In 1948 Sonny Rollins left high school and went on to make his first album as a saxophonist. In 1959, he had the jazz world at his feet and he quit the scene. In 2010, the greatest living saxophone player put on an exhilarating production to mark his 80th birthday at the Beacon Theater with some of the world's most extraordinary musicians, including Ornette Coleman, Roy Haynes and Jim Hall. Sonny Rollins Beyond the Notes uses his 80th birthday concert to look into the man and his music.—Anonymous
Director Dick Fontaine revisits the extraordinary life of the greatest saxophone player in the world - Sonny Rollins. Still resisting stereotype and compromise, Rollins celebrates his 80th birthday with Roy Haynes, Jim Hall, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and Ornette Coleman.