Jazz Articles about Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins: Plus Four

by John Barron
March 2, 2007

Originally released in 1956 on Prestige, Plus Four has been reissued by Concord Records, which recently acquired the Prestige catalogue. On this session a twenty-something Sonny Rollins uses the other musicians in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet (of which he was a member) as his sidemen. When you consider the personnel, the tunes, and the impending tragic deaths of Clifford Brown and Richie Powell (both were involved in a fatal car crash just months after this recording was made), the ...

Sonny Rollins: Sonny, Please

by Dan McClenaghan
January 4, 2007

Tenor saxophone legend Sonny Rollins took his band into the studio in late 2005 and early 2006 after a tour in Japan to record Sonny Please, his first studio recording in five years. According to Rollins, “...a string of performances tightens up an ensemble...," and a spin of the disc bears that out. A tighter ensemble seems to allow Rollins the freedom and inspiration to really blow, to loosen up his chops. And Sonny Rollins, loose and inspired, is something ...

Sonny Rollins Returns to Mellon Jazz Fridays at the Kimmel Center

by Victor L. Schermer
December 20, 2006

Sonny Rollins Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Verizon Hall Philadelphia, PA December 1, 2006

Greatness in music is difficult to define, but one of its characteristics is the sustained development of a unique potential without sacrificing the essence of a specific musical syntax. If this be the case, then Sonny Rollins is more than a saxophone “colossus, as he has aptly been called. He belongs in the pantheon of greats with Louis Armstrong, ...

Sonny Rollins: Sonny, Please

by Jack Bowers
December 5, 2006

Am I alone in believing that Sonny Rollins, now in his 76th year, may have lost a step or two? Don't read me wrong; the man can still tame the tenor saxophone, let there be no doubt about that. But I fear he may have become a sort of untouchable icon, akin, for example, to Miles Davis, about whom seldom was heard a discouraging word, even though in his later years he produced scant evidence (in my opinion) of creativity ...

Sonny Rollins: Hardy Perennial

by Victor L. Schermer
November 28, 2006

Legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is a “household word, an innovator, and a “hardy perennial" in the jazz world. He came up, performed, and recorded with the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane. His musical evolution never stopped, and at 76, he continues to offer a hefty schedule of concerts worldwide. Recently, he came out with a new CD, Sonny, Please (Doxy, 2006), which is generating great interest among critics and fans alike. The ...

Sonny Rollins Quartet: Tenor Madness

by J Hunter
November 13, 2006

He wasn't scheduled to play, but John Coltrane had his axe in hand when he came to watch Miles Davis' rhythm section record with Sonny Rollins. Trane not only played on the date, but the resulting duet is the centerpiece of Tenor Madness, one in Prestige's latest series of RVG-remastered releases.

Theoretically, Coltrane's appearance on the title track should be legendary--Saxophone Colossus meets Interstellar Space, in a way. However, this was 1956: Kind of Blue was still three ...

Sonny Rollins: The Essential Sonny Rollins: The RCA Years

by George Kanzler
September 24, 2006

Sonny Rollins' worst enemy is Sonny Rollins. The recorded Rollins can never compete with the “live Rollins. The tenor saxophonist can blow you away in concert, at least if you're lucky--and more times than not you will be, since there are tens of thousands of jazz fans and scores of critics out there who have had the epiphany of hearing Rollins in person. So let's not fight it. Let's just admit that nothing on record compares to ...