Pushkin.

This is an I-Heart podcast.

Hey everyone.

Today we're continuing our celebration of Black Music Month with one of my all-time favorites,

jazz legend, Sonny Rollins.

Rollins is dubbed the saxophone colossus.

He's an American tenor and composer, who is widely regarded as one of the most influential

jazz musicians ever.

With several awards under his belt, a Grammy Award for Lifetime

Achievement and the National Medal of Arts, to name a few, some even venture to call him the

greatest living improviser. Sadly, now at 91 years old, Rollins no longer plays as a result of pulmonary fibrosis.

But he is able to look back at an eight-decade

career that took him all the way from the beginnings of Bebop to playing with the Rolling Stones

and all over the world. On today's episode, I spoke to Sunny Rollins by phone about one of his

first big gigs at 18, way back in 1949, playing alongside other jazz icons like Bud Powell

and Fats Navarro. He also explains why he no longer actively listens to music. And for the

first time ever, how Charlie Parker is the reason he kicked drugs. This is Broken Record.

Liner Notes for the Digital Age.

I'm Justin Richmond.

Here's my phone conversation with the great Sunny Rollins.

I want to talk about early in your career.

You were 18 years old in 1949.

...