He spent the ’50s doing the journeyman thing—jumping between jazz and R&B bands, from Johnny Otis to Buddy Rich—before dropping Jazz U.S.A. on Imperial. It was a hard bop masterclass on a label too ...

Willow Weep For Me, These Foolish Things, Blue Friday, Sunday, More Than You Know, Easy Living, Alabamy Bound, Something's Gotta Give, West Coast Blues, Criss Cross, Ham's Blues, Sweet Georgia Brown, ...

Sonny’s Dream (Birth of the New Cool) Calling your record Birth of the New Cool takes guts, but Sonny Criss had the chops to back it up. This 1968 release is not just a career high for the L.A.-based ...

I have previously reviewed this very release by Canadian Dylan Cramer. It originally followed up the altoist's Sonny Criss tribute disc The First One (DSM 3016, 1998) and was self-released on his Casa ...

The blues scale is a great tool for beginners, but what do you do to make your solo reach a little further and become memorable? I'm just gonna step back and let Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, and Sonny ...