@thesonnyrollins.bsky.social
The official account of Sonny Rollins, the Saxophone Colossus. https://sonnyrollins.com/
Happy Birthday Roy Hargrove! Here's the trumpeter with Sonny Rollins, Mark Soskin, Bob Cranshaw, and Al Foster on Sonny's composition "Young Roy," from the 1991 Milestone album Here's to the People: youtu.be/_kxa4-Hsfwk?...
16.10.2025 23:12 β π 5 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
A photo of Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk, photographer unknown.
Happy Birthday Thelonious Monk! βMonk was an enigmatic guy, but he was one of the best people Iβve known, completely honest, and he took a liking to me and took me under his wing, and years later I was able to see that he influenced me in many things.β βS.R. (2007)
10.10.2025 20:51 β π 58 π 11 π¬ 0 π 1
Happy Birthday Oscar Pettiford! Here's the bassist with Sonny Rollins and Max Roach on NoΓ«l Coward's "Someday I'll Find You," from the 1958 Riverside LP The Freedom Suite: youtu.be/0IGAe0mXKgs?...
30.09.2025 22:54 β π 8 π 3 π¬ 0 π 1
Happy Birthday Fats Navarro! Here's the trumpeter with Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, Tommy Potter, and Roy Haynes, on Thelonious Monk's 52nd St. Theme, recorded for Blue Note Records in 1949: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCD...
24.09.2025 07:42 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
95.5/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Thank you for joining us for this Sonny Rollins celebration! As a closing bonus, enjoy this interview, "Jazz and Life": "Jazz is a force of nature, it's a feeling, it's a sense of communing with higher things... that's what it is for me." www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCE...
14.09.2025 01:21 β π 9 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
95/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny's composition "Pantjali," recorded July 25, 2012 at Palais Longchamp, Marseille, France: youtu.be/MWwtH043bnw?...
14.09.2025 01:20 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
94/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "Tenor Madness" Sonny Rollins live at Jazz Γ Vienne, 2011: youtu.be/lxzuvS29lR8?...
14.09.2025 01:16 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
93/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 In 2011, Sonny was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Pres. Barack Obama. "I'm very happy that jazz, the greatest American music, is being recognized... and I'm grateful to accept this award on behalf of the gods of our music." βS.R. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT3G...
14.09.2025 01:16 β π 3 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
92/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "Sonnymoon for Two" In September 2010, Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins share the stage for the very first time at Sonny's 80th birthday celebration at the Beacon Theatre in NYC: youtu.be/WhXlwdkcLc4?...
14.09.2025 01:15 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
91/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 In September 2007, Sonny was joined by Roy Haynes and Christian McBride at Carnegie Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his debut there. Here's "Some Enchanted Evening": youtu.be/oeRqpjoGfJs?...
13.09.2025 23:17 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
90/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny's blues "H.S." (dedicated to Horace Silver), recorded live in Toulouse, France, 2006 and released on Road Shows, Vol. 4: Holding the Stage: youtu.be/Tq0sy-k3kDg?...
13.09.2025 23:17 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0![Sonny Rollins - Sonny, Please (2006) [FULL ALBUM]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zestod54evy3jzrbmzaab2cc/bafkreig2rq3qlnzo2gjea24cl2mvh7w3nuu5zlhlniidvizdtfyqc4o7bm@jpeg)
89/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny's original "Park Place Parade," named for the ballroom where he went to calypso dances with his mother, from the 2006 Doxy album Sonny Please: youtu.be/C9Frnlfcst8?...
13.09.2025 23:16 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
88/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 The title track from Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert, recorded in Boston Sept. 15, 2001. "Maybe music can help. I don't know. But we have to try something these days, right?" βS.R. youtu.be/OCAZA9WKiQM?...
13.09.2025 23:16 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
87/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny starts off the 21st century with Loesser & Newman's "The Moon of Manakoora," from the 2000 Grammy-winning Milestone CD "This is What I Do": youtu.be/f5rikM3GFDk?...
13.09.2025 19:06 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
86/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "Echo-Side Blue," from the 1998 album Global Warming. "We're destroying the planet... we are sawing the limb we're sitting on." βS.R. youtu.be/DwyQzRAJ0Ac?...
13.09.2025 19:06 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
85/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Rodgers & Hart's "Falling in Love with Love," from a 1997 live performance in Tokyo: youtu.be/Ewg90DKNt0M?...
13.09.2025 19:06 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
84/95 Welcome to the final day of #sonnyrollins95for95! Here's Sonny's "Biji," with Tommy Flanagan, Bob Cranshaw, and Al Foster, from the 1995 Milestone album Sonny Rollins +3: youtu.be/0EJnVrjFdFQ?...
13.09.2025 19:05 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
83/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny's "Times Slimes," from the 1993 Milestone album Old Flames. For the story behind the title, see Saxophone Colossus, p. 674: youtu.be/M1rjaaYVOs8?...
13.09.2025 01:02 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
82/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny plays his composition "Young Roy," written for and featuring then 21-year-old trumpeter Roy Hargrove, with pianist Mark Soskin, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Al Foster. Recorded for the 1991 Milestone album "Here's to the People": youtu.be/_kxa4-Hsfwk?...
13.09.2025 01:02 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
81/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Kern & Hammerstein's "Why Was I Born?" from the 1991 Milestone album Here's to the People: youtu.be/0UMnEw4ubLM?...
13.09.2025 01:02 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
80/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "For All We Know" (Coots/Lewis), featuring guest tenorist Branford Marsalis, from the 1989 Milestone album Falling in Love with Jazz: youtu.be/9eP1x8saIaU?...
13.09.2025 01:01 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
79/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 From the 1987 album Dancing in the Dark, here's Sonny's composition "Allison": youtu.be/7epvk03Z9Oo?...
13.09.2025 00:06 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
78/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "G-Man" During an Aug. 1986 Saugerties, NY, concert filmed for the film Saxophone Colossus, Sonny misjudged the height of the stage and jumped off, breaking his heel. "I kept playing, and I was very happy about that." βS.R. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G6O...
13.09.2025 00:06 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
77/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "Soloscope (Part 1)," from The Solo Album, recorded in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, July 1985: youtu.be/xHSyG1bthE0?...
13.09.2025 00:06 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
76/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Another from Sunny Days, Starry Nights: Sonny's "Tell Me You Love Me," with Clifton Anderson, Mark Soskin, Russell Blake, and Tommy Campbell: youtu.be/oeS_79XoiH0?...
13.09.2025 00:06 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
75/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Jerome Kern & Johnny Mercer's "I'm Old Fashioned," from the 1984 Milestone album Sunny Days, Starry Nights: youtu.be/F4Un0xSw5Sw?...
13.09.2025 00:06 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
74/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "McGhee" (a minor blues based on a line Sonny Rollins remembered trumpeter Howard McGhee playing when they toured together in 1949), from the 1982 album Reel Life: youtu.be/pSL7S0fwwFw?...
12.09.2025 20:32 β π 5 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
73/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "Here You Come Again" (made famous by Dolly Parton) from the 1982 Milestone album No Problem, featuring Bobby Hutcherson, Bobby Broom, Bob Cranshaw, and Tony Williams: youtu.be/Il86UcgzdJA?...
12.09.2025 20:32 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
72/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 Sonny Rollins' "Blossom," from a performance at the Ume (Sweden) Jazz Festival in October 1980, released in 2008 on Road Shows, Vol. 1 (Doxy): youtu.be/TSIR6yStdB8?...
12.09.2025 20:32 β π 6 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
71/95 #sonnyrollins95for95 "Strode Rode," from the 1980 Milestone album Love at First Sight: youtu.be/3HfKkgHrxH8?...
12.09.2025 20:32 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0