Dial "S" for Sonny

Dial "S" for Sonny is the debut studio album by the American jazz pianist Sonny Clark. It was released in November 1957 through Blue Note Records.^[1] The recording was made on July 21, 1957 with a septet assembled for the session consisting of horn section Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, and Hank Mobley and rhythm section Wilbur Ware and Louis Hayes.^[4]

Dial "S" for Sonny
Studio album by Sonny Clark
Released	November 1957 (1957-11)[1]
Recorded	July 21, 1957
Studio	Van Gelder Studio Hackensack, NJ
Genre	Bop
Length	40:55
Label	Blue Note BLP 1570
Producer	Alfred Lion
Sonny Clark chronology
Dial "S" for Sonny (1957) Sonny's Crib (1958)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[3]

Background

Title

The album title is an allusion to Frederick Knott's play Dial M for Murder, which was first produced in 1952 and then made into a successful film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1954.

Reception

Critic John S. Wilson, in a contemporaneous review, remarked "Art Farmer contributes some crackling solos to Dial S for Sonny, ... but he has to fight a chomp-chomp rhythm section."^[5]

The AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine states, "Dial 'S' for Sonny, Sonny Clark's first session for Blue Note Records and his first session as a leader, is a terrific set of laidback bop, highlighted by Clark's liquid, swinging solos... Clark steals the show in this set of fine, straight-ahead bop."^[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Clark, except as indicated

1. "Dial "S" for Sonny" – 7:26
2. "Bootin' It" – 5:17
3. "It Could Happen to You" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 6:59
4. "Sonny's Mood" – 8:38
5. "Shoutin' on a Riff" – 6:45
6. "Love Walked In" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 5:50
7. "Bootin' It" [Alternate Take] – 5:15 (CD bonus track)

Personnel

Musicians

• Sonny Clark – piano
• Art Farmer – trumpet (except "Love Walked In")
• Curtis Fuller – trombone (except "Love Walked In")
• Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone (except "Love Walked In")
• Wilbur Ware – bass
• Louis Hayes – drums

Technical personnel

• Alfred Lion – producer
• Rudy Van Gelder – recording engineer
• Reid Miles – design
• Francis Wolff – photography
• Robert Levin – liner notes

Charts

Chart performance for Dial "S" for Sonny

Chart (2022)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[7]	147

References

1. Parnes, Sid, ed. (November 9, 1957). "November Album Releases" (PDF). The Cash Box. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. p. 33. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2021.
2. Allmusic Review
3. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
4. Sonny Clark discography accessed December 21, 2009.
5. Wilson, John S. (1959) The Collector's Jazz: Modern, p. 68. J. B. Lippincott.
6. Earlewine, S. T. Allmusic Review accessed December 21, 2009.
7. "Ultratop.be – Sonny Clark – Dial %22S%22 for Sonny" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2022.