Sonny Rollins

When Sonny Rollins entered the studio to record Saxophone Colossus, one of his more acclaimed albums as a leader, on June 22, 1956, he had already been a regular member of the celebrated Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet for half a year. This fact also explains the presence of Roach. Four days later, that group would no longer exist, for on June 26 both Clifford Brown and the band’s pianist Ritchie Powell were killed in a tragic car accident. Age 26, Rollins was already a well known jazz figure. He had recorded some albums as a leader but, above all, he had been part of one of the most outstanding combos of the period: the Miles Davis Quintet. Saxophone Colossus presents Rollins leading an all-star quartet that includes pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and, as said before, drummer Max Roach. The album enjoyed great critical success from the start and helped establish Rollins as a prominent jazz artist.