Customer Reviews

Intermission Riff

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Because he was so overlooked and underrated and because his life was so sad and short, some listeners may be overly eager to praise every recorded note by Sonny Criss. "Intermission Riff," unfortunately, is not an album that advances their case. It's one of those jam sessions played before a large audience, pairing Sonny with one of the best scorchers and crowd-pleasers in the business: Lockjaw Davis. Sonny, the challenger, apparently wins over the crowd but at the expense of musical taste. The title tune shows off his almost "brassy" tone on alto, but on the next number, "How High the Moon," he exhibits shaky intonation and questionable judgement on each of his choruses, "forcing" upon the chord structure quotations (e.g. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game") and R&B riffs that simply don't work.

Sonny deserves to be heard and remembered (as do Sonny Stitt and Art Pepper), but begin with his recordings made at least five years later than this one. The only thing of musical value on "Intermission Riff," at least for the critical listener, is the lyrical, understated contributions of Joe Newman on trumpet and Benny Green on trombone.