Sonny Rollins
Tenor Sax Solo on
Mac The Knife

About

Opening the solo section, this tenor sax improvisation spans eight choruses of the 16-bar form at a medium-up swing tempo of 170 BPM. This track, along with the rest of Saxophone Colossus, cemented Rollins's reputation as one of the most important improvisers in the history of jazz. This is the longest solo on the recording in terms of chorus count, suggesting a featured role in the arrangement. Following this solo, Tommy Flanagan takes over on piano.

Sonny Rollins was 25 to 26 years old at the time.