Sonny Criss
Encyclopedia
William "Sonny" Criss was an American
jazz musician.
An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop
era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker
.
and moved to Los Angeles
at the age of 15. He then went on to play in various bands including Howard McGhee
's, which also featured Charlie Parker
.
Criss had developed his own, concise, bluesy tone by this point, and though his basic style did not vary much, his ability on the instrument continued to develop. Nevertheless, he continued to drift from band to band, and played on some records with Johnny Otis
, and Billy Eckstine
.
His first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario Norman Granz
. In 1956 he signed to Imperial Records
, based in New York, and recorded a series of "underground" classics namely, Jazz U.S.A , Go Man! and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter featuring pianist Sonny Clark
. Capitol
, the masters' owners, reissued them as a 2CD set on their Blue Note
imprint in October, 2000. Criss also recorded At the Crossroads, with Kind of Blue
pianist Wynton Kelly
.
Prestige
signed him in 1965, and he continued to record well-acclaimed albums which were mainly rooted in hard bop
traditions. The records produced during this period demonstrated his inventive play on the alto sax
, and contributed to his growing national recognition. Although some of these albums marketed Criss as a survivor, Sonny's Dream was more substantial, featuring charts by Horace Tapscott
. Later sessions were recorded for Muse
and Impulse.
In 1977, Criss contracted stomach cancer
and did not play again. As a consequence of this painful condition, Criss committed suicide
(self-inflicted gunshot) in 1977 in his adopted city of Los Angeles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz musician.
An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
.
Biography
William Criss was born in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at the age of 15. He then went on to play in various bands including Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee was one of the very first bebop jazz trumpeters, together with Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro and Idrees Sulieman. He was known for lightning-fast fingers and very high notes...
's, which also featured Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
.
Criss had developed his own, concise, bluesy tone by this point, and though his basic style did not vary much, his ability on the instrument continued to develop. Nevertheless, he continued to drift from band to band, and played on some records with Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis is an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, and impresario.He is commonly referred to as The Godfather Of Rhythm And Blues.-Personal life:Otis, the son of Alexander...
, and Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine was an American singer of ballads and a bandleader of the swing era. Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big-band, then as the first romantic black male in popular...
.
His first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario Norman Granz
Norman Granz
Norman Granz was an American jazz music impresario and producer.Granz was a fundamental figure in American jazz, especially from about 1947 to 1960...
. In 1956 he signed to Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
, based in New York, and recorded a series of "underground" classics namely, Jazz U.S.A , Go Man! and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter featuring pianist Sonny Clark
Sonny Clark
Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.-Biography:...
. Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, the masters' owners, reissued them as a 2CD set on their Blue Note
Blue note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than that of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers and genres. Country blues, in particular, features wide variations from the...
imprint in October, 2000. Criss also recorded At the Crossroads, with Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
pianist Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly was a Jamaican-born jazz pianist, who spent his career in the United States. He is perhaps best known for working with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1959-1962.-Biography:...
.
Prestige
Prestige Records
Prestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
signed him in 1965, and he continued to record well-acclaimed albums which were mainly rooted in hard bop
Hard bop
Hard bop is a style of jazz that is an extension of bebop music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz which incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano...
traditions. The records produced during this period demonstrated his inventive play on the alto sax
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
, and contributed to his growing national recognition. Although some of these albums marketed Criss as a survivor, Sonny's Dream was more substantial, featuring charts by Horace Tapscott
Horace Tapscott
Horace Tapscott was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s...
. Later sessions were recorded for Muse
Muse Records
Muse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
and Impulse.
In 1977, Criss contracted stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
and did not play again. As a consequence of this painful condition, Criss committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
(self-inflicted gunshot) in 1977 in his adopted city of Los Angeles.
Discography
- California Bop (1947; Fresh Sounds Records)
- Intermission Riff (1951; Pablo RecordsPablo RecordsPablo Records was a record label founded by Norman Granz in 1972, some ten years after he had sold his jazz labels to MGM Records....
) - Jazz USA (1956; Imperial RecordsImperial RecordsImperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
) - Go Man! (1956; Imperial RecordsImperial RecordsImperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
) - Criss Cross (1956; Imperial RecordsImperial RecordsImperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
) - Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter (1956; Imperial RecordsImperial RecordsImperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
) - Mr. Blues Pour Flirter (1963; French Brunswick RecordsBrunswick RecordsBrunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
) - This is Criss (1966; Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - Portrait of Sonny Criss (1967; Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - Sonny's Dream (Birth of the New Cool) (1968; Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - The Beat Goes On!The Beat Goes On!THE BEAT GOES ON ! is a jazz album by alto saxophonist Sonny Criss. Recorded on February 12, 1968. - also issued on Fantasy OJCCD 1051-2.-Track listing:#The Beat Goes On! #Georgia Rose...
(1968; Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - I'll Catch the Sun! (1969); Prestige RecordsPrestige RecordsPrestige Records was a jazz record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock. The company was located at 203 South Washington Avenue in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz musicians of the day, sometimes issuing them under the names of several...
) - Saturday MorningSaturday Morning (album)Saturday Morning is a slow bluesy jazz album by alto saxophonist Sonny Criss, recorded on March 1, 1975 for Xanadu Records.-Track listing:#"Angel Eyes"#"Tin Tin Deo "#"Jeannie's Knees"#"Saturday Morning"#"My Heart Stood Still"...
(1975; Xanadu RecordsXanadu RecordsXanadu Records was a jazz music record label specializing in bebop throughout the 1970s and 1980s founded by Don Schlitten, recording and issuing recordings by some legendary names in jazz music.-Discography:...
) - Crisscraft (1975; Muse RecordsMuse RecordsMuse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
) - Out of Nowhere (1976; Muse RecordsMuse RecordsMuse Records was an American record label which released jazz and blues music.Muse was founded in the early 1970s by Joe Fields, who had previously worked as an executive for Prestige Records in the 1960s...
) - Warm & Sonny (1976; Impulse! RecordsImpulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
) - The Joy of Sax (1977; Impulse! RecordsImpulse! RecordsImpulse! Records was an American jazz record label, originally established in 1960 by producer Creed Taylor as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount Records, based in New York City...
)