Collection: Sonny Red

Born Sylvester Kyner Jr. in Detroit, Michigan on 17 December 1932, Sonny Red became an exceptional alto saxophonist and flutist associated with hard bop, known for one of the prettiest sounds on his instrument despite falling into obscurity by the late 1970s. Red began playing professionally in Detroit as a teenager in the late 1940s with pianist Barry Harris, continuing that partnership until 1952 whilst performing in legendary Detroit clubs including Klein's Show Bar, the Blue Bird Inn, and the Twenty Grand.

After graduating high school in 1952, Red played with Art Blakey in 1954, spent three days with Billie Holiday that same year, and recorded with Curtis Fuller on three albums in 1957. He first came to wider jazz attention on the 1957 album Two Altos with Art Pepper. Part of the fruitful exodus of Detroit jazzmen to New York in the late 1950s, Red recorded his sole Blue Note album as leader, Out of the Blue, in December 1959 and January 1960 with Wynton Kelly, featuring his bebop style steeped in Charlie Parker's influence yet incorporating a personal, vocal approach. He made two albums for Jazzland in 1961, Breezing and The Mode, and continued recording through the 1960s with Donald Byrd, Grant Green, Blue Mitchell, Cedar Walton, and Kenny Dorham. His music was firmly rooted in bebop and blues, and he died in Detroit on 20 March 1981, aged 48.