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…
Kurt Elling performs during the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
(Photo: North Sea Jazz Festival)
Vijay Iyer performs during the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival.
(Photo: North Sea Jazz Festival)
Jazzmeia Horn performs during the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival.
(Photo: North Sea Jazz Festival)At the 2018 North Sea Jazz Festival—held July 13–15 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands—DownBeat embarked upon an unparalleled, ambitious plan: Correspondent Dan Ouellette conducted onstage Blindfold Tests with three acclaimed artists during the event.
To read the Blindfold Test with vocalist Kurt Elling, click here.
To read the Blindfold Test with vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, click here.
To read the Blindfold Test with pianist Vijay Iyer, click here. DB
Onstage, Rollins would move about restlessly, thrusting his tenor sax in the air as he blew.
May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
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