Kevin Whitehead

Plus, he wrote music for the film Alfie.

Sometimes his playing revealed a harder edge and harder rhythm that look ahead to his next phase.

This is the 1965 Calypso, Hold'em Joe.

Sonny Rollins' four-decade last act began after a longer sabbatical.

In 1966, fed up with the music business, he stopped recording for six years.

When he came back in the 70s, much had changed.

He was now using electric instruments, which gave the band a rockier edge, but that may have also been a practical move.

easier to tour with a bass guitar than an upright bass.

Rollins was gearing up for the long haul, conserving his energy for the stage.

But also, his glorious, pliable tone had become more metallic and yackety as his solos became more riffy and groove-oriented.

It was still exciting, but different.

Sonny Rollins, 1981, on the Dolly Parton favorite, Here You Come Again.

This latter-day music was designed to be more accessible.

Backing musicians came and went, but it hardly mattered.

His old bands were gloriously interactive.

Now they were the curtain behind the star, and Sonny, for his part, didn't hold back.

It was the most big-hearted embrace of the public by a jazz horn player since Louis Armstrong.

But where Pops had set solos, Rollins, the improviser, shared his musical thoughts in real time.

That made him famously self-critical, but the candor was brave no matter how it all turned out.

And even skeptics went to his shows in case he'd have one of those inspired nights.