Saxophone Colossus cover

Saxophone Colossus

Released

Sonny Rollins could change your life from the stage, but his albums rarely scaled the same heights. This one, recorded in 1956 with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins, and drummer Max Roach, is truly exceptional, a landmark in 1950s jazz. The band swings hard, even on the ballad “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” and Rollins’ solos have the thoughtfulness and structural logic of architectural blueprints. The calypso-tinged opener, “St. Thomas,” became his signature piece — he played it almost every night until retiring from live performance in 2012.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Workout cover

Workout

Hank Mobley
Plus Four cover

Plus Four

Sonny Rollins
Oscar Peterson & Harry Edison cover

Oscar Peterson & Harry Edison

Oscar Peterson, Harry Edison
Getz/Gilberto cover

Getz/Gilberto

Antônio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Stan Getz
Tenor Madness cover

Tenor Madness

Sonny Rollins
The Quartet cover

The Quartet

George Coleman
Underground cover

Underground

Thelonious Monk
Plays Count Basie cover

Plays Count Basie

Oscar Peterson
Green Street cover

Green Street

Grant Green
Something Cool cover

Something Cool

June Christy