Sonny Berman
b. Saul Berman, 21 April 1925, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, d. 16 January 1947. A child prodigy, Berman was playing trumpet in Louis Prima's band by his early teens. He followed this early induction into the big time with a rapid swing through the bands of Georgie Auld, Tommy Dorsey, Sonny Dunham, Benny Goodmanand Harry James, before settling into Woody Herman's First Herd at the beginning of 1945. He remained with Herman until the band folded at the end of the following year. A musician of immense if undeveloped talent, Berman's solo playing ranged over intensely-felt dramatic works, like Nocturne, 125th Street Prophet and Sidewalks Of Cuba to the raw excitement of Apple Honey. Influenced by the early bebop playing of Dizzy Gillespie, Berman's career ended abruptly when he suffered heart failure, apparently as a result of a drugs overdose, and died in January 1947 when still only 21 years old.