![]() In the early 1940s, Rollins ’s family moved to a new neighborhood further uptown, which was home to numerous well-known musicians. ![]() He began taking lessons on an alto while spending his time listening to Louis Jordan records. Two years passed before Rollins, struck by the sight of a saxophone in its case, discovered his instrument. He preferred the baseball field, where he acquired the nickname “Newk ” because he idolized Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe. “I went down there at least once a week and caught practically everybody - Lionel Hampton, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, ” Rollins recounted to Blumenthal.Īt home, Rollins ’s parents expected him to study piano like his sister, but the eight-year-old rebelled. The young Rollins dreamed of visiting both night spots, but contented himself at the Apollo Theater. Located in Harlem, his family ’s first apartment was within walking distance of such popular jazz hangouts as the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club. “The year was 1930, but I had to put my age up when it came time to get working papers, so some of the books say 1929, ” Rollins explained to Bob Blumenthal in Rolling Stone. Rollins was born Theodore Walter Rollins on September 7, 1930, in New York City. He has remained popular over four decades, despite periodically dropping out of the jazz scene, and is often considered one of the greatest saxophonists in the music industry. ![]() ” Revered as a jazz master whose improvisational work has made him one of the most influential musicians in the genre, Rollins is a complex performer. “Rollins played with a vivacity and amplitude so far beyond the ken of most musicians, ” wrote Gary Giddins in the Village Voice about tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins ’s 1988 Town Hall concert, “that it might shame many into another line of work.
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