The Bridge  by Sonny Rollins

In the late 1950s, Sonny Rollins had achieved success in jazz circles in New York City. It was then that he decided to retire from active performance with one goal: to perfect his skills on the saxophone. He rented an apartment in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan and, not having a personal space to practice, he went and spent endless hours playing saxophone on the famous and iconic Williamsburg Bridge of New York.

Thus, in early 1962 - after an almost three-year absence from recording - he recorded and released the album The Bridge, wanting to honor the bridge that "hosted" him and helped him become a better saxophonist. The album The Bridge is rightly included among the finest jazz albums of all time.

Sonny Rollins, with the assistance and help of Bob Prince in production, presents six compositions on The Bridge, two of which are his own - John S and The Bridge - while the other four are his own takes on compositions by other great jazz composers. The Bridge was honored for its value in 2015 by receiving a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame.