Sonny Rhodes

Sonny Rhodes is one of the blues world's great original characters. He deliver a smoking mix of contemporary blues. For the past four decades he has garnered well deserved accolades from his contemporaries, peers, and fans worldwide. Sonny is a genuine Texas bluesman, a blistering instrumentalist, Rhodes is a gritty singer with a real passion for the music he performs, one of the very few artists in the blues history who play the lap-steel guitar, an instrument who that gives to his music a unique sound. On stage, with some of the most colorful suits, Sonny is an unforgettable dashing figure, that provides a contrast to the gritty power of the songs he writes and the music he makes……

Born to be blue, indeed! Sonny is a genuine Texas bluesman, cutting bis teeth alongside his dose friends Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland.In the eighties he relocated to Oakland and became a California bluesman, contributing to the fertile San Francisco blues scene…….

Check out the picture of Sonny Rhodes on the front cover; he's one snappy dresser who looks like he's in total control. Love that turban with matching red patent leather shoes and kerchief! The music inside is as classy and eloquent as Mr. Rhodes himself, a bluesman in control of all variations of blues beats, along with the unique lap steel guitar as an instrumental voice to accompany his own gruff, hoarse and knowing vocalizing.The lap steel works especially well on the title track, a song bemoaning a society corrupted by family abuse and drugs. Rhodes gets off some appropriately chaotic and screaming leads. He waxes eloquent with a sweeping, sustained sound on his duet with guest star Kenny Neal on "Drink Muddy Water," with a great vocal to boot…..

Livin' Too Close to the Edge is an exciting, blistering set of contemporary blues, drivin by Sonny Rhodes's innovative lap steel playing.

Sonny Rhodes is such a talented songwriter, so full of musical ideas, that he's destined to inherit the to seats left open by the untimely passing of blues greats like Albert King and Albert Collins. He has recorded over two hundred songs and has been nominated eleven times for the Blues Music Awards."I'm what you call a self-proclaimed disciple of the blues!" said Rhodes about his years playing and singing for fans of blues around the world. He first toured Europe in 1976 and then many more times and was recorded by several European labels.

Rhodes toured Europe in 1976, and that opened a whole new European market to him, and he was recorded by several European labels, but without much success. His European recordings include "I Don't Want My Blues Colored Bright" and a "Live album", In Europe.

This be-turbaned bluesman plays lap steel guitar. This is a good one, but he's got an even better one in him.

Sonny Fortune - Serengeti Minstrel (1977) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27370}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 98 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 167 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1977, 2013 Atlantic / Rhino / WEA / Warner Japan | WPCR-27370 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Post Bop / Saxophone

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A great one from Sonny Fortune – done with the fusiony sound he was working so well with at the time, and still filled with a tight conception and an incredible group of musicians who bring depth and deliver some really great solos! The title track is an incredible 10 minute cut that breaks into a beautiful modal groove about 4 minutes into it – and that groove is completely wonderful. It's far from the only high point of a set filled with them. Players include Kenny Barron on Fender Rhodes, Woody Shaw on coronet & flugelhorn, Gary King on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Sammy Figueroa on congas, Rafael Cruz on percussion, and Sonny doing his thing on flute, piccolo and sax. Other tracks include "Bacchanal", "Never Again Is Such A Long Time", "There's Nothing Smart About Being Stupid" and "The Afro-Americans".

Sonny Fortune - Infinity Is (1978) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series 24bit Remaster WPCR-27410}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 298 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 102 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 149 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1978, 2013 Atlantic / Rhino / WEA / Warner Japan | WPCR-27410 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone / Flute

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A beautiful set from Sonny Fortune – a bit smoother than some of his earlier work, but still with a deeply soulful finish that keeps the album fresh throughout! Nearly every track was written (or co-written) by Larry Willis, who plays piano and Fender Rhodes on the set, and really feels like Sonny's co-leader on the session – and who gives the album a hiply swinging feel that's similar to his own work at the time. Titles include "Samba Touch", "Perihelion", "This Side Of Infinity", "Turning It Over", and "The Blues Are Green".