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by Steve Huey
Of the electric guitars few proponents in avant-garde jazz, Sonny Sharrock is easily the most influential; he was one of 更多>
by Steve Huey
Of the electric guitars few proponents in avant-garde jazz, Sonny Sharrock is easily the most influential; he was one of the earliest guitarists to even attempt free playing, along with Derek Bailey and Sonny Greenwich. Sharrocks visceral aggression and monolithic sheets of noise were influenced by the screaming overtones of saxophonists like Coltrane, Sanders, and Ayler, and his experiments with distortion and feedback predated even Jimi Hendrix. Naturally, he provoked much hostility among traditionalists, but once his innovations were assimilated, he enjoyed wide renown in avant-garde circles.
Born Warren Harding Sharrock in Ossining, NY, in 1940, he began singing in doo wop groups in 1953. He fell in love with jazz through Kind of Blue, but took up guitar (in 1960) instead of saxophone because of his asthma. In 1965 — four years after a failed stint at Berklee — he moved to New York, where he first worked with Byard Lancaster and Babatunde Olatunji. He made his recording debut in late 1966 on Pharoah Sanders Tauhid, and remained with Sanders until 1968; he subsequently joined Herbie Manns group, where his wild freakouts clashed — often intriguingly — with the flautists accessible leanings. Sharrocks first recordings as a leader, 1969s Black Woman and 1970s Monkey-Pockie-Boo, featured his wife Lindas swooping wordless vocals. In 1970, Sharrock turned down an audition with Miles Davis, feeling that his seismic, uncredited solo on A Tribute to Jack Johnson spoke for itself; unfortunately, the result was years of obscurity after he exited Manns group around 1972. Fortunately, producer/bassist Bill Laswell invited Sharrock to join the avant-punk-jazz supergroup Last Exit in 1986. Laswell also produced the majority of a series of albums ing Sharrock at his most unfiltered (1986s unaccompanied Guitar, 1987s Seize the Rainbow, 1990s Highlife, and the Nicky Skopelitis duet album Faith Moves). 1991s Ask the Ages was Sharrocks masterpiece, reuniting him with Pharoah Sanders and capturing his visceral and melodic sides. Sadly, though, just as he was becoming popular with adventurous young rock fans, Sharrock died of a heart attack in May 1994; his last recordings were for the animated series Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
