An Interview with Saxophonist Sonny Rollins

There are legends in jazz — and then there’s Sonny Rollins.

They call him the Saxophone Colossus, and for good reason. For nearly nine decades, Rollins has set the gold standard for what it means to be a true improviser — not only in music, but in life. When people talk about the spirit of jazz — the idea of constantly searching, questioning, and growing — nobody embodies that better than Rollins.

In this special episode of The Upside of Jazz, host Joe Alterman sits down with Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, now 95 years old, to talk about a life in jazz.