Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician.

Biography

Sonny Simmons at Keystone Korner, San Francisco CA 10-22-80

Simmons was born on August 4, 1933 in

Sicily Island, Louisiana Sicily Island is a village in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 336 at the 2020 census. Geography Sicily Island is located in northeastern Catahoula Parish at (31.846573, -91.658925). U.S. Route 425 passes through ...

. He grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he began playing the

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

. (Along with

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

, Simmons was among the few musicians to play the instrument in a jazz context.) At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument. Simmons played primarily in an avant-garde style, often delving into free jazz. His then-wife,

Barbara Donald Barbara Kay Donald (September 2, 1942 – March 23, 2013) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Life and career She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Donald began playing trumpet aged eight in Minnesota, and her family r ...

, played trumpet on several of his early records, including his

ESP-Disk ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP b ...

titles '' Staying on the Watch'' and ''Music from the Spheres''; Arhoolie title ''Manhattan Egos'', and

Contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

titles ''Rumasuma'' and the

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

''Burning Spirits''. Simmons also partnered with

Prince Lasha William B. Lawsha, better known as Prince Lasha (), (September 10, 1929 – December 12, 2008) was an United States of America, American jazz alto saxophonist, flautist, baritone saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist and English horn player. Life a ...

on several recordings, two of which – ''

The Cry! ''The Cry!'' is an album by saxophonists Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons which was recorded in late 1962 and released on the Contemporary label. Reception Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars with its review by Alex Henderson stating: "This albu ...

'' (1963) and ''

Firebirds Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various sp ...

'' (1968) – were released by

. Personal problems derailed both his music career and home life, leading to divorce and homelessness. He busked on the streets of San Francisco for many years, until he resurrected his career in the early 1990s and began playing in night clubs again. His resurgence in the mid-1990s was marked by two albums, ''Ancient Ritual'' and ''American Jungle'', for

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

Qwest Records Qwest Records is the American record label started by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, and owned by Warner Music Group, although Jones was still under contract with A&M Records through 1981. George Benson's 1980 ...

, along with regular appearances in European jazz festivals such as the

Moers Festival The Moers Festival is an annual international music festival in Moers, Germany. The festival has changed from concentrating on free jazz to including world and pop music, though it still invites many avant-garde jazz musicians. Performers at Moers ...

and

Saalfelden Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer is a town in the district of Zell am See District, Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. With approximately 16,000 inhabitants, Saalfelden is the district's largest town and Salzburg (state)# ...

Jazz Festival. From 2000, he was co-leader of ''The Cosmosamatics'' with reed player Michael Marcus. Simmons was the subject of the 2003 documentary film ''In Modern Time -- a Sonny Simmons Story'' by Robert Brewster. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Jazz Foundation. Simmons died on April 6, 2021, in New York.

Discography

As leader

* '' Staying on the Watch'' (

, 1966) * '' Music from the Spheres'' (ESP-Disk, 1968) * ''Manhattan Egos'' ( Arhoolie, 1968) * '' Rumasuma'' (

, 1969) * '' Burning Spirits'' (Contemporary, 1971) * ''Backwoods Suite'' (

West Wind A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction. Mythology and Literature In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds. In Greek mythology, ...

, 1982) * ''Global Jungle'' (Deal With It, 1990) * ''Backwoods Suite'' (West Wind, 1990) * ''Ancient Ritual'' (

Qwest Qwest Communications International, Inc. was a United States telecommunications carrier. Qwest provided local service in 14 western and midwestern U.S. states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dako ...

/Reprise, 1994) * ''Live in Paris'' (Arhoolie, 1994) * ''Transcendence'' (Creative Improvised Music Projects, 1996) * ''Judgement Day'' (Creative Improvise Music Projects, 1996) * ''American Jungle'' (Qwest/Warner Bros, 1997) * ''Live at the Knitting Factory'' (Ayler, 2001) * ''Mixolydis'' (Marge, 2001) * ''Jewels'' (Boxholder, 2004) * ''The Future Is Ancient'' (2004) * ''The Traveler'' ( Jazzaway, 2005) * ''Cheshire Cat Club + Olympia - 1980'' (Hello World!, 2006) * ''I'll See You When You Get There'' (Jazzaway, 2006) * ''Last Man Standing'' (Jazzaway, 2007) * ''Ecstatic Nostalgia'' (Hello World!, 2007) * ''Performs the Music of Charlie Parker'' (Zingmagazine, 2007) * ''Introducing Black Jack Pleasanton'' (Hello World!, 2008) * ''Atomic Symphony'' (Jazzaway, 2009) * ''Symphony of the Peacocks'' (Improvising Beings, 2011) * ''Beyond the Planets'' (Improvising Beings, 2013) * ''Leaving Knowledge, Wisdom and Brilliance / Chasing the Bird'' (Improvising Beings, 2014) With The Cosmosamatics (also featuring Michael Marcus) * ''The Cosmosamatics'' (Boxholder, 2001) * ''The Cosmosamatics Two'' (Boxholder, 2002) * ''Cosmosamatics Three'' (Boxholder, 2002 and 2003) * ''Live at Banlieues Bleues'' (Bleu Regard, 2003) * ''Magnitudes'' (Soul Note, 2003)) * ''Zetrons'' (Not Two, 2004) * ''Reeds & Birds'' (Not Two, 2004) * ''Free Within the Law'' (Not Two, 2007) * ''Jazz Maalika'' (Saptakjazz, 2013) With Moksha Samnyasin * ''

Nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

'' ( Svart, 2014) With

Bobby Few Bobby Few (October 21, 1935 – January 6, 2021) was an American jazz pianist and vocalist. Early life Few was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the Fairfax neighborhood of the city's East Side. Upon his mother's encouragement, he stud ...

* ''True Wind'' (Hello World!, 2007) With

Horace Tapscott Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s. Early lif ...

* ''Tapscott Simmons Quartet - Among Friends'' (Jazz Friends, 1999) With Brandon Evans * ''Universal Prayer / Survival Skills'' (Parallactic, 1999) * ''A Salute to Ustad Bismillah Khan'' (Parallactic, 2001) * ''Tales of the Ancient East'' (Parallactic, 2001) With Brandon Evans and

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

* ''Anthony Braxton / Sonny Simmons / Brandon Evans / Andre Vida / Mike Pride / Shanir Blumenkranz'' (Parallactic, 2003)

As sideman

With

* ''

'' (

, 1962) * ''

'' (Contemporary, 1967) * ''Firebirds: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, Vol. III'' (Birdseye, 1970) With

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

Jimmy Garrison James Emory Garrison (March 3, 1934 – April 7, 1976) was an American jazz double bassist. He is best remembered for his association with John Coltrane from 1961 to 1967. Career Garrison was raised in both Miami and Philadelphia where he l ...

* '' Illumination!'' (

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

, 1963) With

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

* ''

Conversations Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

'' (FM, 1963) * ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

'' (Douglas International, 1963) With Robert Stewart * ''Happy Birthday Trane'' (Armageddon, 1999) With Svein Olav Herstad Trio * ''Suite for Simmons'' (Jazzaway, 2006) Collaboration 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 ...

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

* ''It Is Revealed'' (Zounds, 1963)

References

External links

Sonny Simmons official siteSonny Simmons interview by Clifford Allen
from ''All About Jazz'' website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Sonny Avant-garde jazz musicians 1933 births 2021 deaths American jazz alto saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz oboists American male jazz musicians Male oboists Cor anglais players Qwest Records artists African-American saxophonists ESP-Disk artists People from Sicily Island, Louisiana 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from Louisiana 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American saxophonists