Sonny Greenwich

Last updated
Sonny Greenwich
Birth nameHerbert Lawrence Greenidge
Born (1936-01-01) January 1, 1936 (age 87)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres Avant-garde jazz
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Guitar
Labels Justin Time, Sackville, Kleo, Cornerstone, PM Records

Sonny Greenwich, CM (born January 1, 1936) [1] is a Canadian guitarist. He has played in major Canadian and American cities including a concert at Carnegie Hall. He has performed with musicians such as Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, John Handy and Sun Ra.

Contents

Biography

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Sonny Greenwich first drew notice for his style in 1959 in Toronto, Ontario. In 1965 he performed 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 Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and New York playing with another Canadian, bassist Don Thompson. Columbia Records released their concert appearance as Spirituals to Swing. It was also at this time that Greenwich recorded the album Third Season, with well known saxophonist, Hank Mobley, on Blue Note Records. [2]

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."

In 1968, Sonny Greenwich led his own quartet, of pianist Teddy Saunders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Jack DeJohnette at the Village Vanguard in New York. In December 1969 Greenwich performed with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Tony Williams at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto. The following year, Greenwich's own group opened for the Miles Davis band at Massey Hall.

In 2006, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2021, he received the Canadian Jazz Master Award.

Personal life

He is the father of Sonny Greenwich Jr., guitarist of the Canadian funk-metal band Bootsauce. [3]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Laird</span> Irish jazz bassist (1941–2021)

Richard Quentin Laird was an Irish musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, with which he performed from 1971 to 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Corea</span> American musician and composer (1941–2021)

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost jazz pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Holland</span> British jazz musician

David “Dave” Holland is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian McBride</span> American jazz bassist, composer, and arranger

Christian McBride is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Smith (saxophonist)</span> Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator

Thomas William Ellis Smith is a Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Bickert</span> Canadian guitarist (1932–2019)

Edward Isaac Bickert, was a Canadian guitarist who played mainstream jazz and swing music. Bickert worked professionally from the mid-1950s to 2000, mainly in the Toronto area. His international reputation grew steadily from the mid-1970s onward as he recorded albums both as a bandleader and as a backing musician for Paul Desmond, Rosemary Clooney, and other artists, with whom he toured in North America, Europe and Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Thompson (musician)</span> Canadian jazz musician

Donald Winston Thompson, OC is a Canadian jazz musician who plays double bass, piano, and vibes. Thompson's career as a performer, recording artist, producer, session musician, and music educator has lasted for more than 50 years.

Bill Connors is an American jazz guitarist who was a member of Chick Corea's band Return to Forever. After leaving Return to Forever, he recorded three acoustic albums and then three electric albums as a leader/soloist.

<i>Light Years</i> (Chick Corea album) 1987 studio album by Chick Corea Elektric Band

Light Years is an album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band. It features Chick Corea with guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Dave Weckl. The album received the 1988 Grammy Award for the Best R&B Instrumental Performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian blues</span>

Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drums, songwriters and music producers. In many cases, blues artists take on multiple roles. For example, the Canadian blues artist Steve Marriner is a singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.

John Geggie is an Ottawa-based Canadian bassist who performs jazz with several Ottawa-based groups and performers. As well, he is a classical bassist who has performed in the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Ottawa-area chamber orchestras, and in chamber music concerts.

<i>Five Peace Band Live</i> 2009 live album by Chick Corea & John McLaughlin

Five Peace Band Live is a 2009 post bop/jazz fusion album from keyboardist Chick Corea and guitarist John McLaughlin with alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Dwyer (musician)</span> Musical artist

Phil Dwyer is a Canadian jazz saxophonist, pianist, composer, producer and educator. In 2017 he graduated from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Faculty of Law in Fredericton, New Brunswick and was called to the bar of British Columbia in 2018. Dwyer is Member of the Order of Canada, having been invested in 2013 "For his contributions to jazz as a performer, composer and producer, and for increasing access to music education in his community." Dwyer has been nominated for Juno Awards six times and won Best Mainstream Jazz Album in 1994 with Dave Young for Fables and Dreams and Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year in 2012 for the recording Changing Seasons. Dwyer has also appeared on Juno Award winning recordings with Hugh Fraser (1988), Joe Sealy (1997), Natalie MacMaster (2000), Guido Basso (2004), Don Thompson (2006), Molly Johnson (2009), Terry Clarke (2010), and Diana Panton (2015). He is an alumnus and Honorary Fellow of The Royal Conservatory of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1966 in jazz</span> Overview of the events of 1966 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 in jazz</span> Overview of the events of 1978 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970s in jazz</span>

In the 1970s in jazz, jazz became increasingly influenced by Latin jazz, combining rhythms from African and Latin American countries, often played on instruments such as conga, timbale, güiro, and claves, with jazz and classical harmonies played on typical jazz instruments. Artists such as Chick Corea, John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola increasingly influenced the genre with jazz fusion, a hybrid form of jazz-rock fusion which was developed by combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments, and the highly amplified stage sound of rock musicians such as Jimi Hendrix. All Music Guide states that "..until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate." However, "...as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces." On June 16, 1972 the New York Jazz Museum opened in New York City at 125 West 55th Street in a one and one-half story building. It became the most important institution for jazz in the world with a 25,000 item archive, free concerts, exhibits, film programs, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk MacDonald (musician)</span> Canadian jazz musician and composer (born 1959)

Kirk MacDonald is a Canadian jazz musician and composer. He has been nominated for four Juno Awards, with his album The Atlantic Sessions winning the 1999 Juno Award for Best Mainstream Jazz Album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010s in jazz</span>

In the 2010s in jazz, there was a noted resurgence in the popularity of jazz, particularly in the United Kingdom, where new artists rose to prominence such as Sons of Kemet, Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, and Moses Boyd Young audiences overall also listened jazz moreso than before, with streaming services reporting a spike amongst people under 30. Part of this is attributed to the rise of streaming services, and part to fusions with other genres and collaborations between jazz musicians and popular artists in other genres, such as Kamasi Washington's work with Kendrick Lamar

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Clarke (drummer)</span> Musical artist

Terence Michael "Terry" Clarke C.M. is a Canadian jazz drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 in jazz</span> Overview of the events of 2021 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 2021.

References

  1. "Sonny Greenwich". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Government of Canada. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  2. Sonny Greenwich on Kleo Records!
  3. "Biography: Sonny Greenwich". Kleo Records. Retrieved May 12, 2016.