Duke Ellington amongst others.
His 2020 release, coinciding with his 90th birthday, was Rollins in Holland: The 1967 Studio & Live Recordings, a masterpiece dug up from the archives. The record includes photos from each venue and essays by experts illuminating the context of a seminal moment in jazz history. See more here.
Rowan Standish Hayes
