ThoughtGallery.org > Author Aidan Levy: “Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins”

Author Aidan Levy: “Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins”

AIDAN LEVY, the author of the first full biography of legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins will speak at Revolution Books on December 7.

Known as the “Saxophone Colossus,” Sonny Rollins is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time, winning Grammys and many international prizes. A bridge from bebop to the avant-garde, his seven-decade career has been well documented, but the backstage life of the man has gone largely untold–until now.

A child of the Harlem Renaissance, Rollins played with Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. His recordings include Tenor Madness featuring John Coltrane and Freedom Suite, the first civil rights-themed album of the hard bop era.

“…at once the towering, omnipotent, immortal Colossus and the humble, gentle, questioning, questing human, Sonny Rollins has always been the master storyteller of the jazz idiom. What an illuminative joy it is to finally read the story of his own life so exhaustively and engagingly told.”―Joshua Redman, Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and educator

Aidan Levy is the author of Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed.

This program is sponsored by the Revolution Books Educational Fund, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

Suggested donation $5-10 to support Revolution Books

Save your seat here. Masks required and available.











When: Wed., Dec. 7, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Revolution Books
437 Malcolm X Blvd./Lenox Ave. @132nd St
212-691-3345
Price: Free—you can donate!
Buy tickets/get more info now
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AIDAN LEVY, the author of the first full biography of legendary jazz saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins will speak at Revolution Books on December 7.

Known as the “Saxophone Colossus,” Sonny Rollins is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time, winning Grammys and many international prizes. A bridge from bebop to the avant-garde, his seven-decade career has been well documented, but the backstage life of the man has gone largely untold–until now.

A child of the Harlem Renaissance, Rollins played with Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. His recordings include Tenor Madness featuring John Coltrane and Freedom Suite, the first civil rights-themed album of the hard bop era.

“…at once the towering, omnipotent, immortal Colossus and the humble, gentle, questioning, questing human, Sonny Rollins has always been the master storyteller of the jazz idiom. What an illuminative joy it is to finally read the story of his own life so exhaustively and engagingly told.”―Joshua Redman, Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and educator

Aidan Levy is the author of Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed.

This program is sponsored by the Revolution Books Educational Fund, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

Suggested donation $5-10 to support Revolution Books

Save your seat here. Masks required and available.

Buy tickets/get more info now