Rollins Scaling Heights of Tenor Sax World

Sonny Rollins is talking on the telephone from his apartment in New York City when a radio in the background issues an unmistakable sound: Charlie Parker playing the alto saxophone.

Rollins, one of the giants of the tenor saxophone, stops in mid-sentence and, along with the caller, listens to Parker’s vibrant tone and serpentine lines. “Oh, that’s ‘Lady Be Good,’ ” Rollins says, referring to the altoist’s classic rendition of the Gershwin tune played at a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Los Angeles in 1946 (and available on “The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve”).

“Boy, that sound really cuts through,” Rollins says.

Parker and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins were Rollins’ two idols, and, while he says he was struck by Bird’s sound--”It was a very cutting sound, like Coltrane’s”--it was his ability to concoct sweeping melodies that captivated Rollins.

“Yeah, the lines, the melodic thing, that always took precedence when I heard Bird,” says the saxophonist, who also sat in with Parker at jam sessions and recorded with him, on a session with Miles Davis in 1953--available on “Miles Davis: Chronicle--The Complete Prestige Recordings.”

In the minds of many of those who appreciated Parker, who died in 1955, Rollins has been perhaps the only jazz artist to take the be-bop genre to another level. Rollins, who plays Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl--along with Grover Washington Jr. and Arturo Sandoval--has been widely hailed as the greatest improviser in jazz since Parker, and that accolade mainly comes from Rollins’ magical melodic gift. Like Parker, he has throughout his career been able to deliver marvelous tuneful melodies that thrill audiences.

Despite this critical and public acclaim, Rollins, 64, is not a man to rest on his laurels.

“I’m still a work in progress,” he says. “That ‘legend’ stuff, I don’t even have time to contemplate it. My overall attitude is that there isn’t anything great that can’t be greater. So, for me, I’m always struggling, dealing with rudiments, my chops, it’s an everyday thing.

“And with my reputation, there are a lot of expectations for the performances to be at a high level. Since I don’t play that often, maybe 30 dates a year, every date is magnified, so there’s always pressure to keep on top.”

Even the highly self-critical Rollins admits that there are nights when everything goes superbly. “I’ve reached some pretty good heights, those very special times when the music plays itself and you’re just there,” he says. “It usually happens about two or three times a year, but, last year, we did a tour of 10-11 concerts in Europe, and I got a lot of very good nights on that trip. I really stretched out, as they used to say.”

Rollins has long attempted to reach a wider audience by playing funk tunes, by using electronic keyboards in his bands, by recording with the Rolling Stones. His latest album, “Old Flames,” however, is more of a return to his past. Keyboardist Tommy Flanagan joins Rollins on such classic standards as “Where or When,” “Darn That Dream” and “Prelude to a Kiss.” Rollins says that while he strives to be a man of the moment, he’s never far from his early days, when he played with Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Parker.

“There’s probably a time everyday when I think about Bud, Miles, Monk and all those cats,” he says. “Those guys were wizards. When I recorded with Bud or when (trumpeter) Fats Navarro asked me to join his band just before he died (in 1950), you know that was great. They affirmed my presence. But then you were never part of that world unless you were doing something.”

Rollins says he receives albums from such younger players as Joe Lovano and David Sanchez, and those musicians say they’ve gotten a lot from the tenorman. “I’m glad of that, because it means I have contributed, that I’m worthy of being out here,” he says. “If I’m a guy that nobody had gotten anything from, I’d feel diminished.”

* Sonny Rollins plays Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Tickets, $7.50-$21. Call (213) 480-3232. Information: (213) 850-2000. Bird Man: You wouldn’t guess from hearing the funk-driven contemporary tunes of saxman Art Porter that Charlie Parker has played a major role in the 32-year-old’s artistic background. But he has.

“To me, Bird is the real deal,” says Porter, who’ll play selections from his new Verve/Forecast album, “Undercover,” when he appears Thursday at the Strand in Redondo Beach. “You have to go back and listen to Charlie Parker. I take his musical standards and try and apply them to my music. I’m using a different vocabulary, but he’s my motivation.”

Information: (310) 316-1700.