Happy 125th Birthday to Edward Kennedy Ellington! Here's Duke's composition 'Solitude,' as recorded by Sonny Rollins, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, from the 1957 Contemporary LP Way Out West: youtube.com/watch?v=_D3zqn…

'Playing among lots of different people in different countries was encouraging… I was uplifted because I was appreciated there.' –S.R. on Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings, now available from Resonance Records! resonancerecords.org/product/sonny-…

'I attempt to picture in material form the shape created by my sense vibrations when playing notes. Tone also plays a part in this incomplete depiction.' From The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, now available from NYRB Books.

'I can be proud of the fact that I was young, enthusiastic, and I had a good enthusiastic band playing with me... It was all very positive.' –S.R. on Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings, coming 4/20 (LP) & 4/26 (CD) from Resonance Records. resonancerecords.org/product/sonny-…

'One must aspire to the level at which one shall have completely and conclusively been convicted in the thought so as to be able to walk into the lion's den and demonstrate one's MASTERSHIP.' From The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins, coming Apr 16 from NYRB Books.

On Thursday April 4 from 12-2pm ET, Sonny Rollins' biographer Aidan Levy will join WKCR's Rachel Smith in a celebration of the 67th anniversary of the release of the album Saxophone Colossus. Listen live at cc-seas.columbia.edu/wkcr/

Happy Birthday Thad Jones! Here's the cornetist with Sonny Rollins, Bob Cranshaw, and Roy McCurdy on Thelonious Monk's '52nd Street Theme,' recorded for the 1964 RCA Victor album Now's the Time: youtube.com/watch?v=WAg-sr…

Sonny Rollins' composition 'Pent-Up House,' with Clifford Brown on trumpet, drummer Max Roach, pianist Richie Powell, and bassist George Morrow, recorded for the Prestige LP Sonny Rollins Plus 4 on this day in 1956: youtube.com/watch?v=v_gF-y…

Happy 99th Birthday to Roy Haynes! Here's the drummer with Sonny Rollins and Paul Chambers on Kern & Hammerstein's 'The Last Time I Saw Paris,' recorded for the 1957 Riverside LP The Sound of Sonny: youtu.be/XMOAwc-btA0?si…

Happy Birthday Ornette Coleman! Here's the saxophonist/composer with Sonny Rollins, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes, recorded live at the Beacon Theater in NYC in September 2010, and released on Road Shows, Vol. 2: youtube.com/watch?v=WhXlwd…

Happy Birthday Jimmy Garrison! Here's the bassist with Sonny Rollins and Elvin Jones on Rollins' 'Blessing in Disguise,' from the 1966 Impulse! LP East Broadway Run Down: youtube.com/watch?v=xhod-C…

'To me life is not about enjoyment or, in other words, getting for yourself. That’s not why we’re here. The reason of life, to me, is all about giving. Giving is what gives me happiness. Making somebody else happy is the greatest thing you can do.' –S.R. to Vulture, 2017

Coming soon from Resonance Records: Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings, featuring 25 tracks of Sonny Rollins with bassist Henry Grimes and drummers Pete La Roca, Kenny Clarke and Joe Harris. Preorder here: sonnyrollins.com/freedom-weaver

'There's a place where I believe you can transcend these metal instruments and go to another area where you can impose a spiritual reality on the music you are playing… if you have the faith, if you have the ear of God, you can do those things.' —S.R. to Musician Mag., 1988

Miles Davis' 'Compulsion,' featuring Davis on trumpet, Sonny Rollins and 'Charlie Chan' (Parker) on tenor saxophones, pianist Walter Bishop, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, recorded for Prestige Records on this day in 1953: youtube.com/watch?v=NkiJlq…

Following up on my hopes for 2024 -
People: stop killing each other. We need to get a realization in our minds that this ancient way of life is now over. No more killing! –S.R.

On this day in 1951, Sonny Rollins recorded his first track as a leader, 'I Know,' with Roy Haynes, Percy Heath, and Miles Davis on piano (filling in for John Lewis who had to leave for a gig with Lester Young), later released on Prestige Records: youtube.com/watch?v=nOjBig…

Happy Centennial Birthday to Max Roach! Here's the drummer with Sonny Rollins, Kenny Dorham, Ray Bryant, and George Morrow, performing George Russell's 'Ezz-thetic,' released on the 1956 EmArcy album Max Roach + 4: youtube.com/watch?v=t-eyOR…

Sonny Rollins plays Felix Bernard and Richard Bernhard Smith's 'Winter Wonderland,' with Herbie Hancock, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; and Mickey Roker, drums; recorded for RCA Victor in 1964. youtube.com/watch?v=LTaorE…