Saxophone Colossus

Rudy Van Gelder engineered and recorded it in mono. Rollins played tenor with Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Max Roach on drums, four days before Clifford Brown and Richie Powell died in a car crash; Rollins was in the Brown and Roach quintet at the time. The infobox gives March or April 1957 for release, the Mojo Collection autumn 1956, and Billboard listed it in the releases of March to July 1957.

Billboard wrote in April 1957 that Rollins's latest effort should really start musicians buzzing. DownBeat's Ralph J. Gleason, in June 1957, praised its humor, gentleness and a delicate feeling for beauty in line. AllMusic's Scott Yanow called it arguably his finest all-around set; the Penguin Guide gave four stars and a crown. It ranked 405th in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2016 (two retailers say 2017). Jazz Journal's Barry Witherden wrote in 2021 that the reputation of "Blue 7" has somewhat obscured the fact that the other tracks are excellent too.