Reedman Sonny Fortune was born on May 19, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Associated with the free jazz and fusion movements, Fortune played with some of the most influential musicians of his era.

Fortune moved to New York City when he was 22 years old and was soon playing with drummer Elvin Jones’ group. A year later he was performing with Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria’s band and by the early 1970s spent two years as a sideman in McCoy Tyner’s ensemble. In 1974 Sonny Fortune replaced Dave Liebman as the saxophonist in the Miles Davis group and recorded four albums with Davis. After his time with Miles, Fortune did a stint with Nat Adderley’s band and also formed his own combo in 1975.

In addition to leading his own groups for around three decades, Fortune also could be heard performing with Buddy Rich, Roy Ayres, George Benson, Oliver Nelson, Kenny Barron, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Mal Waldron, Billy Bang, Gary Bartz and Pharoah Sanders. In 1977 he appeared on the record “The Atlantic Family Live at Montreux” and made records on the Blue Note label in the 1990s. In all, Sonny Fortune recorded 18 albums as a leader between 1966 and 2009. Fortune passed away in October of 2018 after suffering a stroke at the age of 79.

Here is a link to Sonny Fortune playing with a group of all-stars at the 1976 DownBeat Poll Winners award show:

"SONNY FORTUNE"