Saxophonist Sonny Simmons (1933–2021) was one of the most forceful voices in New York’s free jazz scene of the 1960s, and one of its most overlooked. His 588-page memoir ‘Better Do It Now before You Die Later,’ written with jazz historian and biographer Marc Chaloin and published by Blank Forms Editions, is out now and delivers the full story: his Louisiana childhood, his years in the Bay Area jazz scene, his star-studded New York run alongside the greats, the years of homelessness and addiction that followed, and the remarkable career resurrection sparked by 1994’s critically acclaimed ‘Ancient Ritual’ on Qwest Records. Fiery, funny and long overdue, it’s the definitive document of a singular life in music.