Brute Volume

Free Jazz : Jazz :: Punk : Rock.

This is basically why I like free jazz (and yet not jazz). Free jazz has all the classic elements associated with punk: Energy packed music that isn't concerned with playing on the beat or in time. Tightly-knit scenes where people organize their own shows in small clubs, lofts and living rooms. Independent labels. Independent magazines. Intelligent music made by people concerned with style as message. Mistrust of the Man.

Of course, free jazz is jazz, so it's generally not as catchy as punk. But there are some free jazzers that have worked in a more pop style. Sun Ra recorded rock singles. Albert Ayler recorded an entire funk album. Sonny Sharrock recorded 4 minute pop tunes.

Sharrock (1940-1994) started in doo-wop in the 50s as a member of The Echoes, who never really got themselves down on record. (They were recorded as backup singers for a couple of acts and recorded two songs as themselves, but these were never released.) He didn't start playing guitar until 1960. I always like finding out a great musician didn't start until later in life. Twenty is not really late in life, but nowadays people tend to think musos are people who picked up the violin at age three and that if you start after adolescence, you're not gonna get far. But Sharrock didn't pick up the guitar until age 20. Sharrock again recalls the DIY spirit with this quote from a 1990 interview:

I started on January 6th, 196O. I'm good with dates like that, man. It was a Tuesday, if I'm not mistaken, yeah. . . . the Daniel brothers, Ted Daniel the trumpet player and his brother Richard, who at one point back in the '7Os had a group called Brute Force which might be remembered by a few people, had started the band, Richard played keyboards, Ted trumpet, and they had taken music lessons, you know, all of their childhood, and they started a band, and they asked me to join. So I came into it. We didn't know what we were doing, we knew we loved what we were hearing on records, but how to do it? We had not a clue. But we tried, you know.

He went to Berklee in 1961 to study composition (I can't imagine someone picking up an instrument at age 20 now and getting into Berklee a year later), but left in his second semester. He must have played around Boston for the next few years and then moved down to New York City in 1965 around the same time as his fellow Berklee student, Byard Lancaster.

It was at a Lancaster show in Philadelphia that same year that John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders saw him play. Sanders invited Sharrock to join his band which was performing weekly at Slug's Saloon—basically setting Sharrock up on the New York scene.

The first time he shows up on record is with Pharoah Sanders' group in late 1966 on the Impulse! record Tauhid. Sanders' music is an odd sort of free jazz. He and his band members are some of the free-est players around, but Sanders' pieces have a very composed feel to them. The second track on Tauhid, "Japan," which is possibly my favorite Pharoah Sanders tune, doesn't sound particularly free at all on its own. Of course, when you hear the whole record and hear how the band takes composed themes and creates a free structure around them, then the song sounds less fixed.

Pharoah Sanders - "Japan"
(Tauhid, Impulse! A9138, November 15, 1966)

Sharrock's part on this song is very straight forward. He's actually just playing a simple I-IV-V progression. But it's how he's playing it. He gets a great soft and muted tone from his playing. He said in interviews that he wasn't using any effects (which were starting to become popular then); that he was just playing so hard (on a hollow body guitar) that the notes would physically distort, aided by overworking his not-too-powerful amp. The sound reminds me of Daniel Johnston, who strums his beat up acoustic clumsily with his thumb, or Jandek, who knowingly plays an out-of-time bungled flamenco. The hard attack of his strumming combined with the overdriven tone creates a surf music feel. It's not easily heard on "Japan" (though I think it's there and that's why the song reminds me of Philip Glass' soundtrack to Mishima, in particular "Osamu's Theme"), but can definitely be heard on the opening track "Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt."

Pharoah Sanders - "Upper Egypt & Lower Egypt" (excerpt)
(Tauhid, Impulse! A9138, November 15, 1966)

A month after the Tauhid session, he was back in the studio to record with two other New York groups. First with Marzette Watts for his eponymous lp on ESP. Sharrock is maybe buried a little on this record—it is a larger group and a more spastic sound than the Sanders record—but you can hear him there, playing the other side of his sound. Rather than the full hard-strummed chords, he plays little sound bursts in imitation, as he says, of a tenor sax. He often said that John Coltrane was his biggest influence; that had he not been asmathic he would have played the tenor sax. This is best heard on "Geno," where his playing is featured loudest in the mix.

Marzette Watts - "Geno" (excerpt)
(Marzette Watts, ESP 1044, December 8, 1966)

The second session he was in on at this time was for Byard Lancaster's It's Not Up To Us. This is in parts a very pop record, full of funky rhythms, folk tunes and children's songs; and what sounds like an electric bass on at least a couple of tracks. Sharrock plays a spastic rhythm throughout. My favorite song on this record, also the catchiest song, is the title track. It's infectious and I find myself humming it over and over after hearing it. I don't hear Sharrock playing on it, however. But the record also has it's free-er, less pop moments, including the Sharrock-penned song, "John's Children," and, the closing track, "Satan," which features Sharrock as the key musician.

Byard Lancaster - "Satan"
(It's Not Up To Us, Vortex 2003, December 19, 1966)

It was also around this time that he started playing with Herbie Mann, a name jazz musician. This stuff is jazz. I find it really boring and I wouldn't be surprised if Sharrock found it boring, too. But free jazz doesn't pay well, that's why the musicians needed to organize their own shows and recording dates and press their own records. So being in Herbie Mann's band meant that Sharrock could survive and still be able to focus some of his energy on making his own music.

And he did just that. His first recording dates as band leader came in October of 1968 and then May of 1969. These recordings were released as Black Woman, an incredible record. This is really the best example of free jazz as pop. The songs are all relatively short, ranging in length from 3 minutes to 9 minutes. The also feature catchy hooks and the oddly infectuous screaming of Sharrock's wife Linda Sharrock. Sonny also sings a little on the record and there is some great harmonizing between him and Linda.

The record opens with the title track: a cymbal flourish, slight humming from Linda and whispy, reverb-drenched little lines from Sonny. It just begins to build and build. Milford Graves (maybe the best drummer ever) brings in more cymbal play and some hand percussion (sleigh bells!); Sonny builds ferocious momentum, taking those little lines into long runs reminiscent of Dick Dale; and Linda starts to belt out powerful screams.

Sonny Sharrock - "Black Woman"
(Black Woman, Vortex 2014, 1969)

This is fallowed by "Peanut," a 9 minute light hearted free jazz christmas song. I swear, it really sounds like you could play it at christmas, though people will probably ask you to turn it off when Sonny starts making his string-scraping, note-bending noises. And well, yeah, I guess it will definitely be pulled off the stereo when Linda starts screaming. Or you could just skip a track to "Bialero" (a french folk tune), which has much softer guitar runs, nice light piano rhythm, and more operatic singing (no screaming) from Linda—the drums, though, are still all over the place and great. Or skip two tracks to "Blind Willy," a multi-tracked guitar solo piece. It's blues, yet it's still good. It's a real testament to Sharrock's abilities as a song writer. He wrote a blues tune, but it's not overly cliche. Of course, it helps that it sounds acoustic (or at least hollow-body) and it's all rhythm, no lead.

The album closes with "Portrait of Linda in Three Colors, All Black." This song has it all. Incredible drumming. Perfect piano, when jazz piano is usually just annoying. Great harmonizing of Sonny's guitar runs, Linda and Sonny's crooning and the piano chords. Even a great balance of Linda's screaming with jittery trumpet.

Sonny Sharrock - "Portrait of Linda in Three Colors, All Black"
(Black Woman, Vortex 2014, 1969)

During that winter between the recording dates that were Black Woman, Sharrock recorded with Don Cherry and again with Pharoah Sanders. The Don Cherry recording was for his Eternal Rhythm LP. Sharrock's playing here, as well as his role in the ensemble, is very similar to that on the Marzette Watts record. The review on allmusic.com describes him as having a "'glass shards' approach"; I would say that describes it just perfectly.

Don Cherry - "Eternal Rhythm Part I" (excerpt)
(Eternal Rhythm, MPS 2520, November 11/12, 1968)

The recording date with Pharoah Sanders, which was released as Izipho Zam on the independent free jazz label Strata East (operated by Charles Tolliver, trumpet, and Stanley Cowell, piano, out of New York City), has him fitting right back into the group with the same sound as on Tauhid. He achieves the same surf sound, again mostly as rhythm accompaniment, repeating the same fast-strummed riff over and over, fading in and out with the percussion as Sanders and the other horns trade easily hummed melodies.

Pharoah Sanders - "Izipho Zam" (excerpt)
(Izipho Zam, Strata East SES-19733, January 14, 1969)

Izipho Zam is a great record. The title track is 30 minutes of sedate Awesome, while the other two tracks, "Prince of Peace" and "Balance," veer into wilder territory. The original record (and most of the records mentioned) is unfortunately very expensive, but (again, like all the records discussed in this article) has been rereleased on CD.

In this time period, from 1968 to 1972, aside from the avant garde recordings Sharrock was involved in, he also recorded numerous records with straight jazzers like Herbie Mann, Roy Ayers, Wayne Shorter and even Miles Davis (A Tribute to Jack Johnson). But, like I said above, I find this stuff all pretty bland and boring. I want to listen to it to hear Sharrock's contributions, but when I try, I can't. I turn it off after a few minutes. It's just too boring. Supposedly Sharrock convinced Herbie Mann's group to do some more outside pieces—some songs by Ornette Coleman and even some of his own pieces—but I haven't heard them. I would guess that without an ensemble of like minded free musicians, these pieces aren't that great.

In the summer of 1970 Sharrock had his second recording date as a band leader. The recordings were released as Monkey Pockie Boo by the french label BYG, who were releasing records by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Archie Shepp and other giants of free jazz. Much, if not all, of the original BYG catalog is available again (often inexpensively) on record and CD. This record is a strange one. It's the sound of Black Woman but as an experimental record. Most of the pop elements of the earlier record are gone. To start with, the shortest track is 8 minutes and the longest is 17. The music is much noisier and Linda Sharrock's screaming is featured higher in the mix. The drumming is nowhere near as good as on the earlier record, however the bass playing (a lot of arco playing) is really interesting. There's an overall sonic similarity to New York No Wave. It's not a bad record, but I would certainly rank it well below Black Woman and Sharrock's earlier work as a sideman.

Sonny Sharrock - "27th Day" (excerpt)
(Monkey Pockie Boo, BYG Actuel 37, June 22, 1970)

Around the same time as the Monkey Pockie Boo session, Sharrock recorded as a guest member on the debut record by Brute Force, the band founded by his old friends, the Daniel brothers. Brute Force is a solid soul record, but would probably be forgotten if not for Sharrock's participation in the recording. He contributes as both a rhythm player and a soloist, playing in both his catchy rhythmic style and his "glass shards" style.

Brute Force - "Do It Right Now"
(Brute Force, Embryo SD 522, Summer 1970)

This unfortunately marks the beginning of a period of Sharrock's career where little was documented. After Monkey Pockie Boo he got a band together called The Savages. Sonny Sharrock and The Savages. They took the sound of Black Woman and added more latin and pop influences. I know of three recordings of this group: a soundtrack in 1973, a live session taped on the radio in 1974 and a studio session in 1975. After this, Sharrock went into a lengthy retirement from music.

The soundtrack recording, made for the documentary Another Place about the life of James Baldwin, doesn't appear to have ever been released. The recording session from the summer of 1975 was released as Paradise, attributed to Sonny & Linda Sharrock. It's jazz-funk-rock fusion. There's really no way to make that sounds good; and it's not very good. The bass is cheesy funky, Sonny's guitar sounds over-produced (destroying the signature sound he always has), and Linda's vocals sound like a Donna Summers sex-croon. Oh, and yeah, there's a string section in the background throughout the record. It has it's brief moments, though. The opening track, "Apollo," kicks off the record with a decent smooth soul vibe but becomes cheesy jazz-rock/jazz-funk within a minute.

Sonny & Linda Sharrock - "Apollo" (excerpt)
(Paradise, Atco Records, July 1975)

"1953 Boogie Children" is an embarrassing seven minute boogie woogie jam with few redeeming qualities. The other three tracks on the record are ok; you can listen to them, but they aren't really that interesting. "End of the Rainbow" gives you a good sense of how they all sound.

Sonny & Linda Sharrock - "End of the Rainbow"
(Paradise, Atco Records, July 1975)

Supposedly Sonny Sharrock disowned the record, saying he wasn't happy with the outcome of the recordings and that it should never be reissued.

The 1974 live recording from WKCR's studio is the real gem in this time period. It's a bootleg—a bootleg deserving of a good release from the original tapes. You can find it on the internet over at the WFMU website. It was recorded live on air, March 21, 1974. It shows what Paradise could have been. The latin percussion sounds great, Sonny's guitar sound is perfect, the bass is perfect, Linda's vocals are perfect. The loser track of Paradise is in much better form here as "1953 Blue Boogie Children." The real winner track of the recording is the opener "Sweet Butterfingers." It's too bad the Savages weren't recorded more.

(The WFMU download lacks track titles. The tracks recorded on that date are, in order: an introduction by the DJ rebroadcasting the original recording sometime in the early 90s [and doing a really great college DJ job at it, WKCR], "Sweet Butterfingers," "1953 Blue Boogie Children," "Peaceful," and "Highlife.")

This is where my review of Sonny Sharrock's first period of activity ends. He went into retirement in 1975 and didn't play again until 1981. Supposedly it was Bill Laswell who coaxed him out of retirement, and Sharrock became a part-time member of Laswell's group Material. As well, he recorded a number of records solo and as part of Last Exit (with Peter Brötzmann). I haven't really heard any of these records though. I once listened to his solo record Guitar, recorded in 1986, at a record store. It didn't sound bad, but it didn't sound good enough for me to buy it. I remember it being a little soft.

There are two late recordings I would like to highlight, though. The first is a live recording made with Ginger Baker in Geneva in March of 1987. I don't know much about the recording, but it sounds great. It's just the two of them making something very funky. Around this same time, Sharrock was involved in a recording with Baker, Brötzmann and some others, for Baker's record No Material. I haven't heard this record, but if it's anything like the bootleg live show, I bet it's good.

Sonny Sharrock & Ginger Baker - Untitled
(Live Bootleg, Geneva, March 19, 1987)

The other late recording is Sonny Sharrock's last full album recorded before his death in 1994. Ask The Ages reunited him with Pharoah Sanders, this time as the sideman. The record also features another Coltrane alumnus, Elvin Jones, on drums. (Also, the bassist for this record is drummer Charles Moffett's son Charnett [named, stupidly, after his father and Ornette Coleman].) It's a really surprising record. I never expect musicians to be able to produce something good past their prime. I wouldn't have expected these three musicians—stars of the 1960s/1970s avant-garde jazz scene—to be able to make such a good record in 1991. But they did it. And the record combines some of their best qualities: Elvin Jones' strong polyrhythmic drumming; Sonny Sharrock's thick over-driven rhythm playing; and Pharoah Sanders' hum-able sax melodies. The closing track, "Once Upon A Time," is probably my favorite. The drumming is just awesome. Sanders and Sharrock's rhythm track have a nice stereo affect, and Sharrock's two lead tracks (one high and noisy, one clean) are surprisingly catchy.

Sonny Sharrock - "Once Upon A Time"
(Ask The Ages, Axiom Records, 1991)

The only thing he recorded after this, I believe, was the theme song to the television show Space Ghost. He died not so long after in 1994 at the age of 53 from a heart attack in his hometown of Ossining, NY.

Web-Sites to consult concerning Sharrock:
Official Website
Sweet Butter Fingers (complete discography)
Sweet Butterfingers (really great interviews)
Sonny Sharrock Visual Discography (covers, tracks, band members)