Sonny Greer

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Sonny Greer was an American jazz drummer and singer, best known for his work with Duke Ellington. He was born in 1902 in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Asbury Park. He taught himself to drum and sing, with only the help of a vaudeville drummer who gave him a few lessons. As a teenager he played with orchestras in seaside hotels on the New Jersey coast, and then for three years at the Howard Theatre in Washington. There he met Duke Ellington.

Music and breakthrough

Greer was Ellington's first drummer. He played in his quintet, the Washingtonians, and went with him to the Cotton Club. When Ellington's orchestra became famous in the 1930s and 1940s, he was there throughout. Greer designed drums for the company Leedy and built an enormous set-up including bells, a gong, timpani and vibraphone. It stood on a platform and drew the eye of the audience. The trombonist Lawrence Brown said that Greer was almost as popular as Ellington, and Ellington's son Mercer related that Ellington gladly took advice from him.

Influence

His drinking became a problem from the late 1940s. In 1950, on a tour of Scandinavia, Ellington took a second drummer along, and in 1951 he dismissed Greer. After that Greer played in the group of Johnny Hodges, a former colleague from the orchestra, and with Red Allen and Tyree Glenn, among others. In 1958 he appeared in Art Kane's famous photograph A Great Day in Harlem. He died in 1982.

Listening

In School of Rock

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