As companion to our June 2005 cover story on Sonny Rollins, we asked some of his counterparts to reflect on the impact of his life and art. What we couldn't run in print is available below.

• Do you remember the first time you heard Sonny play?
• What is your favorite performance by Sonny?
• What are some of the techniques Sonny uses to create his sound?
• How has Sonny influenced you?
• Do you have any memorable stories about Sonny?
  

Do you remember the first time you heard Sonny play?

I grew up in a household where both parents were avid jazz fans, so I have quite literally heard Sonny Rollins all my life. The first time I heard him and took note of who was playing was in 1963, when I was 10 years old. My younger brother and I were sitting on the floor in front of the record player, playing with blocks. My dad was listening to some albums. After a few seconds I began to really focus on the music. I was captivated by the infectious rhythms of the guitar, bass and drums. After the guitarist finished his solo there was a brief quiet moment and suddenly the saxophone entered. The rhythm began to intensify. I looked up at the speaker and asked my dad, "Who is that?" My dad answered, "That's Sonny Rollins." I said, "I like him!" I looked at the album cover and memorized it. It was the What's New album, and the song was "If Ever I Should Leave You." After that I would ask my dad to "play that record by Sonny Rollins!" What grabbed me at that young age was how rhythmically animated Sonny's playing was, along with the speech-like quality of his sound. It was like listening to a human voice, but with a thousand times the rhythmic capacity!
-Ron Holloway

I think the first recording I heard of Sonny was Way Out West. The trio format is my favorite context in which to listen to him play. The recording has a sense of invention and spontaneity that is amazing and yet in each moment the music has the weight of perfection and inevitability. With Sonny there is always a strong sense of the melody, even when he’s not literally playing it. This, along with his sound, rhythmic feel and the developmental nature of his improvisations, are the key elements of his style.
-John O'Gallagher

“Tenor Madness” with John Coltrane. You have, in one song, the story of the blues. I kept Sonny's solo in my mind for many years and I think that it's still there. Sonny Rollins, with his big and robust sounds and flowing ideas, remains one of the greatest improvisers that I have ever heard in my life.
-Rosario Giuliani

I was 15 years old and skipped school one day to catch Sonny's matinee performance at the Detroit Jazz Festival. It blew my mind so much that I snuck out of my house that night to catch the late show. Although I got into a lot of trouble, it changed my life forever and it was worth it. The first Sonny Rollins composition I ever heard was “G-Man.” My Grandmother hated the fact that every morning before I went to school, I would blast that song as loud as my stereo could go. It was my personal anthem before leaving for school--it really got me going. What really made me take notice of Sonny Rollins was his sound. It seemed to have a "blue collar" feel, and at that time, being from Detroit (a true blue-collar town), I could really relate.
-J.D. Allen

The first time I heard Sonny play was on Dizzy Gillespie's Sonny Side Up featuring the great Sonny Stitt and, of course, Sonny Rollins. I was very young and a big fan of Stitt's. I was looking forward to listening to that CD because of the "tenor battle.” One can learn a lot about the different ways of playing the same instrument through that tenor battle. From his first note, Rollins made me smile, as if massaging my ears with his distinct "sweet and sour" sound. His solo was only one chorus, but he played with such coolness--taking his time--and yet with the most amazing phrasing, gliding on top of the very tight rhythm section. I fell in love immediately and kept smiling throughout the whole record.
-Eli Degibri

When I was in high school, I started listening more to jazz and less to rock ’n’ roll and folk music. Part of the reason for this was I started hanging out with a different group of people, and part of the reason was I heard some Sonny Rollins. It was "Strode Rode" from Saxophone Colossus. That hit me so hard! He plays the head—a staccato, rhythmic melody, and then he just takes off on this beautiful solo with just the bass—it's perfect.
-Myanna Pontoppidan

The first time I heard Sonny Rollins play was on “The Eternal Triangle” off the record Sonny Side Up with Sonny Stitt and Dizzy Gillespie. I was trying to figure out bop at the time, so I really took notice of Sonny’s feel for time, not to mention the fact that nearly every line he played seemed too perfect to have been improvised. It was hard to imagine ever being able to know the music well enough to play like that.
-Mike Lewis (Happy Apple)

What is your favorite performance by Sonny?

I put on “God Bless the Child” [from The Bridge] recently and it really just hit me all over again how deep Sonny’s playing is--and nothing frivolous about it at all. He can play all over the saxophone but his musical instinct and his personality suggest these amazing things that anybody else would have run into the ground. It’s so deep it just knocked me out. I still remember his solo on “St. Thomas,” it was just a trio on that thing, I remember he took the last two notes that Doug Watkins played, took that fifth interval and worked for about three days on that solo. I think it’s just his innate sense of composition. I went to music school for five years to figure it out. Sonny could just do that.
-Jim Hall

In August, 2004, at his yearly free concert at Lincoln Center, two things stuck out. The ballad he chose was "They Say That Falling in Love is Wonderful." It was yet another profoundly moving performance by him. His ability to make a melody sound like the most beautiful melody in the world, full of sentiment, while simultaneously deconstructing it up and down, is unmatched. It’s a powerful one-two punch. And then he played a new piece that was unlike anything I had heard him write, and I know all his records. It was episodic, and sort of elegiac and wistful, just something different and new. What an amazing long career of creativity!
-Marty Ehrlich

There has been a lot of talk about Sonny's earlier work being the pinnacle of his career. I don't agree with this opinion. I try to hear Sonny several times a year, and over the years I have heard performances of staggering brilliance, on a par with anything he's ever played!
-Ron Holloway

Sonny's true brilliance is displayed on Saxophone Colossus. You can hear the chords in his playing as he perfectly outlines the changes like only Sonny can do! In the liner notes of one of Sonny's albums he says "The first time I saw a saxophone in its case it looked so beautiful I just had to learn how to play it." Well, the first time I heard Sonny play he inspired me to want to play the saxophone too.
-Mike Frost

I heard Sonny Rollins in 1990 at Umbria Jazz, was a real big shock, his energy was too much for me, after his concert I didn't move my body for a few minutes.
-Rosario Giuliani

“Alfie's Theme.” It's so full of emotion. He totally brings across the torment of the character in the movie.
-Myanna Pontoppidan

I love The Bridge. I love the story behind the album—how he was practicing under the bridge. I love his motive playing—how he takes an idea and works with it for the longest time. I love his conversations with Jim Hall, his strong and assertive playing. That was the second jazz album I ever bought, and I bought it together with my boyfriend at the time and for years it moved back and forth from my apartment to his.
-Anat Cohen

Every time I think of Rollins, I think about his tune Airegin. As a tenor saxophonist, it's hard for me to play this tune and not try to sound like Rollins. It has all the "Rollins characteristics," and it's enough to play only the melody and get immediately into Rollins' mood. The way the melody is laid--rhythmically--plus the fun changes that are curved around the tonic, makes it just a great joy for the improviser.
-Eli Degibri

What are some of the techniques Sonny uses to create his sound?

Sonny took the whole idea of narrative melodic development to new heights. He found a way to make each idea expand to a logical conclusion while simultaneously spinning it off into fresh territory. The result is a kind of improvising that invites and brings the listeners with him as he literally makes connections between ideas that are both surprising and inevitable at the same time. Of course all of this is done with one of the greatest sounds ever and a rhythmic clock that stands apart from just about anyone in the history of this music.
-Pat Metheny

I know that he was working on circular breathing and experimenting with different facets of the saxophone. He was really pushing the envelope right from the start. And I’m sure those times when he was practicing down at Williamsburg Bridge has something to do with it. He had a compositional approach. When he plays “God Bless the Child,” for instance—I’m not even religious—but you can really hear the words when Sonny plays it. I get a feeling of what the song means. Lester Young supposedly liked to know the words to the songs that he was playing. And Sonny seems to—maybe he doesn’t know the words, but he gets the feeling of the tune across. My feeling about Sonny is that he makes every song special. Each tune is approached differently, and I think that’s important.
-Jim Hall

The term "organic" is used a lot in music. I think Sonny best defines what that means--he's an organic improviser. Listening to him is like watching the sun rise or the trees grow. It never sounds forced, and each idea develops from the next one. On top of that he has so much humor and spirit--you can feel his eyes twinkle--or maybe it's behind his eyes, a sparkle, as if he's amused by each phrase he discovers. And it certainly sounds like every phrase is a discovery. He also has the funkiest feel for time, but it's really flexible. And his articulation, like a drum. And his sound is beautiful, incredibly warm and direct--it reaches out and envelops you.
-John Ellis

He’s very big on melodic invention. He layers melody, that’s one of the things that has influenced me so heavily. All his flights, all his inventions came from the melody, as opposed to chordal invention. It’s his main modus operandi.
-David S. Ware

Sonny Rollins came up in a period when it meant something to mold a unique sound and develop a personal approach to playing one’s instrument. He is the one we picture when we think of man and instrument melding into one. The solitary figure atop the Williamsburg Bridge, striving to reach his full potential. When he is on, there is no one more captivating than Sonny Rollins. His sense of organic construction, ambidextrous timing, humorous quotes, supreme swagger, infectious personality, individual choice of notes, note displacement, keen sense of drama, staccato punctuations followed by virtuosic runs, worrying a single note, a very personal tonal texture, unique use of smeared notes and more. One hears in his music an abundance of individuality, imagination, humanity, integrity, passion, respect for tradition as well as a need to explore new musical terrain. One can dissect the elements of Sonny's style, but when it comes to copying him--forgetaboutit!
-Ron Holloway

Sonny, at his best, has such an amazingly powerful sense of broad swings, and I am intentionally using the plural. He would vary the placement of his 8th note and inflections from bar-to-bar and even from beat-to-beat, always tremendously swinging. He reminded me of a broader silent comedian, less deadpan and close to the vest than say Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd—more like a vaudeville-style comedian, say Laurel and Hardy. I also thought that in his big vibrato and thick, darker sound there were profound echoes of Coleman Hawkins and Chuck Berry—he was definitely the yang to Trane's yin, much as Lester Young was part of that same dichotomy with Hawkins. Also, his working of all facets of an idea were such a wonderful contrast to mindless line-running common at the time (and now.)
-Michael Zilber

Sonny has all the skills that I believe are necessary to be classed as a truly great musician, Great sound, solid technique, effortless swing and melodic and harmonic clarity in his improvisations. But, he also has that rare quality of being able to manipulate and transform simple or complex melodic ideas so that each permutation is as fresh, exciting and memorable as the last. He has brought flexibility and surprise to the art of improvisation and has introduced another level of interaction and communication among musicians onstage.
-Denys Baptiste

With Sonny there is this incredible spirit of joy and an infectious swing that carries the listener away. I find that after listening to him, the spirit of his rhythm and swing resonates in me and affects the way I feel when walking, talking and just going about life. It's a very powerful thing. There is also a tremendous sense of the human being behind the music. A sincerity, authenticity and sense of humor permeate what he plays. He is showing you who he is without compromise. In his choice of songs, quotes and the overall playfulness of his improvisations, no one in jazz is more at ease and natural displaying their sense of humor than Sonny Rollins.
-John O'Gallagher

How has Sonny influenced you?

How could you not be influenced by Sonny if you had anything at all to do with jazz?! That would be like trying to write symphonic music without checking out Mozart. Sonny has influenced me most with his sheer determination, flow and ease of execution, wide variety of shapes and colors in his playing, and his compositional way of approaching solos.
-Bob Mintzer

I tried to sound just like him when I was younger--for a while he defined for me what playing the tenor was supposed to sound like. His feel for time is still a big influence, and the way he takes his time and lets things develop - I certainly remember having a revelation about that while learning his solos; "Sonnymoon for Two" on A Night at the Village Vanguard Vol. 2 is a great example of this.
-John Ellis

Sonny Rollins' influence on my playing has been multi-faceted. I think the first and most important thing he seemed to be saying to me was, "Find your own voice. Find a sound that is uniquely yours!” Of course, this proved to be exactly his philosophy once I met him. I have also always been partial to the tenor players with the big, full sound. In terms of the tenor's sonic potential Sonny has been a huge influence! He inspired me to investigate the entire spectrum of the tenor saxophone's sound palette. Finally, when it comes to the concept of the musician willing the instrument to become an extension of himself, there can be no better model than Sonny. Sonny's legacy is not only an example of great focus and contemplation. He is involved on a meditative level, as was his friend John Coltrane.
-Ron Holloway

What really appeals to me most about Sonny and how he has influenced me is that he is truly himself. He is not trying to play like anyone other than Sonny Rollins, and I think that in a day and age of mimicry this is a huge area that needs to be explored by most everyone playing music.
-Jeff Coffin

As a pianist, having had all the experience I did with Sonny certainly changed a lot of things. But the being in the moment and risk-taking are some things I know I gained from my work with Sonny. Also, I realized what an art form comping is and how important it is to helping the ensemble sound.
-Mark Soskin

Time, time, time, time, time. Just because you're not in the rhythm section doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to develop your own inner clock and feel. Whether Sonny is playing eighth notes or more broad, "over the bar" phrases, I've always felt like he has an acute awareness of where he is in the form. I think you can really hear it on a record he made with Don Cherry, On the Outside. Most of the record is formed, and whether or not Sonny is actually playing perfectly within it I feel like I can always hear where he's hearing it.
-Mike Lewis (Happy Apple)

One of the things that impresses me the most about Sonny's playing is his ability to always be present when he's playing. He never phones it in, which I've seen plenty of players do as they get older. That is something that I also pride myself on—I always feel the passion when I'm playing.
-Myanna Pontoppidan

I think I was a lot more influenced by Trane and Wayne Shorter, but I did pay close attention to how Sonny would—especially in the ’50s—work a motive and develop it through the changes. Perhaps, since Wayne did the same thing but focused on upper extensions, I got some of that by proxy. There were periods when I did try to emulate Sonny’s approach, first as a natural extension from modeling Paul Gonsalves and then as a break from modeling Michael Brecker. I am sure that some of that has stayed in there, particularly in how he would vary his tone. A lot of tenor players tend to have one sound, and Sonny had a dramatic array of timbres. I think there is much to be learned from the strength and variety of his swing rhythm, especially during the late ’50s, which is my favorite period of his playing. To me, it is wonderful that he offers this earthy, comedia del arte approach to jazz soloing.
-Michael Zilber

Sonny's music has influenced my playing in many ways. His concept of rhythm, the elasticity of his phrasing, the development of ideas and his harmonic vocabulary all have a great deal to learn from. But ultimately, beyond technical aspects, it is the feeling of the adventure of improvising and the joy of expressing the moment that is the most meaningful.
-John O'Gallagher

Do you have any memorable stories about Sonny?  

When I was around 18, I'd been playing the saxophone only about two years, and I went down to New York to see Sonny play. I really wanted to meet Sonny, so I gathered the courage to knock on the dressing room door. He answered, and I asked, "Are you busy?"—a pithy question—and he answered, "Never too busy for a beautiful woman!" So, turning a lovely shade of red, I went in and we chatted in-between him practicing some licks. He was very encouraging, and also admonished me for traveling without my horn. "Never go anywhere without your baby," he said. “You have to play at least some every day." Great advice from the great man.
-Myanna Pontoppidan

A friend of mine told me that one day he met Sonny Rollins in Italy after a soundcheck, and asked him if he wanted to go back to the hotel. It was 4 p.m. and the concert was at 9 p.m. He said, "No, I prefer to stay in the dressing room to go inside the music that I will play and keep the best concentration that I can.” For 5 hours he was alone, in the dark.
-Rosario Giuliani

I have never met Sonny, although I have had the great pleasure of playing with giants who worked and played with him many times in the past, such as bassist Ron Carter and drummer Al Foster. Sonny's name was mentioned so many times while working with them and every time it came up, it was always with this very funny imitation of his voice. I feel that this voice (just like his voice on the saxophone) is so distinct, that even though I have never talked to him personally, I would recognize it immediately.
-Eli Degibri