- Sonny Criss
William "Sonny" Criss (
October 23 ,1927 -November 19 ,1977 ) was an Americanjazz musician .An alto saxophonist of modest prominence during the
bebop era of jazz. Like his partial namesake,Sonny Stitt , Criss was never considered a true innovator (seeCharlie Parker ), but was a stylist and exceptional player in his own right, and furthered the bebop vocabulary.Life and Work
William Criss was born in
Memphis, Tennessee and moved toLos Angeles at the age of 15. He then went on to play in various bands includingHoward McGhee 's, which also featuredCharlie 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 , andBilly Eckstine .His first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario
Norman Granz . 1956, was a pivotal year where he signed toImperial Records , based in New York, and recorded a series of "underground" classics namely, "Jazz in U.S.A ", "Go Man" and "Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter" featuring pianistSonny Clark . Capitol, the masters' owners, reissued them as a 2CD set on theirBlue Note imprint in October, 2000. Criss also recorded "At the Crossroads", with "Kind of Blue " pianistWynton 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 byHorace 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 committedsuicide in 1977 in his adopted city of Los Angeles.Posthumous reception
Criss was quite an anomalous player who never received the praise and acclaim he justly deserved during his life time, as he was undoubtedly overshadowed later in his career by
Jackie McLean , andCannonball Adderley as he had been by Parker earlier. Posthumous releases have helped to let Criss's reputation grow somewhat, and reissues have been favourably received by the jazz world.Discography
* "California Bop" (1947;
Fresh Sounds Records )
* "Intermission Riff" (1951;Pablo Records )
* "Jazz USA" (1956;Imperial Records )
* "This is Criss" (1966;Prestige Records )
* "The Beat Goes On!" (1968;Prestige Records )
* "I'll Catch The Sun!" (1969);Prestige Records )
* "Saturday Morning" (1975;Xanadu Records )
* "Crisscraft" (1975;Savoy Records )
* "Warm & Sonny" (1976;Impulse! Records )
* "The Joy of Sax" (1977;Impulse! Records )References
* Jurek, Thom (2003). [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6srx282c051a~T1 "allmusic ((( Sonny Criss > Biography )))"] .
External links
* [http://www.members.tripod.com/~hardbop/criss.html Sonny Criss at the Hard Bop Home Page]
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