Legendary jazz artist Sonny Rollins, known as the “saxophone colossus”, has died at the age of 95.

Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York, on Monday afternoon, according to a statement issued by his publicist, who described him as “one of the most honored and influential figures in American music”.

No cause of death was mentioned in the statement.

Rollins had a prolific career spanning more than six decades after beginning in the late 1940s. He collaborated with celebrated artists including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, and released over 60 albums as a band leader.

The saxophonist won two Grammy Awards before retiring in 2014 following respiratory illness.

A 2009 quote from Rollins accompanied the announcement of his death.

“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I'm a person who believes this life isn't the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn't feel like that,” he had said.

In an interview with Jazz Times, Rollins recalled his early fascination with the saxophone.

“My mother gave me my first saxophone, an alto saxophone, when I was 7 years old. I got the saxophone and I went into the bedroom and I started playing – that was it. I was in seventh heaven... I could have been there forever,” he said.

Rollins, regarded as one of jazz music’s finest improvisers, was mentored by pianist Thelonious Monk and later performed with leading jazz musicians including Art Blakey, Bud Powell and Davis.

In 1956, he released his sixth and one of his most acclaimed albums, Saxophone Colossus.

As his fame grew in the early 1960s, Rollins became known for practising for hours daily on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge. The experience later inspired his 1962 album The Bridge and sparked calls for the bridge to be renamed in his honour.

Known for his lengthy solos and spontaneous improvisation, Rollins once told PBS that he would walk on stage with a blank mind and no fixed plan beyond the structure of the composition.

“Improvising on it, that I leave completely to the forces,” he said. “Sometimes I'm surprised by what comes out.”