Fortunately More Sonny

I was sufficiently impressed by Sonny Fortune's Great Friends that I went in search of greater fortune.   Here my Penguin Guide to Jazz (may it be praised!) let me down, unfortunately.   Fortunately, my alternative All Music Guide to Jazz was well stocked with album titles by Fortune.  This sent me looking for Four in One, an album of Monk covers.  It doesn't seem to be in print, let alone available for download. 

That was fortunate, as it turns out.  Amazon had The Trilogy Collection, a package of three Sonny Fortune albums for Blue Note including Four in One.  The mp3 download was available for the deliciously low price of $6.99.  The other albums are A Better Understanding and From Now On. 

I have just been listening to Four in One  and it is splendid.  You just can't have enough Monk covers in your collection.  I am playing the title cut.  Here is the lineup:

1. Sonny Fortune (flute, alto saxophone, piano); 
2. Kirk Lightsey (piano); 
3. Ronnie Burrage, 
4. Billy Hart (drums).

I am listening as I write to From Now On.  I will start with the lineup:

1. Sonny Fortune (alto saxophone); 
2. Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone); 
3. Eddie Henderson (trumpet); 
4. John Hicks (piano); 
5. Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums); 
6. Steve Berrios (percussion).

That's pretty impressive.  I like what I am hearing a lot.  I am playing 'This Side of Infinity' and the title cut.  Both are muscular and richly marbled.  Who cares what the third album sound like?  Get The Trilogy Collection. Sonny Fortune is good fortune.  In return, I will try to turn off my pun engine when next I blog.