Sonny Phillips

Organist Sonny Phillips was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1936 to a musical family, but did not begin his jazz education until the age of 23, when he began studying with <a href="spotify:artist:6gc6oo3u2f7SqTd4mhe81O">Ahmad Jamal</a>. The music of <a href="spotify:artist:5GXruybcLmXPjR9rKKFyS6">Jimmy Smith</a> inspired him to switch to the organ, and soon he was performing with soul-jazz greats such as <a href="spotify:artist:063xkuRULzZu8fcoPR2rKR">Lou Donaldson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0bcDOCWIbvWApEIB7l1uZ4">Eddie Harris</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:16Xx0WCnAKOA9mwPPSUJmr">Houston Person</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:338mC0yGyX0C9of8QMJ5hK">Gene Ammons</a>. Phillips debuted as a leader on the 1969 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Prestige%22">Prestige</a> set Sure 'Nuff, which was followed by the 1970 dates Black Magic and Black on Black. He returned to recording as a leader for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Muse%22">Muse</a> label in 1976 with My Black Flower, but the next year's I Concentrate on You proved to be his final recording as a leader. After an illness in 1980, Phillips moved to Los Angeles, where he occasionally taught, performed, and recorded as a sideman during the years to follow. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi