Rollins, Sonny [Theodore Walter; Newk] (New York, 9 Sept 1930)
Tenor saxophonist
Life
He first learned piano, studied alto saxophone from about
the age of 11, and took up the tenor instrument in 1946. In high school he led
a group with Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor. He rehearsed with Thelonious Monk for several months in 1948, and from 1949
to 1954 recorded intermittently with a number of leading bop musicians and
groups, including J. J. Johnson, Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Max
Roach, Art Blakey, Monk, and the Modern Jazz Quartet.
His most frequent associate during these early years was Miles Davis, with whom
he performed in clubs from 1949 and recorded from 1951. In one of these
recording sessions with
In 1956 came the first of a series of landmark recordings
issued under Rollins's own name: Valse hot introduced
the practice, now common, of playing bop in 3/4 meter; St. Thomas initiated his
explorations of calypso patterns; and Blue 7 was hailed by Gunther
Schuller as demonstrating a new manner of
"thematic improvisation," in which the soloist develops motifs
extracted from his theme. Way Out West (1957), Rollins's first album using a
trio of saxophone, double bass, and drums, offered a solution to his
longstanding difficulties with incompatible pianists, and exemplified his witty
ability to improvise on hackneyed material (Wagon Wheels, I'm an old cowhand).
It could happen to you (also 1957) was the first in a long series of
unaccompanied solo recordings, and The Freedom Suite (1958) foreshadowed the
political stances taken in jazz in the 1960s. During the years 1956 to 1958
Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor
saxophonist in jazz. Nevertheless, he was discontented: he could not find
compatible sidemen, saw shortcomings in his own playing, and suffered from poor
health. For these reasons he voluntarily withdrew from public life from August
1959 to November 1961. During this period of retirement his habit of practicing
on the
On resuming his career Rollins had improved his already prodigious skills, but his style was now considered conservative. In an effort to rejoin the vanguard of jazz fashion he began, in mid-1962, collaborating with Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and other musicians playing free jazz; East Broadway Run Down (1966) illustrates the furthest extent to which he incorporated noise elements into his playing. During these years, as Rollins continued to struggle with changing personnel and instrumentation, he focused increasingly on unaccompanied playing, and by the end of the decade he had become famous for his extended, "stream-of-consciousness" extemporizations on traditional tunes and on his own calypso songs.
In 1965 Rollins wrote the film score for Alfie
(apart from the title song, which is by Burt Bacharach). He pursued spiritual
interests in
Barry Kernfeld
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, © Macmillan Reference Ltd 1988