Of Bird's children, the alto saxophonists who grew up in Charlie Parker's image, none had more passion than Sonny Criss. From his first major exposure in the late 1940s as a teenager with Howard McGhee and Billy Eckstine, through Jazz At The Philharmonic and the subsequent 25 years of his career, Criss was admired for his drive, his imagination, and the purity of his sound. Circumstances and his difficult nature conspired against Criss achieving the success and fame his abilities warranted. But it is plain in this recording from one of the happiest and most productive periods of his life, the mid-1960s, that his talent was enormous. Among the performances is a gorgeous version of "God Bless the Child."

with Walter Davis, Paul Chambers, Alan Dawson