As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary trumpeter Miles Davis today (May 26)….the jazz world is mourning the loss of another Jazz Titan.
Saxophone Colossus Sonny Rollins, known for his beautiful tone and amazing improvisations died yesterday afternoon at his Woodstock, N.Y. home at the age of 95.
Theodore “Sonny” 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.
In a 2023 during the late David Sanborn’s As We Speak WBGO podcast, Sanborn talked with Sonny Rollins about how the music they played with stay with us forever. Rollins also talked about growing up in Harlem when his family didn't have much.
In April of this year, trombonist Clifton Anderson told WBGO;s Doug Doyle about the greatest gift he ever received was from his uncle Sonny Rollins. When Clifton was seven years old, Sonny gave Anderson's mom a trombone and told her to give it to the youngster as a gift.
Sonny Rollins was born Sept. 7, 1930, in New York City and grew up on Sugar Hill.
He will greatly missed by the music world and all of us at WBGO.
