Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

Sonny Rollins is rapidly becoming one of the important reed voices of the modern era. As one of Charlie Parker‘s leading disciples (he plays homage to Pres, Hawk and Ben Webster too), Sonny has made his impact felt among many of the saxophone players around him.

Theodore Walter Rollins was born in New York in 1929. He began in music on the piano at the age of 9 and later studied alto sax in high school. I’m told he sounded like Louis Jordan. In 1944 he heard Bird and his greatest influence had arrived. After switching to tenor in 1946 he really began to develop. From 1948, when he began recording, Sonny’s accomplishment and influence have progressed unceasingly. He was never a Bird imitator. He learned and absorbed and developed his own conception to the point where he is the foremost standard bearer and advancer of the Parker reed tradition.