Dial "S" for Sonny

1957 studio album by Sonny Clark
Dial "S" for Sonny
Studio album by
Sonny Clark
ReleasedNovember 1957 (1957-11)[1]
RecordedJuly 21, 1957
StudioVan Gelder Studio
Hackensack, NJ
GenreBop
Length40:55
LabelBlue Note
BLP 1570
ProducerAlfred Lion
Sonny Clark chronology
Dial "S" for Sonny
(1957) 		Sonny's Crib
(1958)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings [3]

Dial "S" for Sonny is the debut studio album by the American jazz pianist Sonny Clark. It was released in November 1957 through Blue Note Records.[1] The recording was made on July 21, 1957 with a septet assembled for the session consisting of horn section Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, and Hank Mobley and rhythm section Wilbur Ware and Louis Hayes.[4]

Background

Title

The album title is an allusion to Frederick Knott's play Dial M for Murder, which was first produced in 1952 and then made into a successful film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954.

Reception

Critic John S. Wilson, in a contemporaneous review, remarked "Art Farmer contributes some crackling solos to Dial S for Sonny, ... but he has to fight a chomp-chomp rhythm section."[5]

The AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine states, "Dial 'S' for Sonny, Sonny Clark's first session for Blue Note Records and his first session as a leader, is a terrific set of laidback bop, highlighted by Clark's liquid, swinging solos... Clark steals the show in this set of fine, straight-ahead bop."[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Clark, except as indicated
  1. "Dial "S" for Sonny" – 7:26
  2. "Bootin' It" – 5:17
  3. "It Could Happen to You" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 6:59
  4. "Sonny's Mood" – 8:38
  5. "Shoutin' on a Riff" – 6:45
  6. "Love Walked In" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 5:50
  7. "Bootin' It" [Alternate Take] – 5:15 (CD bonus track)

Personnel

Musicians

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Dial "S" for Sonny
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7] 147

References

  1. ^ a b Parnes, Sid, ed. (November 9, 1957). "November Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Allmusic Review
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ Sonny Clark discography accessed December 21, 2009.
  5. ^ Wilson, John S. (1959) The Collector's Jazz: Modern, p. 68. J. B. Lippincott.
  6. ^ Earlewine, S. T. Allmusic Review accessed December 21, 2009.
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Sonny Clark – Dial %22S%22 for Sonny" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
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