Visions: Celebrating Sonny Rollins

This week on Visions, I celebrate the late Sonny Rollins who passed just last week at the age of 95. I play several selections by him as a bandleader and a couple selections with him as a sideman. Mostly, I play his compositions that were recorded by other people to show the breadth of Sonny’s musical legacy.

I play “Sonnymoon for Two”, “Three Little Words”, and “Blessing in Disguise” by Sonny Rollins. I play his compositions “Oleo”, “Doxy”, “St. Thomas”, and “Airegin” performed by Miles Davis, Branford Marsalis, Ron Carter and Jim Hall, and Toots Thielemans, respectively. I also feature new music from Nite Bjuti and Tyshawn Sorey, plus selections from Jessica Jones, Tomeka Reid, and Max Roach.

Happy listening, and rest in power to the great Sonny Rollins.

Check out the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

Visions Playlist for June 1, 2026

• “Sonnymoon for Two (Live At The Village Vanguard, 1957 / Evening Take)” – Sonny Rollins
• “a(ways) For CC and CeCe [feat. Jason Roebke, Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara]” – Tomeka Reid
• “Brilliant Corners” – Thelonious Monk
• “Oleo (feat. Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Kenny Clarke & Percy Heath)” – Miles Davis
• “St. Thomas” – Jim Hall & Ron Carter Duo
• “Piezoelectricity Girl (Live)” – Nite Bjuti
• “Doxy” – Branford Marsalis
• “Airegin” – Toots Thielemans
• “Blessing In Disguise” – Sonny Rollins
• “Absolutions” – Max Roach
• “Equipoise, Pt. 1” – Tyshawn Sorey
• Sumphin'” – Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie & Sonny Stitt
• “Three Little Words” – Sonny Rollins