Saul "Sonny" Berman (April 21, 1925 – January 16, 1947) was 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 m ...

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

. Berman was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, United States. He began touring at age sixteen and performed with

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

and

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...

, but is best known for his later work with

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

. Berman was distinguished by his passionate and innovative soloing, and his versatility of tone—ranging from bold and emotional to sweetly muted. He was also known for his sense of humor, which often made its way into a playfulness and joyfulness found in his solo work. Sonny Berman died at the age of 21 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

of heart failure, caused by a drug overdose.

Discography

* ''Sidewalks of Cuba'' (with Woody Herman), 1946 * ''Curbstone Scuffle'', 1947 * ''Woodchopper's Holiday'', 1946 * ''Jazz Immortal 1946'', released 1954 soteric ES-532ref name="LarkinJazz"/> With Georgie Auld *'' Rainbow Mist'' (Delmark, 1944 992 compilation of Apollo recordings

References

External links

The Incomplete Sonny Berman
1925 births 1947 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trumpeters Bebop trumpeters Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Jazz musicians from Connecticut 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-trumpeter-stub