Saxophone legend Sonny Rollins died at his home on Monday at the age of 95, his publicist said.
He was a great tenor saxophonist whose improvisational talent and tireless experimentation made him one of the defining personalities of jazz.
A renowned figure of the bebop era along with John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, Rollins recorded more than 60 albums in a career spanning seven decades.
A talented child in music
Born Walter Theodore Rollins in Harlem on September 7, 1930, the child prodigy grew up surrounded by music. His father played the clarinet and his sister played the piano, while his elder brother was a violinist.
Rollins grew up next door to pianist Fats Waller and his idol, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
The rising star played with jazz greats in the 1950s, including Miles Davis, Bud Powell and Art Blakey.
Rollins came to prominence with his landmark albums including “Saxophone Colossus” and “The Bridge” and was distinguished for his bold tone and marathon solos.
Demonstration on the Williamsburg Bridge in New York
Ever critical of his own work, he once said in an interview, “I don’t consider myself a composer who has learned as much as I would like to learn.”
At the peak of his fame, he stopped performing in 1959 and spent more than two years practicing alone on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge, a period that inspired “The Bridge” and cemented his legacy.
Rollins also ventured into popular music, contributing saxophone solos to The Rolling Stones’ 1981 album “Tattoo You”.
Crime, Addiction, Prison and Redemption
Known to distance himself from music, the first incident occurred involuntarily when he was in jail for 10 months after being arrested for armed robbery in 1950.
Rollins called it “my first vacation.”
He said, “Prison was a brutal place, but fortunately, I was involved in music and I escaped a lot of the brutality.”
After battling heroin addiction and another prison sentence, in 1953, Rollins found himself living on the streets of Chicago.
Ultimately, his pursuit of spirituality led him to give up his addiction.
“I began to have a deeper vision of what life is,” he said. “From that moment my consciousness awakens.”
His next sabbatical came in 1966, when he practiced Zen meditation in Japan and spent several years at an ashram in India.
last great of the jazz age
Rollins’ 1958 album “Freedom Suite” tells of African Americans’ growing struggle for equal rights.
He wrote, “How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim the culture of America as his own, is being persecuted and suppressed; the Negro, who by his very existence has exemplified humanity, is being rewarded with inhumanity.”
Four days after the 9/11 attacks, Rollins performed in a concert that became a live album commemorating the victims of the attacks.
She retired from performing in 2014 after her playing career ended due to a respiratory illness.
He won two Grammys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for his contributions to music.
Rollins married Lucille in 1965 and remained with her until her death in 2004. They did not have any child.
Rollins said of the jazz pioneers of his generation, “I’m the last man standing…but in a way I’m not, because when I’m gone my music will be here.”
Edited by: Richard Connor
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