#danilo perez

Sonny Rollins, the Saxophone Colossus, Dies at 95

- “He set the standard of musicianship so high,” Flea says

Sonny Rollins, known as the Saxophone Colossus since the release of his 1956 album of the same name, died May 25 at 95.

His death was announced in a statement that didn’t give a cause and concluded with a 2009 quote from Rollins:

“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.”

“Now, he is everywhere,” Dave Matthews Band sax man Jeff Coffin said.

Rollins was the last living veteran of the first Monterey Jazz Festival, an event he played seven times between 1958 and 2011 and “at each show, he was at the height of his powers,” festival organizers said in a statement.

“It was mesmerizing, emotional and awe-inspiring for several generations of Monterey Jazz staff and jazz fans to see and hear him play over that 53-year period,” they said. “It was like hearing the evolution of life, and jazz itself.”

“Thank you,” Robert Glasper said to the man he eulogized as the “master teacher.”

The Colossus was “one of the greatest improvisers that ever lived,” Danilo Perez said in a statement.

“Sonny Rollins gave us more than music, he gave us courage, soul and fearless sense of freedom in every solo he ever played,” he said. “Thank you for the decades of fearless creativity and transcendence.”

Rollins began his career as a sideman in 1949, released the first of nearly 50 solo albums in 1953 and continued to make music into the 2010s with a couple of hiatuses to reassess and readjust his style.

“The fact that this verifiable genius stepped away from the scene during high points of his career because he felt that his playing needed significant improvement never ceases to amaze and humble me,” saxophonist Chris Greene said.

“We have lost a musical giant,” Trey Hensley said of Rollins.

“He set the standard of musicianship so high, me and so many like me will be reaching for it all our lives,” Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist who’s just released a solo jazz LP, said.

“The integrity, the power, the fearlessness and the spirituality. My God, thank you so much for your gifts, Sonny.”

Introduction: When discussing the finest jazz bassists, Ray Drummond stands out as a true giant. Known for his versatile style and masterful technique, Drummond has carved out an extraordinary career as a performer, composer, and educator. Over the decades, he has lent his rich, resonant bass tone to countless recordings, collaborated with an astonishing array of jazz luminaries, and nurtured…

2009 - Wayne Shorter Quartet - Düsseldorf

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John Shand’s piece in the Sydney Morning Herald on Wayne Shorter is a tribute to the amazing quartet which visited Australia in 2005. The essay ends with the death of his wife Ana Marie in 1996 on TWA flight 800 leaving JFK.

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