Sonny Rollins: Beyond The Notes

12:18 PM GMT 01/02/2012

Sonny Rollins, bona fide saxophone legend and one the world's greatest purveyors of jazz, will be the focus of a new Arena documentary to be broadcast on BBC Four on February 17.

Built around Rollins' 80th birthday concert in New York in 2010, Beyond The Notes celebrates the saxophone colossus' astonishing life in and out of music. From a young Coleman Hawkins fan to playing alongside Charlie Parker and Miles Davis; a modern tenor sax original to a questing spiritual survivor, Rollins' journey is one of the most remarkable in jazz.

Director Dick Fontaine first captured Rollins on film during several of his Williamsburg Bridge jams in 1968 and some of that brilliant archival footage is included in this new film. Among the music greats saluting Rollins throughout the programme are Roy Haynes, Jim Hall, Herbie Hancock and Ornette Coleman.

The documentary will be followed by Arena: Sonny Rollins '74 - Rescued!. Introduced by Jamie Cullum, this spellbinding live performance that hasn't been seen for almost 40 years.

Check out a selection of screenshots below:

At his 80th birthday concert, The Beacon Theater, New York, September 10, 2010.

Returning to London in the mid-'70s.

The original liner notes for 1958's groundbreaking, Freedom Suite.

On New York's Williamsburg Bridge, 1968.

With Ornette Coleman, The Beacon Theater, New York, September 10, 2010.

Arena: Sonny Rollins - Beyond The Notes and Arena: Sonny Rollins '74 - Rescued! will be broadcast on BBC Four on February 17 from 9pm (GMT).

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 12:18 PM GMT 01/02/2012

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