Sonny Rollins papers

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Description: Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7th, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. His papers, dating from the 1910s to 2015 (the bulk dates from the 1950s onward), document the musical, personal, and career development of one of the most important musicians and artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. This development can be most clearly observed in his music manuscripts and practice material; personal writings; letters; and professional business records. Rollins's career is also illustrated by an extensive set of photographs and a large collection of unique sound and video recordings.
Names: Rollins, Sonny; Coltrane, John, 1926-1967; Heath, Jimmy; Hultin, Randi; Nelson, Oliver, 1932-1975; Rascher, Sigurd; Reece, Dizzy; Rollins, Lucille, 1928-2004; Sarmanto, Heikki, 1939-; Wilkins, Ernie
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1910 - 2015
Library locations: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division; Shelf locator: Sc MG 898
Topics: African American musicians; African Americans -- Music; African Americans in the performing arts; Jazz; Jazz musicians; Music -- United States -- 20th century; Music -- United States -- 21st century; Music business; Composers; Musicians; business records
Genres: appointment books; artifacts (object genre); Awards; Documents; Calendars; Clippings; Contracts; Fliers (Printed matter); handbills; Correspondence; notes (documents); Photographs; Posters; Programs; Scores; sheet music; Art
Notes: Biographical/historical: Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 9th, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and one of the most highly-regarded improvisors in the history of the music. Born in Harlem, New York to parents from the United States Virgin Islands, Rollins grew up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, which was inhabited by many important black musicians and artists. His early influences included Louis Jordan, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Fats Waller, and Louis Armstrong. Rollins was one of several musicians to come out of Sugar Hill; among his contemporaries and friends were drummer Arthur Taylor, saxophonist Jackie McLean, and pianist Kenny Drew. He began playing piano as a child, but switched to alto saxophone at the age of 11, and finally to tenor saxophone in 1946, inspired by Coleman Hawkins. Primarily self-taught, Rollins was already performing around New York by 1947, and he was mentored by Thelonious Monk starting the following year. His debut recording came in 1949, accompanying the singer Babs Gonzales, and he began working and recording with modern jazz luminaries such as J. J. Johnson, Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey, Bud Powell, Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro, and Miles Davis, with whom he performed for six months in 1951. As did many of his contemporaries, Rollins developed a heroin addiction around 1948, but over the next few years he continued to play and record with Davis, Monk, Art Farmer, and the Modern Jazz Quartet, building a reputation as an inspired, fluent, and logical improviser, and one of the best of his generation. He also started recording his own compositions with Davis, including "Oleo," "Doxy," and "Airegin," which became jazz standards. Other well-known Rollins compositions are "St. Thomas," "Strode Rode," "Sonnymoon for Two," and "Pent-Up House." Rollins served short prison terms for robbery associated with his addiction in the early 1950s. In 1955, he entered a drug treatment program at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky for four months. After his recovery, Rollins moved to Chicago, where he gradually re-entered the jazz scene. He also met his future wife, Lucille Pearson (1928-2004) there; they married in 1965. After a few months, Rollins was invited to replace Harold Land in the Clifford Brown-Max Roach quintet, and he toured with the group, eventually returning to New York. Following the death of Brown in 1956, Rollins remained with Roach briefly before departing to lead his own groups. Rollins had already recorded three albums as a leader before his recovery, but the albums he recorded afterward, from 1955 to 1959, set the standard for modern jazz saxophone of that era. They include Tenor Madness (1956, featuring his only recorded collaboration with John Coltrane); Saxophone Colossus (1956, regarded as a landmark recording); Way Out West (1957); and The Freedom Suite (1958, a social protest as well as an extended composition). Despite the popularity and respect he had earned from musicians, critics, and the public, Rollins became dissatisfied with his playing and stopped performing in mid-1959 for roughly two years in order to practice extensively, focus, and develop his musical vision. It was during this professional sabbatical that Rollins started practicing on the Williamsburg Bridge to avoid disturbing a pregnant neighbor, a fact that became known through a thinly-fictionalized short story by Ralph Berton published in Harper's magazine. Rollins maintained a rigorous practice schedule throughout his career, and also dedicated himself to physical fitness, proper nutrition, and personal development. Rollins returned to performance in late-1961 with a new group featuring guitarist Jim Hall, and producer George Avakian signed Rollins to RCA, where he produced six albums through 1964. These included The Bridge (1962, capitalizing on the publicity surrounding Rollins's break from performance); Our Man In Jazz (1963, featuring a group with trumpeter Don Cherry that explored avant-garde ideas); and Sonny Meets Hawk! (1963, a collaboration with Rollins's idol, Coleman Hawkins). Rollins continued to perform through the mid-1960s and record for Impulse Records (including his music for the film Alfie and the album East Broadway Run Down (both 1966)). He took more breaks from performance between 1968 and 1971, using the time to study yoga and religion in India and Japan. Rollins returned to recording in 1972, when he was signed by producer Orrin Keepnews to Milestone Records; he remained with the label until 2005, after which he formed his own company, Doxy Records. During the 1970s, he experimented with performing on the soprano saxophone and the lyricon (an electronic wind instrument), but eventually returned to concentrating on the tenor saxophone. Lucille Rollins took over the management of her husband's career in 1971, and co-produced his albums from 1982 onward. Over the years, Rollins developed an audience and gained a reputation and stature that allowed him to stop working in jazz nightclubs, which he did not enjoy performing in or dealing with, and concentrate instead on larger performance spaces and theaters. He increasingly toured the world, including regular visits to Europe and Japan, and formed a working group with the core personnel of bassist Bob Cranshaw and trombonist Clifton Anderson (Rollins's nephew). Rollins received a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in music composition in 1972; one of his compositions is a Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra (orchestrated in collaboration with Heikki Sarmanto), which he premiered in Japan. That performance was featured in the documentary film Saxophone Colossus (directed by Robert Mugge, 1986). Rollins was also known for his occasional solo performances, including one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1985 which was released as The Solo Album on Milestone. Rollins is one of the most awarded and decorated musicians in the world. His honors include multiple honorary academic degrees; countless critic and reader awards from DownBeat magazine; city and community awards; the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award (1983); a Grammy award for lifetime achievement (2004); the Polar Music Prize (2007); the Edward MacDowell Medal (2010); the Kennedy Center Honor (2011); and the National Medal of Arts (2011). Rollins retired from performance in 2012 due to health issues. He lives in Woodstock, New York.; Content: The Sonny Rollins papers, dating from the 1910s to 2015 (the bulk dates from the 1950s onward) document the musical, personal, and career development of one of the most important musicians and artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. This development can be most clearly observed in his music manuscripts and practice material; personal writings; letters; and professional business records. Rollins's career is also illustrated by an extensive set of photographs and a large collection of unreleased sound and video recordings. Rollins's music manuscripts are unique in that they feature a large set of self-produced practice material. Dating from almost the start of his performing career until its conclusion in 2012, these manuscripts document Rollins's musical development to an extent rarely if ever seen for an improvising musician. In addition to music notation, the practice material holds Rollins's occasional prose annotations, as well as personal observations. The music manuscripts also contain sketches and compositions by Rollins, as well as music by other composers and arrangers, many used on recording sessions. Rollins's writings, like the music manuscripts, provide a unique perspective on his personal development. They include philosophical essays, self-evaluation of his performances, notes on music and practice methods, social observations, and journal entries. Business records document all aspects of Rollins's professional career and development; they comprise the largest portion of the collection. Compiled and maintained primarily by Lucille Rollins, they include files that illustrate the financial and logistical aspects of touring; the production of Rollins's commercial recordings; the myriad projects beyond touring and recording that he was involved in; and, via clippings and publicity files, Rollins's media presence. The publicity files include a comprehensive set of concert programs. Rollins's letters hold notes to Lucille that discuss various aspects of life on tour; letters to musicians such as Benny Carter, Jim Hall, and Clark Terry; correspondence with the saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr; and letters from such figures as John Coltrane, Ishmael Reed, Randi Hultin, and Colette Hawkins (daughter of Coleman Hawkins). Business letters and fan mail are also present. Rollins's awards and honors illustrate the degree to which Rollins has long been recognized by the music industry, academia, and the United States government. They include unique awards such as the Polar Music Prize, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, and the National Medal of Arts, as well as honorary academic degrees and awards from magazines. The sound and video in the collection, held by the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, is a monumental set of documentation, much of it never heard by the public. The recordings number over 1000 and include live concerts, rehearsals, home practice sessions, radio and television broadcasts, studio recordings in progress, interviews, and concert videos and films. Among the many unique items is an unreleased studio project recorded in 2004. Also present is Rollins's personal collection of long-playing record albums. The collection holds a deep component of photography which has been transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division. Dating from the late 1940s to 2013, the photographs (mostly prints, with a few contact sheets and negatives) contain performance and publicity images; portraits; personal snapshots taken on tour, with band members and other musicians; vacation photos; signed photographs by other musicians; and photos taken at Rollins's home. The photographs include Rollins with friends and colleagues such as Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Kenny Dorham, Max Roach, Jim Hall, Bob Cranshaw, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, Larry Ridley, and many others. Rollins's personal collection illustrates his varied interests. It includes art; music instruction texts; books on music, yoga, and religion; clippings on music, current events, and the environment; and posters and programs regarding other musicians and events. The collection also holds the Pearson family papers, which document the histories of Lucille Rollins's parents, Leonard and Nanette Pearson, and Lucille's early life. They hold personal letters, photographs, employment documentation, school records, military records, and financial and insurance records. The collection has four artifacts held by the Art and Artifacts Division: Rollins's 1971 Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone, a set of claves gifted to him, and two suitcases bearing souvenir stickers from his travels.
Physical Description: Extent: 144 boxes, 18 volumes, 18 tubes, 7 oversized folders 73.43 linear feet 37.13 gigabytes 969 computer files
Type of Resource: Text
Identifiers: Other local Identifier: Sc MG 898; NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21641180; MSS Unit ID: 24238; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 4924a080-204c-0138-7f98-55d9e2b892a6

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Sonny Rollins papers

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