Sonny Red
alto saxophone
Sonny Red (born Sylvester Kyner) was a Detroit alto saxophonist, Barry’s closest friend and practice partner when they were young; he later recorded with Barry and worked with him at Slugs in New York.
- mentions
- 5
- recordings
- 3
- Barry speaking
- 4
What Barry says
Barry says he and Sonny Red grew up together and were the ones who practised together all the time. Other musicians came to his house, but he was closer to Sonny Red than to anyone else.
Barry repeats what Roland Hanna told him the last time they spoke: that he and Sonny Red, who came from the north end of town, used to climb the stairs to Barry’s house to learn chords and how to play changes.
The last train to Monk: an interview7:468:26Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle18:13Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶103unknown (JazzTimes; the byline is missing on the current site), Barry Harris: Teacher Man ¶7
Sonny Red is one of the young Detroit musicians Barry names as coming to his house because they knew he would be at the piano, with Roland Hanna, Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef and others. Barry says they jammed all day and had a ball.
Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris0:33Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶103Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶32
They were about the same age but went to different schools: Sonny Red and Tommy Flanagan went to Northern, Barry to Northeastern.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶105Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶107
In the Jake Feinberg interview the host plays a record as a name-that-tune game. The host says Barry nailed it, Barry says Sonny Red is who he grew up with, and the host calls Sonny Red a totally unsung player.
In New York Barry worked with Sonny Red at Slugs, but walked out because the club’s piano had middle notes that did not play.
Reading through his discography, Barry notes a Sonny Red session he played on, dated June 28, 1961.
In his own words
We grew up... we were the ones who practiced all the time together. He and I, we were the closest.
he said he and Sonny Red used to climb the stairs to come out to my house to learn how to play changes.
Most of the Detroiters came through my house. Roland Hanna and Sonny Red would climb those stairs to learn those chords.
I worked with Sonny Red, who worked at Slugs. I had to walk out of Slugs, because Slugs had a piano where all the middle notes didn’t play.
Sonny Red and Tommy, they went to Northern, I went to Northeastern.
Every mention
5 moments in the recordings, 4 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
- 18:13
He and Sonny Red practised together all the time; Barry was closest to him of anyone.
- 17:39
Hearing a record the host plays, Barry says Sonny Red is who he grew up with.
- 16:25
Speaker unclear
As the host starts a name-that-tune record, Sonny Red’s name is spoken (the old automatic captions have it; the newer transcript skips that line).
The last train to Monk: an interview
- 8:26
Roland Hanna said he and Sonny Red climbed the stairs to Barry’s house to learn changes.
Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris
- 0:33
Sonny Red is among the young musicians who came to Barry’s house to practise jazz.
In the interviews and notes
Barry names Sonny Red with Roland Hanna and Donald Byrd as young players who came to his house because he was always at the piano, and repeats Hanna’s memory of climbing the stairs with Sonny Red to learn chords.
Asked whether his friends went to his school, Barry says Sonny Red and Tommy Flanagan went to Northern while he went to Northeastern.
Barry recalls jamming all day, and having a ball, with Donald Byrd, Sonny Red, Yusef Lateef and Kiane Zawadi, while other Detroit players set them straight on how tunes such as I Got Rhythm really went.
Barry says most Detroit musicians came through his house, and that Roland Hanna and Sonny Red climbed his stairs to learn chords.
unknown (JazzTimes; the byline is missing on the current site), Barry Harris: Teacher Man ¶7
Barry worked with Sonny Red at Slugs in New York, but had to walk out because the piano’s middle notes did not play.
Going through his discography, Barry notes that he recorded with Sonny Red on June 28, 1961.
Panken lists Sonny Red among the saxophonists in the Detroit peer group in which Barry grew up, with Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster, Yusef Lateef and Pepper Adams.
De Lima lists Sonny Red with Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef and Kiane Zawadi among the peers Barry said he jammed with all day.
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.