Jazz

In October 2004, Jazztimes' Nat Hentoff penned a column expressing his frustration that 65-year-old Sonny Fortune, despite decades of worthwhile contributions, had never really broken through into the jazz pantheon. According to Hentoff, Fortune "ought to be a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master."

Much of the responsibility for that lack of wider recognition probably falls on the shoulders of Sonny Fortune himself. In a field crowded by self-promoters, the altoist is one of the most self-effacing musicians out there, despite his impressive resume. Born in Philadelphia in 1939, Fortune relocated to New York in 1967 and has served time with Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Buddy Rich and other greats. Far from evincing any sort of jealousy toward his better-known contemporaries, Fortune continually pays tribute to them through his own music. "I keep telling people I'm a sucker for a better idea," says Fortune. "And anybody that makes sense or just knocks me off my feet, I say amen."

His most recent CD of new material, 2003's Continuum, contains compositions dedicated to saxophonist Wayne Shorter; percussionist Mongo Santamaria, Fortune's first employer after his move to New York; and two for John Coltrane, probably the altoist's most important influence. "The thing that I got from Coltrane was the individual, the finding of yourself. Why did it hit me that hard? I don't know. The combination of the human expression and the sophistication of it all just appealed to me. I guess I'm trying to find that myself."

That combination of homage and exploration is characteristic of an artist for whom looking back is one component of moving forward. Describing himself as "a writer, not a player," Fortune explains that he composes only when new material is necessary for an upcoming recording date or gig. Therefore, his initial attempts at a new piece may not fully reveal its potential. Continuum revisits at least three of his older compositions, one of which was itself a variation on Coltrane's rendition of "My Favorite Things."

"I kind of feel that to come back to those tunes, I see them clearer," explains Fortune. "And I would hope to think that maybe three or four years from now I'll see them even clearer. That's what I'm aiming for. Life is about that."

But the composer does not consider this revisiting a matter of dwelling on the past. "Life is also about experiencing the newness of what's ahead. And hopefully collecting or organizing what you've learned today that you didn't know yesterday, that will really help tomorrow to be a little brighter or happier or more pleasant or whatever it is that you're in pursuit of. So no, I'm not looking for the good old days."

Fortune's latest release is a three-disc set reissuing a trio of albums he recorded for Blue Note in the mid-'90s. Out of print for several years, the albums are now available on Fortune's own label, Sound Reason, as The Trilogy Collection. Launched in 2003 with the release of Continuum, Sound Reason is the latest and most successful of what the fledgling label head calls his "attempts to move into some form of independence." His initial forays, in 1974 with the artist-run label Strata East and in 1980 with his first venture into starting his own label, were both short-lived.

But now, Fortune notes, with the music industry "being revolutionized almost every six months" by technological changes, it is easy for an artist, especially in the already marginalized arena of jazz, to get lost. "As an end result, an artist has to decide just where does it fall for them. I've been doing this for a long time and I felt like at the end of the day, nobody's gonna care for your stuff better than you. The industry does what it does and I have to do what I do. So starting my label made all the sense in the world to me."

Hentoff's complaint that Sonny Fortune has never become a household name doesn't seem to be a cause of worry for the altoist himself. "Probably years ago it was. Really, man, I'm on the high end, I really am. I'm playing better than I ever played. Just got a brand new horn, I got this CD out, I don't even feel like it's a bad winter yet. I'm not necessarily one who has been pursuing popularity and I actually have no problem in the world walking down the street and nobody knows who I am. I've been just trying to play some music, and that's really what I'm trying to do now. That's clearer now in my head than it was yesterday, and I hope tomorrow to be clearer than today."

Sonny Fortune, Fri., Jan. 13, 9 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 14, 8 and 10 p.m., $15, Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 215-568-3131, www.chrisjazzcafe.com.