Sonny Rollins
Tenor Sax Solo on
Tenor Madness

About

Sonny Rollins's tenor sax solo is the second of 4 solos on this recording, following John Coltrane's tenor sax and followed by Red Garland on piano. Spanning eight choruses of the 12-bar Blues form at a medium-up 175 BPM with a swing feel in B♭, the solo runs approximately 2:12. Rollins follows with eight expansive choruses that demonstrate his mastery of thematic development and rhythmic invention, his solo building with the architectural logic that critics and scholars have long admired. Sonny Rollins was 25 to 26 years old at the time of this 1956 recording.

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