Sonny Cox

Who is Sonny Cox?

Landon "Sonny" Cox is a Jazz alto saxophonist, born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1938. His mother Helen Harris was a singer and performed with Erskine Hawkins. He first played with The Rocks a Cincinnati-based group that backed Jackie Wilson, Jerry Butler, Solomon Burke, Lavern Baker and other soul artists. In 1955, Cox met organist Ken Prince and they began to work together around Chicago. In 1964, they formed the Three Souls with drummer Robert Shy. The group made three albums for the Argo-Cadet label.

In 1974, Cox became the baseball coach for Paul Robeson High School. In 1981, he became the basketball coach at King College Prep High School, where he coached three state basketball championship teams. In 2006, Cox was voted as one of the 100 Legends of the IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament, a group of former players and coaches in honor of the 100 anniversary of the IHSA boys basketball tournament.

According to jazz critic Joe Segal, Cox was influenced by Earl Bostic and Charlie Parker: "Sonny's general sound is an amalgamation of the jazz feeling and a warm fuzzy throaty sound and approach influenced by the daddy of the rock altoists Earl Bostic". He also sounds sometimes like Hank Crawford.