Sonny Clark was the epitome of cool! He has nearly 300 playing credits to his name. The partial list is staggering. Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Criss, Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Lee Morgan and many more.

On Sonny's Crib, Clark used the sextet format consisting of one of the all-time great jazz line ups. John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor. Trane had struggled with addiction earlier in the year but by this session had quit heroin for good and was reclaiming his spot as a major force in Jazz. By any measurement Sonny's Crib is a classic that features remarkable solos. Two weeks later Coltrane would record the epic "Blue Train" with Fuller and Chambers. More than a few critics and fans have compared the two.