Sonny Rollins
Tenor Sax Solo on
Valse Hot

About

Sonny Rollins's tenor saxophone solo is the first of four improvisations on this rare jazz waltz. Taking five choruses of the 16-bar form in A-flat at 137 BPM in 3/4 time, Rollins demonstrates his melodic inventiveness within the less common triple-meter framework. His lines navigate the waltz feel with characteristic rhythmic ingenuity, the three-quarter time presenting a distinct challenge that he meets with the thematic development and motivic logic that defined his improvisational approach during this fertile period.

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