Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sonny Criss: The Complete Imperial Sessions

223

Sonny Criss: The Complete Imperial Sessions

By

View read count
Sonny Criss: The Complete Imperial Sessions
Had alto saxophonist Sonny Criss spent most of the time on the East Coast instead of settling in Los Angeles, he might have become more of a household name. In fact, it wasn’t until he made a series of sides for Prestige in the late ‘60s that he obtained even a modicum of the recognition due him, particularly through the magnificent Sonny’s Dream album. Unfortunately, by the end of the ‘70s he had met his untimely death at the age of 50. While Criss’ Prestige titles have been made available (with The Beat Goes On being reissued within the next month), his earlier work for Peacock and Imperial has been perennially hard to obtain.

Thanks to the folks at Blue Note, all three of Criss’ original Imperial albums have been collected on a new two-disc Connoisseur series reissue. All recorded in 1956, the original releases included are Jazz U.S.A., Go Man!, and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter. Sound quality for these West Coast sides is superb throughout, with Criss largely working as the sole horn in a small group format. In addition to such names as Barney Kessel, Kenny Drew, Leroy Vinnegar, Larry Bunker, and Lawrence Marable, these recordings also serve as a valuable missing piece in the meager catalog of pianist Sonny Clark, who appears on 22 of the 34 collected tracks. For the uninitiated, Criss might best be described as a cross between Johnny Hodges and Jackie McLean. He’s not quite as laid back as Hodges, but his tone is nowhere near as acerbic as McLean’s. The words “rich” and “romantic” come to mind. Anyway you describe it, this is some of Criss’ finest work and one of the best reissues of the year.

Track Listing

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, Summertime, Memories of You, Wailin' With Joe, How Deep Is the Ocean, The Blues For Rose, The Man I Love, Until The Real Thing Come Along, Blue Prelude, After You've Gone, Come Rain Or Come Shine, How High the Moon, If I Had You, I Love You, Anything Goes, Easy To Love, It's All Right With Me, In the Still of the Night, Love For Sale, Night and Day, Just One of Those Things, What Is This Thing Called Love, I Get a Kick Out of You

Personnel

Sonny Criss
saxophone, alto

Sonny Criss- alto saxophone; Barney Kessel- guitar; Larry Bunker- vibes; Kenny Drew, Sonny Clark- piano; Bill Woodson, Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy Clark- bass; Chuck Thompson, Lawrence Marable- drums

Album information

Title: The Complete Imperial Sessions | Year Released: 2000 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.