The jazz world says goodbye to Sonny Rollins, the Saxophone Colossus (1930–2026). This month's inspirational watch is a moving video tribute in which Sonny reflects on a life in music — and why being a great musician starts with being a good person.
This month's inspirational link is a poignant one. In May, the jazz world said goodbye to Sonny Rollins — the "Saxophone Colossus" — who died at his home in Woodstock, New York, at the age of 95.
🎷 One of the True Greats
Rollins was the last surviving giant of the generation that revolutionised jazz in the 1940s and 50s. As a young man in Harlem he was already recording alongside Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk; his friendly sparring with John Coltrane on "Tenor Madness" is the stuff of legend; and his tunes — "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", "Airegin" — became standards that musicians everywhere, including our own jazz groups, still play today. Many simply called him the greatest improviser alive.
And then there's the most famous practice story in all of music: at the very height of his fame, feeling his playing still wasn't good enough, Sonny stepped away from performing and spent two years practising alone on New York's Williamsburg Bridge — returning with the classic album The Bridge. A lesson in humility and dedication for every musician, at any age.
🎬 This Month's Watch
Our link this month is a moving farewell tribute from the BetterSax channel, built around footage of Sonny in conversation. Looking back over a lifetime in music, he returns again and again to one simple, powerful idea: that music and character are inseparable — that practising your instrument and practising being a good person are part of the same work, and that making music connects us to something far bigger than ourselves. As he put it late in life: "I felt that I was part of something."
▶️ Watch: Farewell to Sonny Rollins, 1930–2026
🎧 Where to Start Listening
New to Sonny? Put on "St. Thomas", the joyful calypso that opens his 1956 masterpiece Saxophone Colossus — two minutes in, we promise you'll be smiling.
Rest well, Sonny — and thank you for the music.