Sonny Rollins playing on the Williamsburg Bridge with tenor saxophonist, arranger, and educator Paul Jeffrey in 1968. By 1959, Sonny Rollins had grown increasingly dissatisfied with what he felt were his own musical shortcomings and withdrew from the public eye to embark on the first—and most storied—of his self-imposed sabbaticals. Residing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, he sought refuge on the pedestrian walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge, where he could practice without disturbing a pregnant