Sonny Lester

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Sonny Lester (born November 15, 1924 in New York City ) is an American music producer .

Live and act

Lester began as a trumpeter in big bands of swing before he was drafted in 1943 and spent the Second World War with the infantry in Europe, where he also played in part in the band of the 84th Infantry Division. Back in New York, he married and initially worked as a studio musician and arranger, from 1954 at the Edwin Morris Music publishing house , where he compiled sheet music and produced one of the first play along records that became a success ( Play or Sing Along with the NBC Rhythm Section ). Then he switched to the A&R team at Coral Records . In 1958 he went to Dot Records with Bob Thiele , where he produced concerts in the Town Hall and the resulting Jazz Horizons albums. The next year he went to Top Rank Records , where he oversaw the productions of newcomers such as Jack Scott , The Fireballs and the Knightsbridge Strings , but also of Raymond Scott . Then he worked as an independent producer and was responsible for the After Hours series for Time ( Urbie Green After Hours: Middle East ), the Fantabulous Strings albums by MGM or belly dance albums for Roulette.

In 1966 he founded the new jazz label Solid State for United Artists with Phil Ramone and Manny Albam , which he directed. When the label closed down, he created his own Groove Merchant label in 1970 , for which Jimmy McGriff , Junior Parker , Lucky Thompson , Jeremy Steig and Chick Corea recorded. Then he founded the Lester Recording Corporation , with which he also produced for Naxos . In the mid-1980s he also worked successfully for Denon Jazz . Lester has been marketing its catalog from Florida since the 1990s.

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personal data
SURNAME Lester, Sonny
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music producer
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City