Sonny Bradshaw
Encyclopedia
Cecil "Sonny" Bradshaw C.D.
(28 March 1926 – 10 October 2009), known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician", was a Jamaica
n bandleader, trumpet
er, broadcaster, and promoter who was a major figure in Jamaican music for more than sixty years.
, the only child of Edgar and Gladys Bradshaw, until the birth of his sister Marion twenty years later. He attended Central Branch Conservatorium and then Kingston Technical High School, and was a regular reader of Popular Mechanics
magazine, which led to him building his own radio, allowing him to listen to music from Cuba
and the United States. His first job after leaving school was at Montague's Musique on Tower Street, and he taught himself to read music and play the trumpet. His first professional work as a musician came in the late 1940s in Eric Deans' orchestra. He left in 1950 to form the Sonny Bradshaw Seven (he claimed seven was his lucky number), which became renowned for recreating the sound of a 14-piece orchestra with only seven musicians, and later also led the Jamaican Big Band (aka the All Stars Band), which included some of Jamaica's top musicians including Joe Harriott
, Dizzy Reece
, Ernest Ranglin
, "Little G" McNair
, Dwight Pinkney
, and Monty Alexander
. The band also backed the visiting Sarah Vaughan
in 1956, the first time a Jamaican band had backed a visiting artist. Other artists that Bradshaw's band backed included Johnny Mathis
, Lou Rawls
, Johnny Ray
, Brook Benton
, and Sam Cooke
. Bradshaw was best known as a trumpet
er, but played a variety of instruments including piano
, flügelhorn
, clarinet
, trombone
, and saxophone
.
His career also saw him work as a journalist
, teacher (his pupils included saxophonist Dean Fraser
and drummer Desi Jones), and broadcaster, with his Teenage Dance Party radio show on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation
(JBC) (for which he was director of musical programmes, and leader of the JBC Orchestra) playing a key role in giving greater exposure to Jamaican music in the 1960s and 1970s.
For over 14 years he served as the president of the Jamaican Federation of Musicians, during which time he battled to improve the working conditions of live band musicians, whilst also encouraging greater professionalism from the musicians themselves. Along with his wife, singer Myrna Hague
, he founded the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival in 1991. He also founded the Tastee Talent Contest in 1979 (later known as the Tastee Talent Trail), which played a major part in launching the careers of artists including Yellowman
, Beenie Man
, Mr. Vegas
, T.O.K.
, Papa San
, Mad Cobra
, and Brian and Tony Gold
.
Bradshaw was known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician". He was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander class by the Jamaican government for his contribution to Jamaican music in 2004. He was also honoured by the Miramar
City Commission at a ceremony to mark the opening of the Miramar Cultural Arts Center in Florida
in 2008, for his contribution to music in Jamaica and internationally.
Bradshaw regularly visited the United Kingdom, where he would attend the annual service of thanksgiving on the anniversary of Jamaica's independence at St Martin-in-the-Fields
. He suffered a stroke
while in London
in August 2009, and remained in hospital until his death on the 10th of October, aged 83. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding
paid tribute by calling Bradshaw "a pioneer whose contribution to Jamaica's music industry could not be quantified". Jamaica's High Commissioner to London, Burchell Whiteman, stated "It is almost impossible to imagine modern Jamaican music without the presence of Sonny Bradshaw. He was a true musical pioneer who dedicated more than six decades of his life to ensuring that Jamaican music and especially jazz was always kept in the forefront and was accessible to all."
Order of distinction
The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....
(28 March 1926 – 10 October 2009), known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician", was a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n bandleader, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er, broadcaster, and promoter who was a major figure in Jamaican music for more than sixty years.
Biography
Bradshaw was born in 1926 in KingstonKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
, the only child of Edgar and Gladys Bradshaw, until the birth of his sister Marion twenty years later. He attended Central Branch Conservatorium and then Kingston Technical High School, and was a regular reader of Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
magazine, which led to him building his own radio, allowing him to listen to music from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the United States. His first job after leaving school was at Montague's Musique on Tower Street, and he taught himself to read music and play the trumpet. His first professional work as a musician came in the late 1940s in Eric Deans' orchestra. He left in 1950 to form the Sonny Bradshaw Seven (he claimed seven was his lucky number), which became renowned for recreating the sound of a 14-piece orchestra with only seven musicians, and later also led the Jamaican Big Band (aka the All Stars Band), which included some of Jamaica's top musicians including Joe Harriott
Joe Harriott
Joseph Arthurlin 'Joe' Harriott was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone....
, Dizzy Reece
Dizzy Reece
Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece is a hard bop jazz trumpeter with a distinctive sound and compositional style.Reece was born 5 January 1931 in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of a silent film pianist. He attended the Alpha Boys School , switching from baritone to trumpet at 14...
, Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
, "Little G" McNair
Harold McNair
Harold McNair was a renowned saxophonist and flautist.-Background:...
, Dwight Pinkney
Dwight Pinkney
Dwight Pinkney , also known as Brother Dee, is a Jamaican guitarist best known for his work as a session musician and as a member of Zap Pow and the Roots Radics, who since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist.-Biography:...
, and Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
. The band also backed the visiting Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
in 1956, the first time a Jamaican band had backed a visiting artist. Other artists that Bradshaw's band backed included Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Johnny Ray
Johnny Ray
John Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
, Brook Benton
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...
, and Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
. Bradshaw was best known as a trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er, but played a variety of instruments including piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, flügelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
.
His career also saw him work as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, teacher (his pupils included saxophonist Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser
Dean Fraser is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Musgrave Medal by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.-Biography:Fraser started to play the clarinet at the age of 12...
and drummer Desi Jones), and broadcaster, with his Teenage Dance Party radio show on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation
Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation
The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation was a public broadcasting company in Jamaica founded in 1959 by Prime Minister Norman Manley with the aim of emulating the success of other national broadcasting companies such as the BBC and CBC.-History:...
(JBC) (for which he was director of musical programmes, and leader of the JBC Orchestra) playing a key role in giving greater exposure to Jamaican music in the 1960s and 1970s.
For over 14 years he served as the president of the Jamaican Federation of Musicians, during which time he battled to improve the working conditions of live band musicians, whilst also encouraging greater professionalism from the musicians themselves. Along with his wife, singer Myrna Hague
Myrna Hague
Myrna Hague, known as 'Jamaica's First Lady of Jazz', is a Jamaican lovers rock and jazz singer and actress, who recorded for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One.-Biography:...
, he founded the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival in 1991. He also founded the Tastee Talent Contest in 1979 (later known as the Tastee Talent Trail), which played a major part in launching the careers of artists including Yellowman
Yellowman
Yellowman is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, widely known as King Yellowman...
, Beenie Man
Beenie Man
Anthony Moses Davis , better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Grammy award winning Jamaican reggae artist. He is the self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall".-Biography:...
, Mr. Vegas
Mr. Vegas
Mr. Vegas is a Jamaican dancehall star.-Biography:Smith was born in Kingston in 1974. The moniker "Mr. Vegas" was given to Smith by his schoolyard football-mates, who thought that he kicked the ball like a Las Vegas dancer...
, T.O.K.
T.O.K.
T.O.K. is a dancehall group hailing from Kingston, Jamaica. The group consists of Alistaire "Alex" McCalla, Roshaun "Bay-C" Clarke, Craig "Craigy T" Thompson, and Xavier "Flexx" Davidson...
, Papa San
Papa San
Tyrone Thompson, better known as Papa San, is a Jamaican reggae, dancehall and gospel singer.- Biography :Born in 1966, he was raised by his Rastafarian grandmother and turned to Christianity in 1997...
, Mad Cobra
Mad Cobra
Ewart Everton Brown , better known by his stage name of Mad Cobra or simply Cobra is a Jamaican reggae musician.-Biography:...
, and Brian and Tony Gold
Brian and Tony Gold
Brian and Tony Gold are a Jamaican dancehall duo, who teamed up in the mid 1980s to participate in Kingston talent shows. They were noted for having close and subtle harmonies...
.
Bradshaw was known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician". He was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander class by the Jamaican government for his contribution to Jamaican music in 2004. He was also honoured by the Miramar
Miramar, Florida
Miramar is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city was named after the Miramar district of Havana, Cuba. As of the 2010 census, the population was 122,041...
City Commission at a ceremony to mark the opening of the Miramar Cultural Arts Center in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in 2008, for his contribution to music in Jamaica and internationally.
Bradshaw regularly visited the United Kingdom, where he would attend the annual service of thanksgiving on the anniversary of Jamaica's independence at St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
. He suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
while in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in August 2009, and remained in hospital until his death on the 10th of October, aged 83. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding MP served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party.-Biography:...
paid tribute by calling Bradshaw "a pioneer whose contribution to Jamaica's music industry could not be quantified". Jamaica's High Commissioner to London, Burchell Whiteman, stated "It is almost impossible to imagine modern Jamaican music without the presence of Sonny Bradshaw. He was a true musical pioneer who dedicated more than six decades of his life to ensuring that Jamaican music and especially jazz was always kept in the forefront and was accessible to all."
Discography
- Jamaica Independence Souvenir Album (1962), Top - The Sonny Bradshaw Quartet
- Jamaica Roots, (1974) - Sonny Bradshaw 7
- On Tour With Reggay! (19??), Dynamic - Sonny Bradshaw 7
- Live (19??), Roots - Sonny Bradshaw and the Jamaica Big Band
- Reggae Version (19??), Dynamic - Sonny Bradshaw 7
- Do It Reggae (1996), Jamaican Gold
External links
- Hague, Myrna (2007) "SONNY BRADSHAW: JAZZ AS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE", The Society For Caribbean Studies Conference 2007