June 1956

Sonny Rollins recorded Saxophone Colossus for Prestige Records in a single session, producing one of the most celebrated jazz albums ever made. The album, including the calypso-inflected St. Thomas, demonstrated the breadth of Rollins's harmonic imagination and established him as the leading tenor saxophonist of his generation.

Trumpeter Clifford Brown died in a car accident at age 25, cutting short what many considered the most promising career in jazz. In just five years of recording, Brown had recorded seminal albums with Max Roach and established a lyrical, technically flawless trumpet style that influenced every subsequent trumpet player.