Sold Date: April 20, 2014
Start Date: April 12, 2013
Final Price: $24.99 (USD)
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Buyer Feedback: 14

Sonny Criss
This is Criss!

On Prestige Records PR 7511

Condition: Cover is VG, minor writing on back. Record is VG, minor scuff on side one.
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ABOUT:

William Criss was born in and moved to at the age of 15. He then went on to play in various bands including 's, which also featured .

Criss had developed his own, concise, bluesy tone by this point, and though his basic style did not vary much, his ability on the instrument continued to develop. Nevertheless, he continued to drift from band to band, and played on some records with , and .

His first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario . In 1956 he signed to , based in New York, and recorded a series of "underground" classics namely, Jazz U.S.A , Go Man! and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter featuring pianist . , the masters' owners, reissued them as a 2CD set on their imprint in October, 2000. Criss also recorded At the Crossroads, with pianist .

signed him in 1965, and he continued to record well-acclaimed albums which were mainly rooted in traditions. The records produced during this period demonstrated his inventive play on the , and contributed to his growing national recognition. Although some of these albums marketed Criss as a survivor, Sonny's Dream was more substantial, featuring charts by . Later sessions were recorded for and .

By 1977, Criss had developed and did not play again. As a consequence of this painful condition, Criss committed (self-inflicted gunshot) in 1977 in his adopted city of Los Angeles.