Sonny Rollins

The one most people name first. A 1956 quartet with Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, and Max Roach, and the home of the calypso "St. Thomas" and the endlessly analyzed "Blue 7." If you own a single Rollins record, it's usually this one.

The comeback record. After walking away from the scene at his peak to practice alone on the Williamsburg Bridge for two years, Rollins returned in 1962 with this RCA date, using Jim Hall's guitar in place of a piano. The sound of a master reintroducing himself on his own terms.

The famous pianoless trio with Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, Rollins posed in a cowboy hat and holster out in the desert on the cover. Wide-open space, no chords to lean on, and some of the most relaxed and inventive playing he ever put on tape.

A 1958 Riverside date with Oscar Pettiford on bass and Max Roach on drums, built around the long, multi-part title suite, an early and pointed statement on race in America. Bold in both form and content, and one of the records that shows how much Rollins was thinking beyond the tune.

A quartet date with Wynton Kelly, Doug Watkins, and Philly Joe Jones. The duet between Rollins and Philly Joe on "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is the showstopper, two musicians carrying a whole track by themselves. Recorded in 1957 and held until 1959.

A hard-charging 1955 quartet with Ray Bryant, George Morrow, and Max Roach. This is the sound of Rollins coming fully into his own as a leader, taking standards at a clip and bending them to his will. The opener "There's No Business Like Show Business" tells you everything.

His 1957 Riverside session with Sonny Clark on piano, a relaxed program of standards plus the famous unaccompanied reading of "It Could Happen to You." A warm, conversational record that shows the gentler side of his playing.

A Prestige collection drawn from Rollins's mid-fifties sessions, pulling together sides with players like Kenny Drew, Percy Heath, and Max Roach. Classic young Rollins, gathered from the run of dates that made his name on the label.

Early-fifties Prestige sides pairing the young Rollins with the Modern Jazz Quartet players and other top company of the day. The earliest Rollins in the catalog, and even here you can hear the rhythmic confidence that would define him.