Sonny Greenwich
| Sonny Greenwich | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Herbert Lawrence Greenidge |
| Born |
January 1, 1936 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Avant-garde jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar |
Sonny Greenwich, CM (born January 1, 1936) is a Canadian guitarist. He has played in major Canadian and American cities including a concert at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with such 'greats' as Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, John Handy and Sun Ra.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Sonny Greenwich first drew notice for his style in 1959 in Toronto, Ontario. The year 1965 saw him in New York City at The Village Gate with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Greenwich's reputation, grew by word of mouth, bringing him to the attention of John Handy, with whom he played from December 1966 through March 1967 in Seattle, San Francisco and New York. Columbia Records released their concert appearance as Spirituals to Swing. It was also at this time that Greenwich recorded the album Third Season, with saxophonist Hank Mobley, on Blue Note Records.
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz states that "Some critics regard Greenwich as the most important Canadian jazzman". He is listed as one of the '10 Best Canadian Jazz Musicians of All Time' in the Canadian Book of Lists, and in The History of the guitar in jazz Barney Kessel writes, "There is a deep emotion and sincerity in Sonny's music ... and I consider him a really rare kind of talent". Greenwich's prominence has him written up in the Canadian Encyclopedia; and the Jazz in Canada. Michael Bloomfield listed Sonny Greenwich as one of his favorite jazz guitarists in the August 1971 issue of Guitar Player magazine stating, "There's a guy named Sonny Greenwich, from Canada, he's a phenomenon. They talk about John McLaughlin, but dig this Sonny cat, he's the Coltrane of guitar players."
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Wikipedia