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Sonny Rollins, the revered jazz saxophonist known to rock fans for his work with the Rolling Stones, died May 25 at the age of 95. A statement announcing Rollins’ death described him as “one of the most honored and influential figures in American music of the 20th century and beyond.” Born in Harlem, New York in 1930, Rollins began playing music as a child. He was already a professional by the time he was a teenager and he really made a name for himself in the ‘50s, rising to become one of jazz’s premiere musicians. Just as he was becoming...

Tutored by Thelonious Monk, the Harlem native came of age with bebop and created a succession of improvisational masterpieces that made him one of history’s most influential musicians.Sonny Rollins, the powerful and personal jazz tenor saxophonist whose improvisational sessions became legend and his compositions “St. Thomas,” “Oleo,” “Doxy,” “Rent-Up House” and “Airegin” standards, died Monday. He was 95. Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York, his family announced. Widely recognized as one of the most important and influential musicians of all time, Rollins recorded 60-plus albums during his seven-decade career. Along the way, he received a a...

ack DeJohnette, the jazz drummer celebrated as one of the genre’s true greats – who worked with stars including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charles Lloyd – has died aged 83. A press representative for ECM, the record label that released many of his recordings, confirmed the news, while his personal assistant added that he died from congestive heart failure.

In Take Five, hear one sterling track for each decade of Sonny’s monumental career. What that means, of course, is that we’re spotlighting a total of seven tracks, spanning 55 years. They range from broadly celebrated to borderline obscure, but without any of the most obvious picks. (You already know where to find those.) And along with the music, enjoy a handful of photographs of recent-vintage Rollins by WBGO’s own Jonathan Chimene. Happy 90th birthday, Sonny! Here’s to all the beauty you’ve given us, and the sterling example you continue to set. “Bird Medley” (1956) An embarrassment of riches: that’s...

Long celebrated as one of the greatest tenor players in the history of jazz, saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins has been refining the art of creative improvisation for almost seven decades. A precocious youth growing up in Harlem during the golden age of jazz, a teenage Rollins led a band that included such future heavyweights as alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, drummer Art Taylor, and pianist Kenny Drew. The spark apparent in his playing would lead to a mentorship by iconic composer Thelonious Monk and early work with such pioneering figures as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. Rollins would go on to...

More on Yahoo! • Lionel Hampton There was more than musical magic on stage that day in 1936 when Lionel Hampton joined Benny Goodman in a Manhattan ballroom — it was a breakthrough in American race relations. Hampton, a vibraphone virtuoso who died Saturday, broke a barrier that had kept black and white musicians from performing together in public. Through a six-decade career, he continued to build a name for himself as one of the greats in jazz history. "He was really a towering jazz figure," said saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who played with Hampton in the 1950s. "He really...