Description
TitleSonny Greer oral history interview
Date Created1979-01
Target or Intended AudienceCollege
NoteSonny Greer (1895-1982) was an American drummer who started his career by playing locally in New Jersey bands. In 1919 he met Duke Ellington while playing in the Howard Theatre Orchestra in Washington D.C. Greer came to New York as a member of banjoist Howard Snowden’s band and joined Ellington’s five piece outfit called the Washingtonians. In his long stay with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, Greer was known for developing a unique sound by using an array of objects to produce exotic effects which added to the “jungle” sounds Ellington devised for their residency at New York’s Cotton Club in the late 1920s. After leaving Ellington in 1951, he became a free-lance drummer and played with a number of musicians including Johnny Hodges, Louis Metcalf, Henry “Red” Allen (1952–3), Garvin Bushell (mid-1950s), and Tyree Glenn (1959), and in the 1960s with Eddie Barefield and J. C. Higginbotham. In the late 60s he led his own band at the Garden Cafe, New York, and took part in the film The Night They Raided Minsky’s. He also regularly played in pianist Brooks Kerr’s trio during the 1970s, and continued to work until shortly before his death.
NotePortions of the publicly available digital files for this transcript have been altered to restore them to their original state.
Genreoral histories, interviews
Languageeng
CollectionJazz Oral History Project
Organization NameRutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies
Organization NameRutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies
RightsThe Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) promote the use of its collections, and strives to protect the integrity of its materials. We offer digital reproductions of IJS materials subject to U.S. copyright law and other legal obligations.
NOTICE OF WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, US Code) governs the reproduction of copyrighted material.
Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not “to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Materials viewed by patrons online or supplied to patrons online are reference copies. Our supply of copies does not constitute copyright permission for further uses and is not an authorization for any further uses involving reproduction, distribution, display, performance, or creation of derivative works, including their use in publications and web sites. It’s the patron’s responsibility to obtain permissions that may be required to use works for purposes other than private study, scholarship, or research, or in excess of fair use.
