No Bridge Was Too Far for Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins, the tenor saxophonist who died on May 25 at the age of 95, was a jazz musician's musician. The last of the big boppers, Rollins was the marathon runner of the chordal labyrinth. But the Theseus of the tenorists was more likely than most of the great jazzers to be seen than heard. For most people, jazz looks better than it sounds. The listening public's visual taste in Blue Note sleeve designs and black-and-white photography always outstrips its aural appetite. The obituaries emph…
