Sonny Rollins (1930–2026)

The tenor saxophonist has died at the age of ninety-five. The New York Times has an obituary (gift link).

I was fortunate to see Sonny Rollins twice, unforgettably twice, in 1989 and 2006. And he showed up in a dream last year, about to perform with Mary Lou Williams on my university campus.

These are five of my favorite Rollins performances: “St. Thomas,” “Wagon Wheels,” “The Bridge,” “There Will Never Be Another You,” and “Without a Song.”

“One day in the future people will be saying ‘Yes I once saw Sonny Rollins.’ ” From The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, ed. Sam V.H. Reese (New York Review Books, 2024).

Related reading
All OCA Sonny Rollins posts (Pinboard)