All About Sonny Criss
William "Sonny" Criss was born in Memphis, Tennessee 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 acclaimed jazz instrumentalist, Charlie Parker.
Sonny Criss had developed his own, concise, bluesy tone later in his career, 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. In 1977, Criss contracted stomach cancer and unfortunately, did not play again. As a consequence of this horrible condition, Criss committed suicide in 1977 in his adopted city of Los Angeles.
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