Sonny Rollins is the most enduring tenor saxophonist of the bebop and hard bop era, but also one of the greatest jazz saxophonists of all time. His fluid and harmonically innovative ideas and easily accessible sound have influenced generations.
of players. Nicknamed "Newk," he apprenticed early on with bop masters from Bud Powell and Miles Davis to Max Roach and Clifford Brown. After the release of the 1956 classic "Saxophone Colossus," he was heralded as the finest tenor saxophonist in jazz. A year later, after "Way Out West" and "A Night at the Village Vanguard," he entered a class of his own—a reputation he had never before enjoyed.
Several of his own compositions, including "Oleo" and "Doxy," are jazz standards. He won Grammys for "This Is What I Do" (2000) and "Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert" (2005), and received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
"Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders" was originally released in 1959 by the West Coast jazz label Contemporary Records. Rollins is backed by a who's who of the label's players, including Hampton Hawes (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Leroy Vinnegar (bass), and Shelly Manne (drums). This edition, released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from Bernie Grundman's original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI.
