Jazz Articles about Sonny Fortune

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Sonny Fortune: You and the Night and the Music

by Troy Collins
August 31, 2007

From the generation of post-bop saxophonists following in the shadow of John Coltrane, multi-instrumentalist Sonny Fortune comes closest to capturing Coltrane's spirit and intensity. Since the late 1960s, Fortune has made an indelible mark on jazz history, collaborating with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis and Mongo Santamaria, among other luminaries. Despite his numerous side-man appearances and a fertile solo career, he remains a respected but unsung hero of the jazz cognoscenti.

Dominated by standards and traditional tunes, ...

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Sonny Fortune: You and the Night and the Music

by Joel Roberts
July 16, 2007

While he's been overshadowed by other saxophonists throughout much of his career, Sonny Fortune has been an important force in jazz for many years, playing in a style that owes much to John Coltrane and was showcased in the bands of Coltrane's key collaborators, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner--as well as in a stint with Miles Davis in the 1970s. Fortune's You and The Night and The Music shows the Philadelphia-born Fortune in fine form at the ...

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Sonny Fortune: Trilogy Collection

by Florence Wetzel
December 16, 2006

Sonny Fortune Trilogy Collection Sound Reason 2006

Jazz is blessed by the music of alto saxophonist and flutist Sonny Fortune, a living master who always plays directly from the heart. In addition to his work with Miles Davis, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Nat Adderley, and Mongo Santamaria, over the years Fortune has led many dates of his own. He considers his three mid-90s Blue Note releases to be among his most significant recorded work ...

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Sonny Fortune: In Pursuit Of Music

by Russ Musto
September 19, 2006

Sonny Fortune is one of the most exciting saxophonists in jazz today, with a searing sound that is all his own. Fortune served as a sideman with a variety of leaders, including Elvin Jones, Mongo Santamaria, Buddy Rich, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis and Nat Adderley, but it as a leader that he has truly made his mark in music. He currently leads a quartet, is co-leader with Gary Bartz and Vincent Herring of the cooperative group The Three Altos, and ...

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Sonny Fortune and Rashied Ali: An Evening of Thanksgiving

by Erik R. Quick
November 24, 2005

Sonny Fortune and Rashied Ali An Die Musik Baltimore, MD November 19, 2005

The small sign on the column of the entrance announced the performance of “Sonny Fortune and Rashied Ali; SOLD OUT . Some anxious audience members gathered at the bottom of the old stone stairs to the raised entrance, smoking and chattering about musical memories in the brisk air from the harbor. Other people congregated in the music store in the ...

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Sonny Fortune: Continuum

by A. Henkin
October 5, 2004

For those that only know Sonny Fortune through his work with the Three Altos or his duo with Rashied Ali, his new self-released album Continuum will present a very different musician. The aforementioned groups feature Fortune solely on alto and as a firebreather playing on standards. Not that there is anything wrong with that (a set with Ali last month featured a 40-minute “The Song is You" that rattled the Sweet Rhythm silverware) but Fortune has other facets, all on ...

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Sonny Fortune Quartet at Sweet Rhythm

by Chris Thompson
April 2, 2004

Sonny Fortune Quartet Sweet Rhythm, New York City March 27, 2004

‘Round about midnight on March 25, 2004, WKCR in New York City, the radio station of Columbia University, concluded a continuous two-week program on John Coltrane. Yes, that’s right -- John Coltrane Radio 24/7 for two weeks straight! “All Coltrane. All the time." The program finale was a live 1961 recording of the “classic” John Coltrane Quartet performing “My Favorite Things”. It’s a performance gushing ...