The entire Django family mourns the passing of jazz saxophone icon Sonny Rollins this past weekend at the age of 95.

 

With a seemingly limitless reservoir of improvisational inspiration, Rollins was a dominant force on the jazz scene for nearly 80 years, marrying a myriad of styles into a sound all his own. On albums like “Tenor Madness,” “Saxophone Colossus,” and “Way Out West,” Rollins demonstrated an uncanny ability to fuse melodic ideas and thematic development with an immediately-recognizable tone on his instrument. And while he retired from playing publicly in 2012 after a respiratory illness, his immense influence is still felt widely to this day, in jazz, rock and beyond.

 

(FUN FACT: It’s Rollins’ burly saxophone that appears on the outro of the Rolling Stones classic “Waiting on a Friend,” as well as on this unforgettable version of Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire”).

 

 

 

We asked some of today’s most acclaimed saxophonists about what Rollins’ music meant to them. Read their remembrances below.

 

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“My Dad took me to the Apollo Theatre on 1962 the year that ‘The Bridge’ came out. I remember there was a Trio (possibly Jimmy Smith) then a short movie and then Sonny came out and blew me away. He had a sound and presence that I’d never heard before… May he rest in peace.” – Mark Rivera (Billy Joel Band)

 

“Sonny Rollins—  the greatest pure bebop tenor saxophonist of all time. He took Bird’s language and combined it with Coleman Hawkins’ approach to the tenor.” – Eric Alexander

 

“Sonny Rollins will always stand out as not only one of the most influential saxophonists, but  one of the greatest improvisors in the history of Jazz. His influence on the music was profound and his ability to absorb and make his own many of the new developments in the music, places him in the highest level of artists in this genre. ‘There Will Never Be Another You.’” – Jed Levy

 

“Sonny Rollins is the sound of the tenor saxophone.” – Sam Dillon

 

“Sonny Rollins is everything you could want to be as a saxophonist. A sound that is instantly identifiable, a tremendous sense of rhythm and swing, and the freedom and creativity to go in and out of the harmony of whatever he was playing. Sonny will forever be a guiding light.” – Mike DiRubbo

 

“Sonny Rollins was my first tenor saxophone influence, and the first jazz solo I ever transcribed was ‘Softly As In A Morning Sunrise’ from ‘A Night At The Village Vanguard,’ at the behest of my saxophone teacher, Tom Christensen. That was in 1987 at Eastman School of Music Jazz Camp, and it was a watershed moment in my musical life, because I knew right away I would be soaking up everything I could from Sonny’s playing for the rest of my life.” – Joel Frahm

 

“Sonny Rollins changed my life for the better in many ways. A never ending inspiration and influence to me. I am grateful to him for the deep legacy of music and life force he embodied.” – Donny McCaslin