A musical giant has left us. Saxophonist and jazz composer Sonny Rollins died on May 25th, 2026 at his home in Woodstock, New York. He was 95 years old. Rollins penned numerous jazz standards, including “Oleo,” “St. Thomas,” “Doxy,” “Airegin,” and many more. Today, we’re remembering the saxophone colossus with his composition “Tenor Madness” and a transcription of his iconic solo on the tune.
The Story Behind Sonny Rollins’ “Tenor Madness”
By May 1956, Rollins had already recorded with J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Miles Davis. He had also worked in Davis’ band in 1955, leading him to recruit members of the trumpeter’s “First Great Quintet” rhythm section for a recording session at Van Gelder Studios in Hackensack, New Jersey. However, another saxophonist came with them to the studio.
“John Coltrane accompanied Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, and Red Garland to a Sonny Rollins recording session for Prestige,” Rollins’ Facebook account shared. “Sonny invited him to join the band for a tune, resulting in their blues showdown ‘Tenor Madness.'” The track would be the only song that Rollins and Coltrane ever recorded together (per the Facebook post).
“Tenor Madness” is a 12-bar blues in Bb, a common form that gives improvisers a familiar platform to jam on. The melody, or head, of the song is built from just a few motifs, creating the feeling of a repeated riff. The offbeat rhythm places an important note on the “and” of beat 4 to anticipate the chord progression. The pickup note is D, the major third of Bb7. Rollins signals the chord change to Eb7 by making the note a Db, which is the flat 7th of Eb7. With just one half step, Rollins creates an entire story. The alternating D and Db notes are also the highest pitches in the whole melody, creating extra emphasis on the bluesy nature of the chord progression.
The motif only changes in bars nine and ten, where Rollins inserts a bebop lick that employs an arpeggio and chromatic enclosures (approaching a target note from a half step above and below) to twist the listener’s ear.
All About Jazz calls the composition Rollins’s most famous blues line, “save for his much-covered ‘Sonnymoon for Two,'” but the simple piece is just a jumping-off point for the artists to “communicate, using the universal language of the blues, for twelve-plus minutes.”
Sonny Rollins’ Sax Solo on “Tenor Madness”
Coltrane takes seven choruses for his solo, using rapid 16th-note lines and chromatic passing tones to create sheets of sound. Rollins, on the other hand, uses space.
Jazz educator and composer Shannon Gunn writes that “Rollins’ solo on ‘Tenor Madness’ is a masterclass in melodic development. He starts with simple, catchy phrases, gradually building complexity while maintaining a strong connection to the blues.”
He begins the solo by bending into the D, creating an inherently bluesy sound. Rhythmically, he builds from quarter notes into eighth notes, often returning to the same motif amid other ideas.
As with any jazz solo, it’s important to analyze how each line works in the context of the chord progression. By learning how he applies the ideas, you can add them to your own vocabulary and solos.
Grab Rollins’ full “Tenor Madness” solo transcription, but be sure to listen to the way he plays it more than looking at the notes.
“If you simply read these licks off of the page you will be missing so much of the depth and richness of what Sonny actually played,” Learn Jazz Standards explains. “In fact, one thing that makes Sonny’s playing so awesome and unique is the way he phrases things. In some cases, the way he plays a line can be hard to notate without missing all of the nuances.”
Sonny Rollins may be gone, but he will live on through his music. And that’s something he knew.
“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence,” he said in a 2009 interview. “I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that.”
