Award-winning saxophonist Joshua Redman pays tribute to the Saxophone Colossus Sonny Rollins with his upcoming album, If Ever You Would Leave Us (we play for Rollins), set for release on November 20 on Blue Note Records.
The album is Redman’s 24th studio effort as a bandleader and his third Blue Note album since signing with the historic label in 2023. It’s a collection of 11 Rollins-inspired tracks with a modern jazz flair. Sonny Rollins, one of the last remaining jazz greats of the 20th century, passed away this past May at the age of 95. “Sonny’s passing definitely hit me hard,” Redman says. “It felt not unlike the passing of a parent. He certainly felt like a musical father, grandfather and godfather, all rolled into one, for me and I think for all of us.”
Redman discovered Rollins’ music at the same time he discovered the saxophone as a young child. “I remember going to the Berkeley Public Library and browsing through the bins, I saw this album, Saxophone Colossus. And I thought, ‘Hey, that’s a pretty bold title.’ That was my eureka moment. I remember putting it on, and hearing Sonny made me understand: It awakened me to the true power and potential of jazz improvisation.”
The album is preceded by the single “Grand Street,” taken from Rollins’ 1958 album Sonny Rollins and The Big Brass.
