Sonny Rollins, colossus of the saxophone, has died at 95

Sonny Rollins, a revered tenor saxophonist known for a huge tone and seemingly endless improvisations, died at his home in Woodstock, New York at age 95. He received major honors including National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master status, a Kennedy Center honor, and the National Medal of the Arts. He emphasized that recognition mattered less than doing the work and doing it as well as possible. Born in New York City and raised in Harlem’s Sugar Hill, he was influenced by experimentation and by nearby leading jazz musicians. After withdrawing in the late 1950s, he practiced alone at night on the Williamsburg Bridge. He returned in 1962 with the album The Bridge, which was widely celebrated.

"“All these prizes are nice, I appreciate them,” he told NPR. “I don't go crazy about them you have to do your work whether you're recognized or not. The real deal is doing it the best you can do it and that's it. That's it's own reward.”"

"Rollins was a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, a recipient of a Kennedy Center honor and a recipient of the National Medal of the Arts. And he was the very incarnation of a modern jazz musician. His art was his life. For Sonny Rollins, the real deal was playing the tenor saxophone. He became beloved internationally as the last man standing, the reigning star of the generation that turned jazz from bluesy entertainment into a personally expressive, ever-changing art form without losing its bluesy, entertaining side."

"He was born Sept. 7, 1930, in New York City and grew up on Sugar Hill, Harlem's “strivers' row,” where some of the most successful and daring jazz men of the era lived, with neighbors like Jackie McLean, Art Taylor and Kenny Drew. Rollins was drawn to the experimentation and new style developing around him. Sonny's parents, who were from the Virgin Islands, were uneasy about his interests. But he was on his way."

"But in the late 1950s, Rollins withdrew. Seeking a new direction, he practiced his horn by himself, at night, on the Williamsburg Bridge. His return in 1962 with an album titled The Bridge was welcomed as a cultural event."

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