May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Winners of the 2008 Hans Koller Preis were announced last week in Vienna. The prize, an initiative to support jazz musicians, is sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture, the City of Vienna, Bank Austria/UniCredit Group the SKE-Fonds and the Austrian Music Office.
Drummer Han Bennink of the Netherlands was awarded the 2008 European Jazz Prize for his explorations with wood and wind instruments, as well as collaborations with other musicians and as part of the group Clusone 3. Additional awards included the Austrian State Prize for Improvised Music (Fritz Pauer, piano), Newcomer of the Year (Viola Falb, saxophone), CD of the Year (Martin Reiter, ALMA, material records), Sideman of the Year (Martin Spitzer, guitar) and the New York City Scholarship, awarded to saxophonists Barbara Paierl and Fabian Rucker.
Prizes will be awarded on Nov. 28 at Porgy & Bess in Vienna. A concert of the prize winners will take place on Nov. 29.
More info: hanskollerpreis.at
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
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