Music
Sonny Red
1932–1981 · jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, composer
Detroit alto saxophonist who began with Barry Harris as a teenager and recorded hard bop for Blue Note, Jazzland and Donald Byrd before dying in his hometown at 48.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 48- Birth name
- Sylvester Kyner Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1932–1950s, 1981
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Sylvester Kyner Jr. took the name Sonny Red and began playing professionally in Detroit in the late 1940s, while still in his teens, as part of pianist Barry Harris's circle; he worked with Harris until 1952. He played with Art Blakey in 1954 and in 1957 recorded three albums with fellow Detroiter Curtis Fuller, then drew wider notice alongside Art Pepper on the album Two Altos. Blue Note recorded him in 1959–1960 for Out of the Blue, and in 1961–1962 he made his own albums for Riverside's Jazzland label, The Mode and Images, with Barry Harris and guitarist Grant Green. Through the 1960s he recorded with Donald Byrd, including four Blue Note albums in 1967 such as Mustang! and Slow Drag, and with Yusef Lateef, Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly and Cedar Walton. By the 1970s his career had faded into obscurity. He died in Detroit in March 1981, aged 48, and his records are now valued as fine examples of Detroit-bred hard bop.
Highlights
- Played with Barry Harris in Detroit until 1952
- Two Altos (1957) with Art Pepper
- Blue Note album Out of the Blue (1959–1960)
- Jazzland albums Breezing, The Mode and Images (1960–1962)
- Four 1967 Blue Note albums with Donald Byrd