Sonny Rollins

A living legend, Sonny was born Theodore Walter Rollins in New York City on September 7, 1930. He played the alto sax in high school and switched to tenor sax afterwards. The world of jazz would never be the same.Sonny recorded with the vocalist Babs Gonzales in 1948 and with Miles Davis in 1951. In 1956 he joined the Max Roach/Clifford Brown group and a year later formed his own group. From 1959-1962 Rollins left the music business to persue a spiritual path. He went to India where he studied Yoga and then Japan where he studied Zen. He returned with the groundbreaking recording "The Bridge" with guitarist Jim Hall. Beginning in 1971 he recorded a string of successful records for the Milestone label and in 1978 he was a member of the Milestone Jazz Stars and gained even more popularity as a touring headliner.

Rollins was in his NYC apartment, blocks away from the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. From that experience. four days later, he gave a concert in Boston that was filled with emotion. "Without a Song" is the live recording of that concert and Sonny is in top form.

The sextet is comprised of Sonny on tenor, Clifton Anderson on trombone, Stephen Scott on piano, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, Perry Wilson on drums, and Kimati Dini

zulu on percussion.

Rollins won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "Why Was I Born?"

Now. in his 80's, Sonny continues to play world wide. He is the composer of such standards as "Oleo," "Doxy," "Airegin," and "St. Thomas."

Here's a video of the young Sonny playing "St. Thomas."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4DTR0I7xhA&feature=player_detailpage