who is SONNY FORTUNE !! ??

is Sonny Fortune a super hero?
a classic private eye?

great name to be sure for all of the above,
but mister Fortune doesn't blow away bad guys....he blows into wind instruments and is one of the greatest living horn players.
i got to see mister Fortune's quartet play last nite at the Sweet Rhythm club in the west village (site of the old sweet basil club), with my old buddy (and avid jazz connosieur) Pauly Sheffron.
we started the evening off with some bbq action at Hill Country (one of the city's premiere joints...and they had short ribs on the menu!!!) anyway fastforward to hangin out in the village (pre-show) at the bar Kettle for a beer and to watch the Mets meltdown en route to another late season bailout. then we headed to the club. when Pauly tells me a guy is his favorite sax player, I LISTEN. so i was in good spirits to see Sonny play. he did not dissapoint. This is a guy who's played with Miles Davis, Buddy Rich, Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Mongo Santamaria and countless others. Just as anyone would be proud to say they've played even one of those guys, there are i'm sure gazillions of musicians who'd be equally proud to have played with Sonny. Sonny is a master Sax player (soprano, alto, and more) but he's also a brilliant flautist. and so we were treated to original compositions along with wonder versions of standards. We stayed for 2 sets and it was amazing.
for more about Sonny Fortune go to http://www.sonnyfortune.com/

the fact that my buddy Pauly is friends with Sonny is nice too as he's very friendly and it was nice to shake hands with a jazz legend.

they're playing again tonite at Sweet Rhythm...so check them out if you can.