Saxophone Colossus
by Sonny Rollins
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Sonny Rollins bestography
Saxophone Colossus is ranked as the best album by Sonny Rollins.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Saxophone Colossus on YouTube
Saxophone Colossus track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 82 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Saxophone Colossus rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 7 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Pt3 Most expensive records sold on Discogs website | 74/100 | - |
| 2026 |  junodog4 | Top 85 Music Albums of the 1950s | 64/85 | 5 |
| 2026 | Steppenwolf666 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1957 | 29/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 82 Music Albums of 1957 | 36/82 | 3 |
| 2026 | jdizzle123456 | Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time | 20/50 | - |
| 2026 |  paladisiac | Top 59 Music Albums of the 1950s | 47/59 | 4 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Top 22 Music Albums of the 1950s | 11/22 | 11 |
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 46 Music Albums of 1957 | 1/46 | 5 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 55 Music Albums of the 1950s | 8/55 | 17 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 74 Music Albums of the 1950s | 24/74 | 14 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 377 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,693 | |||
Saxophone Colossus collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 177 members
Saxophone Colossus ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 396 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/07/2026 02:38 | OldWiseOne1969 | 160 | 82/100 |
| ! | 09/01/2026 15:22 | AndyLish79 | 505 | 81/100 |
| ! | 08/27/2026 14:47 | AAL2014 | 4,335 | 75/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.4/100, a mean average of 80.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.
Saxophone Colossus favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 67 members
Saxophone Colossus forum mentions
Romanelli 12/28/2025 16:50 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
BestEverAlbums 03/13/2025 20:00 in Album of the day (#5198): Saxophone ColossusSaxophone Colossus comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
This album is noted for its melody-based improvisations. Rollins reinvented the melody in jazz around an overriding theme. The overall sound is as refined as the compositions are sophisticated. Rollins distinctive saxophone style seems to embody all of the classic traditions of jazz whilst simultaneously merging them with the avantegarde. Max Roache's drumming is thrilling.
Fischman TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/28/2016 18:53 | #179268 | TOP COMMENT
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Rollins is an exceptional blower and this is his most outstanding outing. Challenging yet melodic in composition, full of excellent improvisation, and while Sonny is the star, all members of the ensemble contribute to make this whole greater than the sum of its parts and cement this as one of the all time great jazz albums.
Great hard bop album. I love the speed and energy present in most tracks. Great solos from all 4 musicians throughout. St. Thomas stands out particularly with it great groove.
ImmortalAl 07/08/2011 01:50 | #24114 | TOP COMMENT
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wow. very cool. This album makes me want to look further into jazz.
Larcx13 01/10/2021 16:12 | #264145 | TOP COMMENT
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Loved this. Gotta thank this website for this find.
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