Sonny Rollins

Though Sonny Rollins gives regular concerts, this 2006 effort is his first studio set in five years. There aren't many jazz legends of Rollins' stature still around. There are even less who are still able to play as well as he can. The tenor titan sidesteps doing anything to turn the session into an "event" and just cuts loose with his longtime working band. The opening title cut shows what cutting edge bop fire Rollins is in command of, while his reading of the standard "Stairways to the Stars" proves that true jazz masters know how to work with a melody, not just the chords that lie underneath it.