Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of ImprovisationAuthor: Eric Nisenson Sonny Rollins is one of jazz's great innovators, arguably the most influential tenor saxophonist, along with John Coltrane, in the history of modern jazz. He began his musical career at the age of eleven, and within five short years he was playing with the legendary Thelonious Monk. In the late forties, before his twenty first birthday, Rollins was in full swing, recording with jazz luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell,