Sonny Red was a good but not great altoist who was somewhat lost in the shuffle in the 1960s and '70s. He worked in Detroit with
Barry Harris (1949-1952), in 1954 temporarily switched to tenor while with
Frank Rosolino, and later that year joined
Art Blakey briefly. In 1957, with his arrival in New York he gained some recognition, recording with
Curtis Fuller and
Paul Quinichette, in addition to having several dates as a leader (1958-1962) for Savoy, Blue Note, and particularly Jazzland. Despite some freelancing and recording with
Clifford Jordan,
Pony Poindexter,
Donald Byrd,
Kenny Dorham, and
Yusef Lateef among others in the 1960s,
Red was in obscurity by the 1970s. ~ Scott Yanow