Sonny Greer

William Alexander "Sonny" Greer (December 13, 1902 – March 23, 1982) was an American jazz drummer and vocalist, best known for his work with Duke Ellington.

Early life and career Sonny Greer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey. Greer lived in Asbury Park, New Jersey, as a child with his father, an electrician with the Pennsylvania Road, and mother, a modiste, and his younger brother and sister. As a child, he worked many side jobs as a caddy, fish peddler, and newspaper deliverer.

Greer started getting into music and taught himself how to sing and drum with the help of only one mentor, drummer Eugene “Peggy” Holland, who played with composer, J. Rosamond Johnson for two weeks.

Greer started his career in his mid-teens when he began playing at resort hotels along the Jersey Shore with local orchestras. After a performance in the Plaza Hotel, he received an invitation to appear in Washington, D.C. with the Howard Theatre where he played for three years until he met Duke Ellington. Greer was balancing his commitments with Ellington and the Howard Theatre until the mid-1920s when he worked exclusively with Ellington.

Ellington years Greer was Ellington's first drummer, playing with his quintet, the Washingtonians, and moved with Ellington into the Cotton Club.

Greer was constantly on tour with the Ellington Orchestra and was there for its rise to fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Greer took the spotlight during the performances as the organization of his drum set drew the audience’s eyes. Wilson continues to write that this included instruments such as chimes, tom-toms, snare drums, bass drums, and a gong that was "set up in back of him as though to form a massive halo". His funeral service was held on March 28, 1982, at St. Peter’s Church and he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Discography With Duke Ellington Duke Ellington (RCA Victor, 1957) The Duke in London (Decca, 1957) At the Cotton Club (RCA Camden, 1958) Caravan (RCA Victor, 1958) Jazz Cocktail (Columbia, 1958) Johnny Come Lately (RCA Victor, 1967) The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943 (Prestige, 1977)

With Johnny Hodges Castle Rock (Norgran, 1955) Creamy (Norgran, 1955)

With others Bernard Addison, High in a Basement (77 Records, 1961) Louis Armstrong, Town Hall (RCA Victor, 1957) Earl Hines, Once Upon a Time (Impulse!, 1966) Lionel Hampton, Lionel Hampton (RCA Victor, 1958) Lonnie Johnson, Playing with the Strings (JSP, 2004) Brooks Kerr, Soda Fountain Rag (Chiaroscuro, 1974) Oscar Pettiford, Oscar Rides Again (Proper, 2008) Rex Stewart, Cootie Williams, Tea and Trumpets (His Master's Voice, 1955) Victoria Spivey, The Queen and Her Knights (Spivey, 1965) Josh White, Sings Ballads, Blues (Elektra, 1957)