Easy Living

Released in 1977 on the Milestone label, Easy Living represents a high point in Sonny Rollins' often-polarized 1970s output. While many purists struggled with Rollins' move toward fusion and R&B textures, this record is widely cited by critics like Scott Yanow as one of his most spirited and successful efforts of the decade. The recording features an incredible lineup of fusion heavyweights, including keyboardist George Duke and drummer Tony Williams, whose presence ensures a high-energy, rhythmically complex foundation. The album is notable for Rollins' shift in timbre; he moves away from the dry, intellectual tone of his earlier work toward a thicker, more distorted 'R&B-ish' sound. This aesthetic choice aligns the album with the contemporary soul-jazz movement while retaining the sophisticated improvisational language of post-bop. The inclusion of 'Isn't She Lovely' highlights Rollins' career-long habit of interpreting popular songs with a mix of reverence and radical re-imagination.