Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Recorded shortly before the legendary saxophonist famously withdrew from public performance for a multi-year sabbatical, this session pairs him with elite stalwarts of the West Coast jazz scene. Exploring a deeply idiosyncratic selection of Broadway show tunes and obscure standards, his immense, muscular tone contrasts brilliantly against the famously relaxed accompaniment of musicians like Shelly Manne and Barney Kessel. It remains a uniquely fascinating, highly inventive final statement of his incredibly prolific late-1950s period.