Sonny White
Ellerton Oswald White (November 11, 1917, Panama City, Panama - April 28, 1971, New York City), better known as Sonny White, was a jazz pianist. White took on the nickname Sonny while a member of Jesse Stone's band in the middle of the 1930s. Later in the decade he played with Willie Bryant, Sidney Bechet, Teddy Hill (whose band at the time also included Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke), and Frankie Newton. White recorded several sessions with Billie Holiday, with whom he had a yearlong affair in 1939, and their engagement was announced in Melody Maker that May. White was a member of different line-ups backing Holiday in New York between January 1939 and October 1940, including the classic recording of "Strange Fruit"; in her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, Holiday mistakenly credits White with having co-written the music, to a poem by Lewis Allan. In the 1940s he spent time in the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Carter, with whom he played both directly before and directly after military service during World War II, and in whose band he would again play with Dizzy Gillespie, Big Joe Turner, Lena Horne, Dexter Gordon (1944–46), and Hot Lips Page (1947). In the 1950s White played with Harvey Davis and then with Wilbur De Paris, remaining with the latter until 1964. In the 1960s he freelanced with Eddie Barefield (1968), among others, and was working with Jonah Jones at the time of his death in 1971. |
Birth and Death Data: Born November 17, 1917 (Panama City), Died April 28, 1971 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1937 - 1958
Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, songwriter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 47 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-010571 | 10-in. | 6/14/1937 | Hot Club stomp | Mezz Mezzrow Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-010572 | 10-in. | 6/14/1937 | The swing session's called to order | Mezz Mezzrow Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-046832 | 10-in. | 2/5/1940 | Indian summer | Sidney Bechet ; New Orleans Feetwarmers | Jazz/dance quintet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-046833 | 10-in. | 2/5/1940 | One o'clock jump | Sidney Bechet ; New Orleans Feetwarmers | Jazz/dance quintet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-046834 | 10-in. | 2/5/1940 | Preachin' blues | Sidney Bechet ; New Orleans Feetwarmers | Jazz/dance quintet, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-046835 | 10-in. | 2/5/1940 | Sidney's blues | Sidney Bechet ; New Orleans Feetwarmers | Jazz/dance quintet | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-060351 | 10-in. | 1/22/1941 | Cuddle up, huddle up | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-060352 | 10-in. | 1/22/1941 | [Unknown title(s)] | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-060353 | 10-in. | 1/22/1941 | Babalu | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-060354 | 10-in. | 1/22/1941 | There, I've said it again | Benny Carter Orchestra ; Ray Felton | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-063700 | 10-in. | 4/1/1941 | Midnight | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with vocal | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-063701 | 10-in. | 4/1/1941 | My favorite blues | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-063702 | 10-in. | 4/1/1941 | Lullaby to a dream | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-063703 | 10-in. | 4/1/1941 | What a diff'rence a day made | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with vocal | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-066792 | 10-in. | 10/16/1941 | Sunday | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-066793 | 10-in. | 10/16/1941 | Ill wind (you're blowin' me no good) | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-066794 | 10-in. | 10/16/1941 | Back Bay boogie | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-066795 | 10-in. | 10/16/1941 | [Unknown title(s)] | Benny Carter Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | 23992 | 10-in. | 1/20/1939 | That's all I ask of you | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | 23993 | 10-in. | 1/20/1939 | Dream of life | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | W24877 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Some other spring | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | W24878 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Our love is different | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | songwriter, instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | W24879 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Them there eyes | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | W24880 | 10-in. | 7/05/1939 | Swing, brother swing | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | W26572 | 10-in. | 2/29/1940 | Ghost of yesterday | Billie Holiday | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | instrumentalist, piano |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "White, Sonny," accessed September 4, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/110115.
White, Sonny. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 4, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/110115.
"White, Sonny." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 4 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Sonny White
Discogs: Sonny White
Allmusic: Sonny White
Grove: Sonny White
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: White, Sonny, 1917-1971 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no95051474
Wikidata: Sonny White - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1337866
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/56798257
MusicBrainz: Sonny White - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/865567ff-781c-4334-b78d-a235a1875cd9
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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