Sonny Simmons


Huey "Sonny" Simmons was an American jazz musician.

Biography

Simmons was born on August 4, 1933, in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument. Simmons played primarily in an avant-garde style, often delving into free jazz.
His then-wife, Barbara Donald, played trumpet on several of his early records, including his ESP-Disk titles Staying on the Watch and Music from the Spheres; Arhoolie title Manhattan Egos, and Contemporary titles Rumasuma and the double album Burning Spirits.
Simmons also partnered with Prince Lasha on several recordings, two of which – The Cry! and Firebirds – were released by Contemporary.
Personal problems derailed both his music career and home life, leading to divorce and homelessness. He busked on the streets of San Francisco for many years, until he resurrected his career in the early 1990s and began playing in night clubs again.
His resurgence in the mid-1990s was marked by two albums, Ancient Ritual and American Jungle, for Quincy Jones' Qwest Records, along with regular appearances in European jazz festivals such as the Moers Festival and Saalfelden Jazz Festival.
From 2000, he was co-leader of The Cosmosamatics with reed player Michael Marcus. Simmons was the subject of the 2003 documentary film In Modern Time -- a Sonny Simmons Story by Robert Brewster. In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Jazz Foundation. Simmons died on April 6, 2021, in New York.

Discography

As leader

Staying on the Watch Music from the Spheres Manhattan Egos Rumasuma Burning Spirits Backwoods Suite Global Jungle Backwoods Suite Ancient Ritual Live in Paris Transcendence Judgement Day American Jungle Live at the Knitting Factory Mixolydis Jewels The Future Is Ancient The Traveler Cheshire Cat Club + Olympia - 1980 I'll See You When You Get There Last Man Standing Ecstatic Nostalgia Performs the Music of Charlie Parker Introducing Black Jack Pleasanton Atomic Symphony Symphony of the Peacocks Beyond the Planets Leaving Knowledge, Wisdom and Brilliance / Chasing the Bird
With The Cosmosamatics The Cosmosamatics The Cosmosamatics Two Cosmosamatics Three Live at Banlieues Bleues Magnitudes ) Zetrons Reeds & Birds Free Within the Law Jazz Maalika
With Moksha SamnyasinNomadic
With Bobby FewTrue Wind
With Horace TapscottTapscott Simmons Quartet - Among Friends
With Brandon EvansUniversal Prayer / Survival Skills A Salute to Ustad Bismillah Khan Tales of the Ancient East
With Brandon Evans and Anthony Braxton
  • ''Anthony Braxton / Sonny Simmons / Brandon Evans / Andre Vida / Mike Pride / Shanir Blumenkranz''

As sideman

With Prince LashaThe Cry! Firebirds Firebirds: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival, Vol. III
With Elvin Jones/Jimmy GarrisonIllumination!
With Eric DolphyConversations Iron Man
With Robert StewartHappy Birthday Trane
With Svein Olav Herstad TrioSuite for Simmons
Collaboration With Clifford Jordan/Don Cherry/Prince Lasha
  • ''It Is Revealed''