Sonny Bradshaw

It is almost impossible to imagine where modern Jamaican music might be without the presence of island jazz pioneer Sonny Bradshaw. A skilled trumpeter (he also plays piano, fl++gelhorn, clarinet, trombone, and saxophone), Bradshaw has distinguished himself in a long six-decade career (he was born in 1926) as a musician, bandleader, composer, producer, arranger, and promoter as well as a journalist, teacher, and broadcaster. His Sonny Bradshaw 7, formed in the '50s, became a training ground for countless Jamaican musicians, and the long-running Jamaican Big Band, also assemble...