Sonny Rollins
Edinburgh. Photo copyright marc marnie.
Edinburgh. Photo copyright marc marnie.
Not so much a saxophonist, more a force of nature, Sonny Rollins's titanic
improvisational genius has marked modern jazz with an irrevocable stamp. A
rookie in the bebop era, he won his spurs playing with Bird and Bud, Miles
and Monk, and came out the other end ready to assume the leader's mantle.
His work is defined by his turbulent, electrifying, but lucidly structured
improvisations, his BIG sound, and a musical imagination which has expanded
in many directions, from the rhythms and colour of Carribean folk songs to
the querulous tumult of the avant-garde. They don't make 'em like that
anymore, although there are plenty out there trying.
Born: 1930, in New York.
Kenny Mathieson
