Theodore “Sonny” Rollins was born in New York in 1930.  He began his recording career on the saxophone (first alto sax, and soon thereafter the tenor sax) at the age of 18 as a sideman for J.J. Johnson and Bud Powell. He was also often heard playing alongside Thelonious Monk, Tadd Dameron and Miles Davis in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. He made his first record as a leader in 1951.  In 1956 he made a record for Prestige Records called “Tenor Madness” and the title track featured both Rollins and John Coltrane.  It was recorded 70 years ago today on May 24, 1956.

John Coltrane, another of jazz history’s tenor saxophone giants, was born in North Carolina in 1926.  He, too, began as an alto saxophone player, switching to tenor in 1950, and then later in his career he played soprano saxophone almost exclusively.  Both Coltrane and Rollins spent time playing with Miles Davis.

Rollins is the leader on the album “Tenor Madness,” and Coltrane is only heard on the title track of the record. Both men were still relatively unheralded at the time the record was made, but between December of 1955 and December of 1956 Rollins produced seven full albums as a leader, including the classic “Saxophone Colossus.” While the song Tenor Madness may not be, as one critic put it, “the grand encounter one might have wished for,” the fact that one can hear these two jazz icons playing together is enough reason to listen. Both men are still growing into the musicians they would ultimately become, but one can hear their voices developing in this session.

Here is a link to the 1956 recording of Tenor Madness featuring Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane:

"TENOR MADNESS"