RE: Sonny Rollins, I can’t tell when he’s being humorous and when he’s unabashedly mocking a tune. It often sounds to me as though he holds standards at arm’s length, refusing to get too caught up in their emotional content and co-opting their harmonic structures as launching pads for heady virtuoso improvisations.
Of course, there’s nothing "wrong" with this. I just happen to prefer more overtly emotional playing.