Sonny Rollins: Come, Gone

Rollins often functioned as a musical satirist, skewering standards left and right. When he got serious, though, watch out! Into an album of ersatz cowboy songs written by city slickers, Sonny snuck a red-hot performance that forever sears his ® brand into the rugged hide of tenor saxophone lore. By turns scoffing, scorching, scouring, sliding, smearing, soaring and squawking, not to mention grating, grinding, growling and repeatedly quoting "Perdido," Rollins swings like a daredevil aerialist and stuns like a heavyweight boxer with an anvil in each glove. If you're new to Sonny Rollins, have smelling salts handy. You'll need 'em.