Universidad San francisco de Quito

Evolution of Jazz

Jaime Caiza

May 9, 2022

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York. He grew up in Harlem, not
far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theater and the doorstep of his idol Coleman Hawkins.
After being discovered early by Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he began playing the Louis
Jordan-inspired alto saxophone.

At sixteen, he switched to tenor in an attempt to imitate Hawkins. He is also fascinated

by the musical revolution that surrounds him, bebop. He began following Charlie Parker and
quickly found himself under the guidance of Thelonious Monk, who became his mentor and
musical expert. When he lived in Sugar Hill, his neighbors were Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew
and Art Taylor, but Sonny was the first to leave the band, working and recording with Babs
Gonzalez, J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell and Miles Davis are under 20 years old. "Of course, these
people are here to be called because I think I represent them in a way," Rollins said of his
colleagues and mentors. “They're not here right now, so I feel like I represent all of them, all of
the guys. Remember that I am one of the last, they tell me all the time, so sometimes I feel a
divine obligation to call these people.

In the early 1950s he rose to fame, first among musicians and then with audiences, as
the most daring and innovative young tenor on the stage through his work with Miles, Monk
and MJQ. Miles Davis was an early fan of Sonny Rollins, writing in his autobiography that he
"started hanging out with Sonny Rollins and his guys from Sugar Hill in Harlem...at least Sonny
had a decent reputation among a lot of the young musicians out there." harlem. "People love
Sonny Rollins in Harlem and everywhere. He is a legend, almost a god to many young
musicians.

Some thought he was playing the saxophone at the level of Bird. I know one thing: he
is close. He is an energetic musician and creative who always has fresh musical ideas. I loved
him back then as a player and he could write his ass…” Sonny moved to Chicago for a few years
to escape the negative elements of the jazz scene. He re-emerged in late 1955 as a member of
the Clifford Brown and Max Roach quintet with an even more serious presence.

His hallmarks are his beautiful style of melodic creation, often ingenious, master of
everything, from the most enigmatic ballads to calypsos, and the dominant logic of his game
that has made him a model of thematic improvisations. Considered one of the best tenor
saxophonists in the history of jazz. His styles are bop and hard bop.

Sonny Rollins is especially known for his edgy, bossy style and his tendency to
exaggerate. During his eight-year career, the workaholic took long breaks, especially in the
1960s when he traveled to India and Japan in search of spirituality.

Sonny Rollins, a genre-bound improviser who pushes sound and melody to the limit,
embodies the spirit of ruthless jazz. I came to the conclusion that his style has always been
distinguished by the presence of Coleman Hawkins for his compact and spacious sound and
Charlie Parker for his freedom to improvise.

The powerful performer of the night (and of the entire festival in the absence of Bill
Evans and Mi Koy Tyner) was Sonny Rollins, one of the living legends of contemporary jazz. The
word "live" is cleverly used as Rollins has recreated his style and even his sound over the years
with incredible versatility. However, he still retains his great personality, and the concert he
gives in San Sebastián seems specially designed to reach an audience as diverse as the one that
attended the festival in all its sessions.

Rollins, with the help of the rhythm part where drummer Al Foster stands out the
most, created a thick, hot, almost danceable track that flows seamlessly from calypso to
reggae to soul themes, presumably based on a Stevie song. Wonder. However, the best part of
the night was a beautiful ballad with an audience solo. Rollins doesn't cheat and can't let
anyone down. He created jazz at the highest level, great music that instantly touches both the
body and the mind.

Walter Theodore Rollins, the giant of the saxophone, has won numerous awards over
the last twenty years. He has received ten honorary doctorates from prestigious music schools
- Berklee College in Boston and the Juilliard School in New York, as well as a prestigious medal
and honors from the Kennedy Center, which he received from President Barack Obama in 2011
during a ceremony in which he also presented the award to actresses Meryl Streep and
Barbara Cook, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who declared that he is
not afraid of death and that although he no longer plays his beloved saxophone, he continues
to track down the details of each new release of previously unreleased material like Double
Rollins in Holland albums (Resonance Records, 2020), featuring recordings and performances
from 1967. Or the Road Show series, four albums released between 2008 and 2016 featuring
Rollins records from the 70s and 80s.

Sonny Rollins prides himself on living on the razor's edge as "a man who fears
nothing," saxophonist Barney Whelen says. A lone wolf can transform into a different creature
with each new step; Looking at his enormous discovery work, so unique, makes you dizzy.
Author of more than a dozen great masterpieces, Rollins wrote his own history of jazz.

Sonny Rollins is definitely on the list of America's greatest living musicians. His
improvisation is vast, clever and witty, and the sheer sensual vitality of his saxophone
delightfully. And while the 87-year-old may well have played the last note of his in public
(almost certainly affected by the diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis), he left the trail of a 66-year-
old man. If you have the heart, the music of Sonny Rollins can reach it. I think so; He disagrees:
“I've dedicated my life to my music,” Rollins said carelessly over the phone from his home in
upstate New York, “and I never have.
Referencias
Britannica, T. E. (23 de May de 2017). Britannica. Obtenido de Sonny Rollins:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sonny-Rollins/additional-info#history

Carey, I. (s.f.). Sonnyrollins. Obtenido de About Sonny Rollins: https://sonnyrollins.com/bio

Costa, J. M. (27 de Julio de 1978). El Pais. Obtenido de El mítico Sonny Rollins:

https://elpais.com/diario/1978/07/28/cultura/270424801_850215.html

Marchese, D. (6 de December de 2017). New York Vulture. Obtenido de Jazz Legend Sonny
Rollins on Retiring His Sax, His Legacy, and the Secret to Life:
https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/jazz-icon-sonny-rollins-on-giving-up-playing-and-
his-legacy.html