Sonny Lester (born November 15, 1924) is a Grammy-award winning music producer from New York City. He started his career as a musician in a big band jazz ensemble before being drafted into the U.S. Army. During the war he earned a Purple Heart and worked under Henry Kissinger, who was an intelligence officer at time. Lester's recordings have been distributed over a number of labels, including Blue Note Records, United Artists, Capitol Records, Denon and CBS Records.
In 1966 Lester formed Solid State Records, the jazz division of United Artists, with Manny Albam and Phil Ramone. The label went on to release albums from many popular jazz musicians such as Chick Corea, Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, and Jimmy McGriff. The label was eventually consolidated into Blue Note Records. Lester was named producer of the Denon Jazz series in 1986.
