Biography
Sonny Lester built his reputation producing big band, jazz, and easy listening releases, echoing the spotlight enjoyed by peers such as Enoch Light while inadvertently shaping the sampling practices of 1990s DJs through his creation of the Groove Merchant imprint. Born in New York City in 1924, he launched his musical path playing trumpet across multiple big bands before military conscription interrupted his work. Following World War II he settled back in New York, establishing himself both as a performer and as the architect behind the popular Play Along With the NBC Rhythm Section series of instructional books and recordings. He soon transitioned into production, first at Coral Records and later at Dot Records beginning in 1958, where he concentrated on jazz projects captured live at venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York Town Hall. Another move took him to Arthur Rank’s Top Rank Records, where he oversaw sessions for rocker Jack Hall, the Fireballs, and the Knightsbridge Strings.
In the early 1960s Lester struck out on his own, becoming most widely recognized for the After Hours series issued on the Time label and for Roulette Records’ notorious, lighthearted sequence that opened with How to Belly Dance for Your Husband along with similar domestic-stripping titles. In 1966 he joined forces with Phil Ramone and Manny Albam to launch the Solid State label, modeled on Enoch Light’s Command line of high-fidelity albums. Although short-lived, Solid State issued recordings by Candido and the Kokee Band. Lester’s subsequent venture, Groove Merchant, emerged in the early 1970s and specialized in funky jazz featuring artists such as Jimmy McGriff, Junior Parker, Lucky Thompson, and Chick Corea. Several of these albums later supplied source material for the Beastie Boys, who even borrowed a title for one of their tracks (“Groove Holmes”), and original pressings now command hundreds of dollars in the collector market. Lester continues to direct operations at the Lester Recording Catalog, known as LRC, which issues mid-price compact discs of jazz and popular music.
In the early 1960s Lester struck out on his own, becoming most widely recognized for the After Hours series issued on the Time label and for Roulette Records’ notorious, lighthearted sequence that opened with How to Belly Dance for Your Husband along with similar domestic-stripping titles. In 1966 he joined forces with Phil Ramone and Manny Albam to launch the Solid State label, modeled on Enoch Light’s Command line of high-fidelity albums. Although short-lived, Solid State issued recordings by Candido and the Kokee Band. Lester’s subsequent venture, Groove Merchant, emerged in the early 1970s and specialized in funky jazz featuring artists such as Jimmy McGriff, Junior Parker, Lucky Thompson, and Chick Corea. Several of these albums later supplied source material for the Beastie Boys, who even borrowed a title for one of their tracks (“Groove Holmes”), and original pressings now command hundreds of dollars in the collector market. Lester continues to direct operations at the Lester Recording Catalog, known as LRC, which issues mid-price compact discs of jazz and popular music.
Albums
