Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

alto saxophonist, flutist 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, gospe ...

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 1 ...

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, 193 ...

Paul Quinichette Paul Quinichette (May 17, 1916 – May 25, 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was known as the "Vice President" or "Vice Prez" for his emulation of the breathy style of Lester Young, whose nickname was "The President", or simply "P ...

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

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists." Biography Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...

Blue Mitchell Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Bl ...

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 1 ...

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, be ...

, 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 c ...

Biography

In the late 1940s, when he was still in his teens, Sonny Red began to play professionally in Detroit with

Barry Harris Barry Doyle Harris (December 15, 1929 – December 8, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. He was an exponent of the bebop style. Influenced by Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, Harris in turn influenc ...

. 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 on the album ''Two Altos''. He made two albums as a leader in 1961; both were released by Jazzland Recordings, a subsidiary of

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riversid ...

. 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'' (Regent) with

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

* 1959–60: '' Out of the Blue'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) * 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 and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across ...

* 1961: '' The Mode'' (Jazzland) with

and

* 1962: ''

Images An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a project ...

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

Sonny Red Sylvester Kyner Jr. (December 17, 1932 – March 20, 1981), known as Sonny Red, was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist and composer associated with the hard bop idiom among other styles. Sonny Red played with Art Blakey, Curtis Fuller, ...

'' (

Mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ...

)

As sideman

With

* '' Mustang!'' (Blue Note, 1966) * ''

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

'' (Blue Note, 1967) * '' Slow Drag'' (Blue Note, 1967) * '' The Creeper'' (Blue Note, 1967) With

* '' New Trombone'' (Prestige, 1957) * '' Curtis Fuller with Red Garland'' (New Jazz, 1957) * '' Jazz ...It's Magic!'' (Regent, 1957) With

Bill Hardman William Franklin Hardman Jr. (April 6, 1933 – December 6, 1990) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist who chiefly played hard bop. He was married to Roseline and they had a daughter Nadege. Career Hardman was born and grew ...

* ''

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 the United States. Although Lateef's main i ...

* '' The Blue Yusef Lateef'' (Atlantic, 1968) With

Pony Poindexter Norwood "Pony" Poindexter (February 8, 1926 – April 14, 1988) was an American jazz saxophonist who was born in New Orleans and died in Oakland, California. Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax. In 1940, he st ...

* ''

Pony's Express ''Pony's Express'' is the debut album by saxophonist Pony Poindexter which was released on the Epic label in 1962.Fitzgerald, M.Pony Poindexter Leader Entryaccessed July 2, 2015 Reception Ken Dryden of Allmusic stated: "It's a shame that Pony P ...

'' (Epic, 1962) With

* '' 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 ...

* ''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. He was renowned for his extensive solo work; however, he was also remembered for his time playing with Count Basie, Count Basie's band duri ...

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

References

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