Sonny Clark’s ‘Sonny’s Crib’ Joins Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series
The 1957 album from one of the finest piano players of the hard bop generation was his second for Blue Note.
Blue Note Records has announced their Classic Vinyl Series picks for September 2025, and one title will be Sonny Clark’s 1957 record Sonny’s Crib. One of the finest piano players of the hard bop generation, Clark’s second record on Blue Note features a swinging set of originals and standards.
This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. Sonny’s Crib is scheduled for release on September 19.
Sonny’s Crib uses the same sextet format of Clark’s Blue Note debut, 1957’s Dial “S” for Sonny. Only trombonist Curtis Fuller remained from that session’s line-up and the album featured John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Coltrane was re-establishing himself as a major force in jazz after being fired from the Miles Davis Quintet earlier that year for unreliability due to drug addiction.
Three out of five tracks on Sonny’s Crib are standards. The opener is a take on Rodgers & Hart’s “With a Song in My Heart,” while a jaunty interpretation of Kurt Weill’s “Speak Low” features a Latin groove and a spotlight solo from Coltrane. A reflective take on Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer’s mournful ballad “Come Rain Or Come Shine” is especially resonant.
Side two of Sonny’s Crib features two of Clark’s self-penned tunes. The first is the title track, which draws on “amen” cadences from African-American church music. The album closer is the uptempo “News For Lulu,” which features Clark leading the song’s first solo.
After Sonny’s Crib, Sonny Clark recorded six more sessions as a leader for Blue Note, including what many perceive as his definitive work: 1958’s Cool Struttin’. He continued to be an in-demand sideman, performing on Blue Note albums by Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, Stanley Turrentine, Grant Green, and Dexter Gordon.
