Ancient Ritual in 1994 and
American Jungle in 1997, which featured a stellar ensemble of pianist Travis Shook, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana. He also connected with saxophonist and composer Michael Marcus and formed the Cosmosamantics, which released nine albums from 2001-13.
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"I loved his connection to Bird, and his innovative 'new way' to phrase lines with a strong blues base, similar to Ornette Coleman's approach to improvisation," said Marcus. "Sonny's style is so true to the blues along with freedom, harmonic knowledge and an undeniable pure tone with beauty."
Sonny Simmons was born Aug. 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, La. His parents were forced at gunpoint to abandon their property when Sonny was six – in the documentary, he describes his father hiding him behind a tree to avoid possible gunfire. His family later moved to Oakland, California where Simmons took up music, first playing the English horn then turning to alto saxophone at 16, thanks to the aforementioned inspiration of Charlie Parker. Simmons began playing professionally shortly thereafter, but his career truly took off when he moved to New York. He did sideman dates with Prince Lasha and both men performed with Dolphy on his superb 1963 recordings,