Sonny Bradshaw attended Central Branch Conservatorium and then Kingston Technical High School, and was a regular reader of Popular Mechanics magazine, which led to him building his own radio, allowing him to listen to music from Cuba and the United States.
10 Facts About Sonny Bradshaw
1.
2.
Sonny Bradshaw left in 1950 to form the Sonny Bradshaw Seven, which became renowned for recreating the sound of a 14-piece orchestra with only seven musicians, and later led the Jamaican Big Band, which included some of Jamaica's top musicians including Joe Harriott, Dizzy Reece, Ernest Ranglin, "Little G" McNair, Dwight Pinkney, and Monty Alexander.
3.
Sonny Bradshaw was best known as a trumpeter, but played a variety of instruments including piano, flugelhorn, clarinet, trombone, and saxophone.
4.
Sonny Bradshaw's career saw him work as a journalist, teacher, and broadcaster, with his Teenage Dance Party radio show on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation playing a key role in giving greater exposure to Jamaican music in the 1960s and 1970s.
5.
Sonny Bradshaw was known as the "dean of Jamaican music", and the "musician's musician".
6.
Sonny Bradshaw was awarded the Order of Distinction, Commander class by the Jamaican government for his contribution to Jamaican music in 2004.
7.
Sonny Bradshaw was honoured by the Miramar City Commission at a ceremony to mark the opening of the Miramar Cultural Arts Center in Florida in 2008, for his contribution to music in Jamaica and internationally.
8.
Sonny Bradshaw regularly visited the United Kingdom, where he would attend the annual service of thanksgiving on the anniversary of Jamaica's independence at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
9.
Sonny Bradshaw suffered a stroke while in London in August 2009, and remained in hospital until his death on 10 October, aged 83.
10.
Sonny Bradshaw was a true musical pioneer who dedicated more than six decades of his life to ensuring that Jamaican music and especially jazz was always kept in the forefront and was accessible to all.