Jack Sonni ✝

Drawn to music at an early age, Sonni first learned piano, then trumpet, switching to guitar at 14. His love of the instrument led him to leave the University of Connecticut where he was studying literature to attend the Hartford Conservatory of Music.\n', ' After graduating, Jack was introduced to New York session guitarist Elliott Randall (famous for his solo on the hit "Reelin\' In the Years") by keyboardist Michael Holmes, a graduate of Eastman & bandmate of Tony Levin & Steve Gadd. Randall became a mentor & teacher and convinced Sonni to move to NYC and begin his career. Jack lived in NYC from 1976 thru 1985 initially trying to break into session work but began focusing on his own band. In the late 1970s, Sonni\'s band The Leisure Class had become a Monday night fixture at Kenny\'s Castaways on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, the place for up and coming acts. In 1978 he started working at the newly opened Rudy\'s Music Stop, owned by luthier Rudy Pensa, where he met members of Dire Straits, first David and then Mark Knopfler.\n', ' He visited the Knopflers in London, and after David (and then Hal Lindes) left the band, Sonni was asked to join the band for the 1984 recording sessions for Brothers in Arms and the subsequent tour. Jack accepted, and played guitar synthesizer on "The Man\'s Too Strong."\n', '