Jazz legend Sonny Rollins dies aged 95

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Source: BBC

Jazz legend Sonny Rollins dies aged 95

2 hours ago
Toby Mann


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Legendary Jazz musician Sonny Rollins, who was known as the "saxophone colossus", has died aged 95. ... He died at his home in Woodstock, New York, on Monday afternoon according to a statement from his publicist, who called him "one of the most honored and influential figures in American music".

Rollins had a prolific career that began in the late 1940s. He worked with artists including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and released more than 60 albums as a band leader. He won two Grammys before respiratory illness forced him to retire in 2014. ... No cause of death was given.

A 2009 quote of his accompanied the announcement of his death: "I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I'm a person who believes this life isn't the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn't feel like that."

In an interview with Jazz Times, Rollins described his immediate fascination with the instrument with which he would build his fame. ... "My mother gave me my first saxophone, an alto saxophone, when I was 7 years old. I got the saxophone and I went into the bedroom and I started playing - that was it. I was in seventh heaven... I could have been there forever," he said.

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