With four albums under her belt (Getting To Know You, Sunny, Rites Of Passage and Freedom Sampler) Sunny Sumter is hardly a newcomer but yet she’s a singer you may not have heard about before. And that’s such a pity because Sunny has an impressive voice and a great talent to use her voice as an instrument and to fuse jazz, soul and world music into her own sound.
Sunny’s real name is Cheryl but a bandleader once introduced her as Sunshine and the shortened version Sunny stuck with her. Sunny was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and grew up listening to Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway (not the worst musical socialisation one can have). And it was Sarah Vaughn’s live performance she saw at age nine that convinced Sunny that “jazz was in my future”.

Rite Of Passage was recorded four years ago in 2001 but it has lost nothing of its magic. Sunny has gathered musicians from Puerto Rico, Curacao, Brazil, Israel, Austria, Trinidad and South Africa to record this album. The diversity of musicians is reflected by the music. There are some straight ahead vocal jazz songs like the self-penned Nick Of Time or Peace. Then there are the Brazilian influenced songs like Never Let Go or Not Yet and the afro inspired title song Rite Of Passage (Travelin’ With Juju) and Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is. Plus Sunny also delivers memorable renditions of Abbey Lincoln’s Talking To The Sun and Jobim’s Dindi. All in all Rite Of Passage is a great and musically diverse album. If you’ve missed it four years ago then this is forgivable because it’s an independent release and lacked some exposure in the media. But now you know about Sunny Sumter, so you better not miss this album again.

The Freedom Sampler is - like the title suggests - a concept album that combines classical songs from the civil rights movement and original compositions by Sunny. In our apolitical times (at least in the music buisness) this is a welcome return to songs that really have a message.
While the world as a whole and especially western countries did make many improvements since the 60s, the struggle for freedom isn’t something that has ended when segregation was banned or anti-discrimination laws had been passed. Once you have a certain amount of freedom you have to fight to keep and extend it. Especially these days where western governments are eager to sacrifice fundamental rights in a reputed fight against terrorism. So the topic of the Freedom Sampler is very up-to-date.
Not only has Sunny reached a new stage in her artistry with the Freedom Sampler but also her sound has changed. Here we have a earthy, bluesy sound based on percussion, drums and guitars instead of the jazz setting of previous records. But the musical background supports the message of freedom perfectly and besides it’s always good to see an artist doing something new and watch and hear her grow. One of the highlights is Sunny’s cover of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come. Not only is Sunny’s plea for a change and better world credible but this is also one of the rare occasions where a cover surpasses the original version. Also impressive is Freedom, Oh Freedom with its epic eleven and a half minutes this is a tour de force funk rock song and never has a repetitive freedom sounded better. Another gem is Death Do Us Part with its slow percussive and mediative rhythms and Sunny singing Death Do Us Part as a mantra.
The Freedom Sampler is a very inspiring album for our trying times that defies musical borders and shows one again what an awesome artist Sunny Sumter is.

Tracklisting of Rite Of Passage: 1. A Little Bit Longer/ 2. Nick of Time/ 3. Never Let Go/ 4. Sister Cheryl/ 5. Rite of Passage -Travelin’ with JuJu (featuring Bro. Yao)/6. Talking to the Sun/ 7. Black Rose/ 8. Not Yet/ 9. Dindi/ 10. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?/ 11. Peace/ 12. Rite of Passage/ 13. Butterfly | released 2001 J Jordan Music

Tracklisting of Freedom Sampler: 1. For What It’s Worth/ 2. Get Together/ 3. Death Do Us Part/ 4. Reparation/ 5. Get Up Stand Up/ 6. Raise My Child/ 7. A Change Is Gonna Come/ 8. Freedom, Oh Freedom | released 2003 DCI Productions/ J Jordan Music

For more infos visit sunnysumter.com.

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