Gerald "Sonny" Brown (born April 20, 1936) is an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
drummer.
After having played with
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson,
Amos Milburn
Joseph Amos Milburn (April 1, 1927 – January 3, 1980) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He was born in Houston, Texas, and died there 52 years later. One commentator noted, "Milburn excel ...
, and
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...
, Brown moved to New York in 1961, where he played with
Frank Foster,
Randy Weston
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection.
Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...
,
Ray Bryant
Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant (December 24, 1931 – June 2, 2011) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Early life
Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1931. His mother was an ordained minister who had tau ...
,
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...
,
Jon Hendricks
John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...
(1963–4),
Gildo Mahones
Hermenengildo "Gildo" Mahones (June 2, 1929, New York City – April 27, 2018) was an American jazz pianist.
Biography
Mahones was born to Puerto Rican parents in East Harlem in New York City. Early in his career, he played with Joe Morris (1948 ...
(1964),
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...
,
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings.
Early life
Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 1932. ...
,
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...
,
Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a ...
,
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...
,
Lee Konitz
Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...
,
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz.
Biography Early life
Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
,
Sam Rivers, and
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...
.
[
Having recorded for ]Roland Kirk
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...
in 1960, Brown went on to perform with Kirk's groups until 1976.[
From 1968 Brown performed with the New York Bass Violin Choir, also writing an opera with its director, Bill Lee.][Waggoner, Andrew.]
"Brown, Sonny".
''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Sonny
1936 births
Living people
American jazz drummers
American male drummers
20th-century American drummers
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians