Sonny White
Ellerton Oswald "Sonny" White (* 17 November 1917 in Panama City , Panama ; † 28. April 1971 in New York ) was an American jazz - pianist .
Life
White, a cousin of Kenny Clarke , began learning the piano at the age of 8. At the age of 19 he played in Jesse Stones band. He later worked with Willie Bryant (1937), Sidney Bechet and Teddy Hill (1938). From 1939 he was an accompanist for Billie Holiday ; he took part in their legendary recordings for the Commodore Records label , such as Strange Fruit and Some Other Spring . Holidays said in her autobiography that he would have written the tune for Strange Fruit with Abel Meeropol , but it wasn't (it was written by Meeropol and Danny Mendelsohn alone). According to the Holiday biographer Donald Clarke, he was also briefly engaged to Lady Day . Then he played in the bands of Benny Carter , Frankie Newton and Artie Shaw , after military service with Dexter Gordon (1944-46) and Hot Lips Page (1947). From 1947 to 1954, White worked in the Harvey Davis Band and then with Wilbur De Paris until 1964 . Then he was active as a freelance musician; from 1966 he was active in the band of Louis Metcalf ; he also recorded with Eddie Barefield (1968). From 1969 he worked in the band Jonah Jones .
White can also be heard on albums by Lena Horne , Big Joe Turner , Roy Eldridge and Vic Dickenson .
literature
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide of Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
- Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
Web links
- Sonny White at Allmusic (English)
- Sonny White at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Billie Holiday: Lady Sings the Blues. New York, Penguin 1986, pp. 84-86
- ↑ Donald Clarke: Billie Holiday. Wishing on the moon. Munich, Piper 1995
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | White, Sonny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | White, Ellerton Oswald (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 17, 1917 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Panama City , Panama |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 28, 1971 |
| Place of death | New York , USA |