A tribute to the jazz giant who shared a profound connection with India.
Jazz, as we know it today, is about a hundred years old, and Sonny Rollins has lived through ninety-five of those years. In his lifetime, he had seen jazz grow right from the early days in New Orleans, when Louis Armstrong first shaped it into a serious jazz sound, through the era of the swing and dance bands, through the innovation of bebop, hardbop, cool jazz, post bop, modal jazz, the electronic/fusion phase, and all the way back to the mainstream sounds. Sonny Rollins heard it all, assimilated these jazz phases and crafted a distinctive, emphatic and highly personal style of delivering jazz on his magnificent tenor saxophone.
Like the true “Saxophone Colossus” — both his nickname and the title of one of his most celebrated albums — Sonny Rollins had a distinctive sound. The moment you heard it, you knew Rollins was laying down the law. His passing on May 25, 2026, closes a monumental chapter in jazz history, but his influence will continue to resonate across generations and continents.
There is a ream of material about the stages of his musical career, but let us look at the indelible impact Sonny Rollins had on jazz in India. The jazz scene in present-day India owes plenty to an event way back 48 years ago.
In 1978, a newly created organisation, Jazz India, did something unprecedented on the music scene. They decided to unveil a week-long jazz festival, the Jazz Yatra in Bombay (now Mumbai). Sonny Rollins was to be the headliner for the festival; in fact, he was named the Patron of Jazz Yatra ‘78. He played, and oh, how he played during that festival!
We were fortunate to be seated next to R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle when Rollins played on the opening day, and we easily chatted about the music on display. Their expressions of wonder are still vivid in our minds. These two masterful music makers were clearly listening to a magical new sound.
Mr. Rollins had made a huge point. “If this is jazz, I’m all for it” was a recurring line from folks one met after the concert. Till that time, the context of jazz was restricted mostly to dance bands playing jazz covers in restaurants in Bombay and Calcutta. Then Sonny Rollins presented jazz as a serious listening experience. It is possible that a few people even started collecting jazz records they would studiously listen to soon after.
Jazz is now perceived as a serious form of expression. Listening to jazz is now like reading a book instead of flipping through pages of a magazine. Jazz Yatra 1978 was indeed a game-changer. Apart from Rollins, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Don Ellis and some more jazz luminaries adorned this festival and added to its impact on us.
However, there is a little-known story behind Rollins’ presence in India.
Like several other jazz musicians from the Fifties and Sixties, Sonny Rollins had an affliction: he was hooked on alcohol and drugs. This nasty combination had put an end to several promising jazz careers, but he was determined to break free from the deadly habit.
He found his answer in an ashram in Ganeshpuri, just outside of Bombay. He would come in, keeping a low profile, and head straight to the ashram. Donning a white kurta and pyjamas, he meditated, followed the strict austerity of the place, turned into a vegetarian and a teetotaller and became an ashramite. In the process, he detoxed his mind and his body.
He followed this routine for several years; nobody in Bombay was aware that Rollins was living in their midst for several months each year. It helped Rollins get clean in the nicest way; it probably even saved his life and playing career. Sonny Rollins’ saxophone also found a new, optimistic sound.
Rollins had a fairly long, resurgent jazz career after that, playing regularly till about a decade ago. He had enormous reserves of stamina and could play continuously for 90 minutes or longer. Perhaps courtesy of his India detox routine.
When he played the famous Stevie Wonder song, “Isn’t She Lovely” with his quartet on the opening day of Jazz Yatra 1978, he forever changed the jazz audience of Bombay, and probably India. The audience had no idea of what was coming their way and were zapped by Rollins’ sound. We still have friends who recall the moment.
He played on the closing day of the Yatra as well, and when he repeated “Isn’t She Lovely”, the crowd erupted as if in a Rock concert.
We also got the chance to meet and interact with Rollins before and during Jazz Yatra 78. He would invariably greet people with a “Namaste”, hands folded and had made one remarkable statement at that time. “You guys know I am from the United States — land of the free and home of the brave,” he said in conversation, “but when I am in India, it is my soul that is set free!”
He was genuinely at ease in India. Generously, he had also said to us to feel free and reach out if we were ever in the vicinity and wanted to come to any concert of his in the U.S.
Much, much later, in 2018, this writer was curating the NCPA Jazz Festival. One band we were inviting was the Clifford Brown Legacy band. For the record, Clifford Brown was a legendary jazz trumpet player who died tragically in a car crash when he was only 26 years old.
Sonny Rollins was an important member of the Clifford Brown – Max Roach band in the early 1950s, and we thought it would be great to have him play in the CB Legacy Band. We approached Sonny, who was very polite in declining to come as he had a jaw problem and was unable to play. Instead, he sent this writer a voice message for the festival. Fortunately, we still have the message, which wishes the NCPA Jazz Festival luck. It was played over the sound system when the band was introduced.
We believe Sonny Rollins remained a vegetarian and (probably) a teetotaller long after he visited the Ganeshpuri ashram. Trips to this centre worked out beautifully for Mr Rollins and were truly a blessing for his legion of followers.
In his long playing career, Sonny Rollins kept introspecting about his style of playing. At one point of time in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Rollins withdrew from the jazz scene in an attempt to alter his playing style. Living in Brooklyn, New York, he would go to the Williamsburg Bridge in the middle of the night to practice and hone his style of playing, rather like a monk on a hilltop searching for the meaning of life.
After three years of hibernation, Rollins was ready with a new style. He recorded “The Bridge” to mark his return. He was happy with his new, chiselled style.
There was a petition raised by jazz lovers everywhere to rename the Williamsburg Bridge as the Sonny Rollins Bridge. We had signed that petition as well, but the change has not happened yet.
Maybe now that this great jazz maestro has departed for another bridge in the sky, sense will prevail, and our petition will be honored.
Namaste, Sonny bhai. You will always remain the Saxophone Colossus, and forever your music will resonate wherever jazz is heard.
We append a small playlist to sample Sonny Rollins and his magnificent tenor saxophone.
“Tenor Madness”
Sonny Rollins with John Coltrane. A fabulous track and one that puts these two incredible jazz tenor saxophone players in one frame.
“Without A Song”
From The Bridge, showcasing his new style after a 3-year hibernation.
“Saint Thomas”
Written by Sonny, it is a calypso about a getaway from the winter in Chicago.
“Isn’t She Lovely”
The song that changed Bombay’s perception of jazz.
“Moritart”
Also known as Mack the Knife, a well-known jazz standard.