Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer associated with the

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gosp ...

idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz Trombone, 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 ...

, Paul Quinichette,

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

, Grant Green, Blue Mitchell,

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of ...

Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, b ...

, and

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and ...

Biography

In the late 1940s, when he was still in his teens, Sonny Red began to play professionally in Detroit with Barry Harris. He continued to play with Barry Harris until 1952. He went on to play with Art Blakey in 1954, and in 1957 recorded with Curtis Fuller on three albums. Sonny Red first came on the greater jazz scene in the late 1950s with Art Pepper in the album ''Two Altos''. He made two albums as a leader in 1961; both were released by Jazzland Recordings, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. He continued to record in the 1960s, including four albums with Donald Byrd in 1967. By the 1970s, however, Sonny Red was falling into obscurity. He died in March 1981, at the age of 48.

Discography

As leader

* 1957: ''

Two Altos ''Two Altos'' is an album by American alto saxophonists Art Pepper and Sonny Red. The four standards which appear on the album were recorded in Los Angeles with West Coast-jazz musicians between 1952 and 1954, whilst the two originals were record ...

'' (Regent) with

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American alto saxophonist and very occasional tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. Active in West Coast jazz, Pepper came to prominence in Stan Kenton's big band. He was known ...

* 1959–60: ''

Out of the Blue Out of the Blue may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Out of the Blue'' (1931 film), a British musical by Gene Gerrard * ''Out of the Blue'' (1947 film), an American comedy directed by Leigh Jason *'' Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley'', a ...

'' ( Blue Note) * 1960: '' Breezing'' ( Jazzland) * 1961: '' A Story Tale'' (Jazzland) with

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 ...

* 1961: '' The Mode'' (Jazzland) with Grant Green and Barry Harris * 1962: ''

Images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimension ...

'' (Jazzland) with Grant Green and Barry Harris * 1971: '' Sonny Red'' ( Mainstream)

As sideman

With

* '' Mustang!'' (Blue Note, 1966) * '' Blackjack'' (Blue Note, 1967) * '' Slow Drag'' (Blue Note, 1967) * '' The Creeper'' (Blue Note, 1967) With

* '' New Trombone'' (Prestige, 1957) * ''

Curtis Fuller with Red Garland ''Curtis Fuller with Red Garland'' is an album by trombonist Curtis Fuller with pianist Red Garland recorded in 1957 and originally released on the New Jazz label, a subsidiary of Prestige Records in 1963.Jazz ...It's Magic!'' (Regent, 1957) With Bill Hardman * ''

Saying Something ''Saying Something'' is an album by American jazz trumpeter Bill Hardman which was recorded in 1961 and released on the Savoy label. The 1986 reissue added an additional track from the original sessions Yusef Lateef Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments ...

* ''

The Blue Yusef Lateef ''The Blue Yusef Lateef'' is an album by multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef recorded in 1968 and released on the Atlantic label.

'' (Atlantic, 1968) With Pony Poindexter * '' Pony's Express'' (Epic, 1962) With Paul Quinichette * '' On the Sunny Side'' (Prestige, 1957) With

Bobby Timmons Robert Henry Timmons (December 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He was a sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for two periods (July 1958 to September 1959; February 1960 to June 1961), between which he w ...

* ''Live at the Connecticut Jazz Party'' ( Early Bird Records, 1964) With

Frank Wess Frank Wellington Wess (January 4, 1922 – October 30, 2013) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. In addition to his extensive solo work, Wess is remembered for his time in Count Basie's band from the early 1950s into the 1960s. Critic ...

* ''Jazz Is Busting Out All Over'' (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red, Sonny 1932 births 1981 deaths Musicians from Detroit American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists Blue Note Records artists Mainstream Records artists Savoy Records artists Bebop saxophonists 20th-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Michigan 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians