Theodore (Sonny) Rollins

Born September 7, 1929 in New York City, Sonny Rollins switched from alto to tenor saxophone in high school and leading a group with Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor. Following his graduation, he was in the midst of the bebop scene, working with such figures as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonius Monk. Rollins gained an international reputation starting in the mid-1950s with his own small groups and, in 1954, three of his own compositions which would become jazz standards: Airegin, Doxy, and Oleo. His landmark recordings of this period include Valse hot and St. Thomas and became widely regarded as the most important tenor saxophonist in jazz. Rollins won the Down Beat Critics Poll in 1957 but withdrew from public life in 1959. Resuming his career in late 1961, his style was now considered conservative; by the end of the decade his extended “stream of consciousness” improvisations had returned him to the forefront of jazz tenor saxophonists. Rollins studied yoga and Eastern philosophies in Japan and India from 1959 to 1969 and, after pursuing spiritual interests in India in 1968, once again abandoned music. He resumed in 1972 and, except for a six-month period after he collapsed from exhaustion in 1983, has remained active. Rollins’ 1985 solo performance at New York’s Museum of Modern Art reaffirmed his hard-bop roots, as have his tours of the United States, Europe, and Japan. His live performances in his 70s have been creative and energetic.