Landon "Sonny" Cox (1938 – May 5, 2020) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and jazz alto saxophonist.

Early life

Cox's mother, Helen Harris, was a singer and performed with

Erskine Hawkins Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is best remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" (1 ...

. He first played with The Rocks a Cincinnati-based group that backed Jackie Wilson,

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

, Solomon Burke,

Lavern Baker Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were " Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and " ...

and other soul artists. In 1955, Cox met organist Ken Prince and they began to work together around Chicago. In 1964, they formed the Three Souls with drummer Robert Shy. The group made three albums for the Argo-Cadet label. In 1974, Cox became the baseball coach for

Paul Robeson High School (Chicago, Illinois) Paul Robeson High School was a public four–year high school located in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in September 1977, Robeson was a part of the Chicago Public Schools district. The s ...

. In 1981, he became the basketball coach at

King College Prep High School Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. College Preparatory High School (commonly known as King College Prep or locally as King) is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Kenwood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illi ...

, where he coached three state basketball championship teams. In 2006, Cox was voted as one of the

100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) celebrated 100 years of the IHSA State Tournament in the 2006-07 season. A list of "100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament" was assembled on December 14, 2005. Throughout the state, 281 ind ...

, a group of former players and coaches in honor of the 100th. anniversary of the IHSA boys basketball tournament. Among the basketball players whom he coached at King were

Marcus Liberty Marcus Liberty (born October 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Liberty played college basketball for the University of Illinois. High school After ...

, Levertis Robinson, Jamie Brandon. Imari Sawyer,

Rashard Griffith Rashard Nathan Griffith (born October 8, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. Early career A native of Chicago, Illinois, Griffith starred for the nationally ranked King Jaguars of the Chicago Public League, where he was p ...

, Thomas Hamilton, Michael Hermon, Emmitt Lynch, Fred Sculfield, Johnnie Selvie, Marcus Cathcings and many other local Chicago sporting luminaries.

Influences

According to jazz critic Joe Segal, Cox was influenced by

Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 – October 28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which he ...

and

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

: "Sonny's general sound is an amalgamation of the jazz feeling (derived from a Charlie Parker spark) and a warm fuzzy throaty sound and approach influenced by the daddy of the rock altoists Earl Bostic" (liner notes of Argo 4036). He also sounds sometimes like Hank Crawford.

Discography

* The Three Souls Dangerous Dan express (

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Arg ...

4036)(1964) * The Three Souls Soul Sounds (Argo 4044) (1965) * Sonny Cox The Wailer (

Cadet Records Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing r ...

765) (1966) (with Richard Evans orchestra).

References

External links

TOM LORD'S JAZZ DISCOGRAPHY * The Chess Labels, Greenwood Press (Michel Ruppli, 1983) * * - The Three Souls {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Sonny Soul-jazz saxophonists African-American saxophonists American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists Jazz alto saxophonists 1938 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Cincinnati Musicians from Chicago African-American basketball coaches Cadet Records artists 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Illinois Jazz musicians from Ohio 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Basketball coaches from Illinois High school basketball coaches in Illinois 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century American saxophonists