Sonny Criss

William "Sonny" Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977) was an American jazz musician.

An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker.

William Criss was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15.

He then went on to play in various bands including Howard McGhee's, which also featured Charlie Parker.

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 Johnny Otis and Billy Eckstine.

His first major break came in 1947, on a number of jam sessions arranged by jazz impresario Norman Granz.

In 1956 he signed to Imperial Records, based in New York, and recorded a series albums including Jazz U.S.A , Go Man! and Sonny Criss Plays Cole Porter featuring pianist Sonny Clark.

Prestige signed Criss in 1965, and he continued to record well-acclaimed albums which were mainly rooted in hard bop traditions.

Sonny's Dream featured arrangements by Horace Tapscott.

Later sessions were recorded for Muse and Impulse.

By 1977, Criss had developed stomach cancer and did not play again.

As a consequence of this painful condition, Criss committed suicide (self-inflicted gunshot) in 1977, in his adopted city of Los Angeles.

He never married, but had one son, Steven Criss.

With Dexter Gordon

With Wardell Gray All Stars

With Charlie Parker and Chet Baker

With Buddy Rich

With Lou Rawls and Onzy Matthews Big Band

With Onzy Matthews

With Esther Phillips and Onzy Matthews Orchestra

With Hampton Hawes All Stars

Capitol, which owned the master recordings, reissued them as a double-CD set on their Blue Note imprint in 2000.

Criss also recorded At the Crossroads with pianist Wynton Kelly.