“Saxophone Colossus” Sonny Rollins Dies at 95

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who was schooled by jazz bebop legends, and then became one himself as a formidable band leader, composer and improviser, has passed at the age of 95. Sporting a burly tone along with a keen melodic and harmonic ingenuity, Rollins stands out as a jazz voice that was truly groundbreaking. Over the course of a career that stretched back to the late 1940’s, his immense stature was acknowledged with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Kennedy Honors and a National Medal of Arts.

Among the long list of amazing music he recorded, Rollins did a classic rendition of the Billy Strayhorn tune, “Rain Check” (1955). Billy Strayhorn Songs Inc. and the Billy Strayhorn Foundation salutes and gives esteemed honor in memory of this jazz giant. (Photo by Jordi Vidal).