Sonny Rollins on "Dig"

The other night at Fat Cat, the trumpeter Josh Evans played "Dig" as a background (or maybe as a fill during a drum trade) over the bridge of "Caravan," which led me to check out the tune the next day. It's a contrafact over "Sweet Georgia Brown" that gets called from time to time, and was recorded a month after Sonny Rollins turned 21 (!), in 1951. It was also recorded shortly after Sonny got out of Rikers Island for armed robbery, according to Wikipedia—different times! Here's a transcription of the solo:

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[ed. September 7, 2016] And a few words from Sonny from an interview earlier this year on early mishaps around this time:

What about the times that you didn’t want to be part of the music business? 

SR: There are a couple of big hiatuses. But you played every day still. And you’re playing on that bridge. 

Tell me what life was like for you then.

SR: Well, I’ve taken several hiatuses in my life. Early on, of course, I had some drug problems. I got myself straight after paying some dues. 

How long was that a problem for you?

SR: I got in bad trouble. I was incarcerated around 1950. As a stickup man. The last thing I am is a stickup man. That’s the first time I had a gun, actually. I knew we needed money and that was the way to get it. But that wasn’t my thing—I was part of a group. Big stupid me was the one with the gun. I spent a year in jail. And that was rough. Then I came out, but I went back because I went back to drugs again during the parole period. I had to go back for three months. And boy, you don’t want to be in jail. I know what it is now, but it was bad enough then. I was fortunate because there were some musicians in there and we had a clique. So I was able to survive. But the second time, when I went back, I said, “God, I have to find a way to stay out of here.”