Sonny Rollins—legendary jazz saxophonist, often regarded as one of the greatest improvisers of all time—has died. He was 95 years old.
Born in New York City in 1930 and raised in Harlem, Rollins began by playing alto saxophone but soon switched to the instrument that would make his career, the tenor. He recorded with musicians such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk; composed a number of jazz standards; and was honored with the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement and a National Medal of Arts, among other awards.
In 2024, New York Review Books published The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, edited by Sam V. H. Reese, which collects an extraordinary array of Rollins's notes and musings—on chores and rehearsal routines; on questions of musical style, technique, and form; on nightclub culture, racism, and the conundrums of the inner life; and more.