― sundar subramanian (sundar), Sunday, 25 May 2003 02:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 25 May 2003 02:26 (twenty years ago) link
Alex in NYC in "I went to jazz gig and enjoyed it" shockah!!!
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Sunday, 25 May 2003 03:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Sunday, 25 May 2003 03:59 (twenty years ago) link
― Sean (Sean), Sunday, 25 May 2003 04:45 (twenty years ago) link
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Sunday, 25 May 2003 09:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Andrew L (Andrew L), Sunday, 25 May 2003 09:58 (twenty years ago) link
I also like sharrock's other record with linda 'Monkie-pockie-boo' which has been reissued on BYG last year. its got him slide whistle!
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 25 May 2003 10:52 (twenty years ago) link
Yeah, a bit unlikely, but I went with my jazzbo friend, the excellently-named Brent Butterworth, who was into stuff like James Blood Ulmer, Last Exit, Ronald Shannon Jackson and that sorta stuff...jazz with teeth, if you like. I liked some of it.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 25 May 2003 11:03 (twenty years ago) link
― thomas de'aguirre (biteylove), Sunday, 25 May 2003 11:49 (twenty years ago) link
― thomas de'aguirre (biteylove), Sunday, 25 May 2003 11:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Sunday, 25 May 2003 12:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Sunday, 25 May 2003 13:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Dave M. (rotten03), Sunday, 25 May 2003 18:50 (twenty years ago) link
― hstencil, Sunday, 25 May 2003 23:35 (twenty years ago) link
― Dave M. (rotten03), Sunday, 25 May 2003 23:51 (twenty years ago) link
― hstencil, Sunday, 25 May 2003 23:52 (twenty years ago) link
*Guitar*, #84*Seize the Rainbow,* #204Last Exit *Iron Path*, #268Last Exit *The Noise of Trouble,* #285*Black Woman,* #290Last Exit *Last Exit,* #342Last Exit *Casette Recording 87*, #402
Also, the first sentence of my *Black Woman* review went: "*Monkey Pockie Boo*'s ungraspable anarchy and *Paradise*'s unsavory ivory came later, so of Sonny's 3 incomparably strident precomeback LPs, this one's easiest to make sense of, and I'll take it over the mostly lackadaisy live-in-Paris '82 trio date *Dance With Me Montana,* too."
(Whatever that means.)
― chuck, Tuesday, 27 May 2003 19:41 (twenty years ago) link
I never liked Ask The Ages or anything following Paradise - too 'downtown' for my tastes I guess. But Monkey Pockie Boo gets a lot of play around here, more than Black Woman, even...
I HATE Last Exit
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Tuesday, 27 May 2003 22:09 (twenty years ago) link
― chuck, Tuesday, 27 May 2003 23:37 (twenty years ago) link
(and can someone explain to me why 'on the corner' is good or refer me to someone who might change my mind?)
― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:05 (twenty years ago) link
and Last Exit fucking RAWKS!
― JasonD (JasonD), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 00:24 (twenty years ago) link
― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 01:46 (twenty years ago) link
― Clarke B., Tuesday, 8 July 2003 04:30 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 04:33 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 04:43 (twenty years ago) link
bought 'tauhid' bcz of this thread and yeah, that's excellent.
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 07:01 (twenty years ago) link
Ask the Ages was great. It was funny, Pharoah really had a burst of resurgent creativity there in the early 90's; between the Sharrock record, the record he did with Moroccan Maleem Mahmoud Ghania, and his guest spot on that Franklin Kiermyer record on Evidence, he really seemed to forcefully reassert his brilliance. Then he kind of dropped off the face of the earth again...
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 07:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Tuesday, 8 July 2003 13:24 (twenty years ago) link
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 6 September 2004 09:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― your friend, david acid (gareth), Monday, 6 September 2004 10:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Monday, 6 September 2004 10:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don Allred, Monday, 6 September 2004 13:51 (nineteen years ago) link
"Once upon a Time" has to be the most gorgeous thing I've ever heard!
― Sonny, Ah!, Monday, 6 September 2004 16:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― jake b. (cerybut), Monday, 6 September 2004 17:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 6 September 2004 17:43 (nineteen years ago) link
Actually, Ask The Ages is also notable to me because I had the occasion to see all four of it's musicians at four separate concerts: Sonny, Elvin, and Pharoah Sanders headlining, and Charnette Moffat backing up Courtney Pine.
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 6 September 2004 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 07:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 07:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Don A, Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Formerly Lee G (Formerly Lee G), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Monday, 21 February 2005 06:09 (nineteen years ago) link
"But Miles, you don't play guitar."
"Fuck you!" [Slams down phone]
Not the only Miles anecdote I've heard that ends with that verb and a phone hang-up. And this is just stuff I heard about in personal conversations.
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 21 February 2005 12:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Monday, 21 February 2005 12:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Monday, 21 February 2005 14:33 (nineteen years ago) link
Why is this album so hard to find for less than crazy money?!?! And not on iTunes/eMusic/Amazon.co.uk :(
― She Got the Shakes, Thursday, 27 January 2011 13:02 (thirteen years ago) link
it's v. v. out of print. i stumbled across a copy for like 12 bucks in a used shop in a college town one time.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 27 January 2011 13:40 (thirteen years ago) link
I just sold this on ebay for $7.
― fit and working again, Thursday, 27 January 2011 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link
It's $6 on Amazon.com/MP3....
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Thursday, 27 January 2011 15:19 (thirteen years ago) link
On CD? It's selling on Amazon for nearly $100 used and about $50 for a good condition used copy.
MP3s aren't available on Amazon.co.uk, though. I suppose I can wait until I'm in the States again to buy it then!
― She Got the Shakes, Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:05 (thirteen years ago) link
damn, i am totally going to sell my cd of this
― bows don't kill people, arrows do (Jordan), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:06 (thirteen years ago) link
hey cool, i didn't realize ask the ages had it's own thread. one of my all-time favorites, and certainly the most accessible and (i think) impressive sharrock album. may be a kind of heresy, but i love "who does she hope to be", so simple and lyrical, a real surprise given the band's exploratory tendencies. i tried to make the case during the 90s poll that it's one of the decade's underappreciated classics, but there were few takers, iirc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jks0N05l4OY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpBGhnCkhu0&feature=related
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmBFD5h9jR0&feature=related
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:09 (thirteen years ago) link
On CD? It's selling on Amazon for nearly $100 used and about $50 for a good condition used copy.Yeah, cd. Prices on Amazon never reflect the actual market.
― fit and working again, Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:16 (thirteen years ago) link
xpost to contenderizer: Why would that be heretical? "Who Does She Hope to Be?" is gorgeous.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:17 (thirteen years ago) link
not muscular/skronky enough. kidding, really.
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:18 (thirteen years ago) link
xxp I've sold similar free jazz cds on ebay before and the difference between a $5 sale and a $30 sale is luck. There aren't enough people searching for this stuff.
― fit and working again, Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:21 (thirteen years ago) link
I bought this at Barnes & Noble for $9 in 2002.
― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:27 (thirteen years ago) link
I got $40 for mine in Oct '05, but I was selling my CDs just ahead of the bottom falling out of the used CD market.
― earnest goes to camp, ironic goes to ilm (pixel farmer), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:29 (thirteen years ago) link
oh hey, most of the time this is my favorite jazz record
we should recommend this one to ilxor
― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Thursday, 27 January 2011 16:45 (thirteen years ago) link
and lj, but i think he already knows it from that 90s thread
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Thursday, 27 January 2011 17:17 (thirteen years ago) link
My MP3 player's not that huge so every so often I have to clear space. This one never leaves.
― Brakhage, Thursday, 27 January 2011 21:59 (thirteen years ago) link
someone buy my cd for 50$
― jaxon, Thursday, 27 January 2011 22:07 (thirteen years ago) link
no way is this alb better than 'black woman'
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 27 January 2011 23:35 (thirteen years ago) link
i've been trying to find a copy of this for a long time too but thanks to this thread i just went fuck it and got it 'elsewhere'. first listen and it's certainly a different beast than "black woman" but a beast nonetheless
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 3 February 2011 15:44 (thirteen years ago) link
o hey, "someone's" selling this on discogs for ONLY 20$!
― jaxon, Thursday, 3 February 2011 16:22 (thirteen years ago) link
man, i love this album so much. got mine for $6 in 2005 when i found one in the record store where i worked, and begged my boss to sell it to me for mad cheap. thanks sandy!
― 69, Thursday, 3 February 2011 18:16 (thirteen years ago) link
btw if anyone wants to help me start a campaign to press this shit on vinyl, im in.
― 69, Thursday, 3 February 2011 18:17 (thirteen years ago) link
*enlists*
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 February 2011 18:24 (thirteen years ago) link
all we need is a screenprinter and a kickstarter
― 69, Thursday, 3 February 2011 18:25 (thirteen years ago) link
i got screenprinting gear, but v low tech like speedball yo. would proably want someone who knows what they're doing. dunno nothing about having vinyl printed or rights acquisition. or are we talking about an "import"? webs of mystery. you know anyone who's pressed vinyl?
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 February 2011 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
ha, cool -- don't recall if it's been brought up in that thread or not. i know sharrock in general's come up. i can't find a damn thing by him in the local shops but i'll def keep an eye out!
― Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Friday, 4 February 2011 02:32 (thirteen years ago) link
this is my fav. jazz record too fwiw
― call all destroyer, Friday, 4 February 2011 02:33 (thirteen years ago) link
I got deeply into this album about 6 mo. before he died. At the time, I was in music school and lived with a bunch of jazz majors -- most of whom were suspect of free practitioners like Sharrock and Sanders tho probably only outright hostile to the latter due to his propensity to revert to pig-squealing noise in lieu of chord substitutions or modality even.
My memory of Ask the Ages was strong tunes and arrangements, great Pharaoh solos, but that Charnette seemed maybe a little out of his league. Listening again for the first time in, er, ages, I'm not hearing any problems with Charnette and loving the tunes. Whoever called the title track from Here Come the Warm Jets on "Once Upon a Time" is spot on.
Also dug out Last Exit for the first time in eons. Despite the ridiculous press releases touting them as drunken marauders pillaging towns across Europe, I've always loved most of these records. Not sure the ever topped "Line of Fire" from Cassette Recordings -- 20 minutes that captures the best of each member: Brotzmann in full ale-swilling blare, Shannon Jackson rolling and grooving, Sharrock doing his thing supported by Laswell, whose playing on these records is better than anything he did. He just fit in perfectly between Sharrock's chordal stabs and Shannon Jackson's grooves.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 1 July 2013 12:25 (ten years ago) link
still sounds like one of the flat-out best america albums of the 90s, with little competition
― Me and my pool noodle (contenderizer), Monday, 1 July 2013 12:30 (ten years ago) link
^ add n to x
Spotify has Ask The Ages, also Pharoah's much earlier Tauhid, where Mr. SS is the beep-beep roadrunner, goading the leader's sunrise-on-the-Nile song into a water buffalo bellow (if the Nile didn't have such critters before, it does now). He's also the team provocateur on the first two tracks of Pharoah's Ipzopho Zam, then, on the 28 minute-and change title track, comes up with what I think of an African-Caribbean riff--rippling, tensile, succinct--which turns out to be his iteration, or maybe invention, of the group theme (gliding and boiling through sunburst saxes, lattices of percussion, bass, keys, Leon Thomas yodeling in tongues, but also in tune, and not too much, honest!). Spotify doesn't have that one, but they have a bunch of others Sharrock played on, incl ones they list, and others here (with a few more in Allmusic, like a couple more Herbie Mann albums)http://www.sonnysharrock.com/info.asp?pgs=discography
― dow, Wednesday, 3 July 2013 00:54 (ten years ago) link
He's also the team provocateur on the first two tracks--emphasis on "team" here: mostly discreet, sometimes sneaky--listen on headphones.
― dow, Wednesday, 3 July 2013 01:00 (ten years ago) link
Last Exit's stuff really holds up, especially the live albums—Iron Path, their only studio record, is a little tame. When I interviewed Laswell a year or two ago, I briefly brought up the idea of assembling a Last Exit box, and he said it could definitely be done, and that there were plenty of other unreleased recordings, but that it would be very labor intensive to find and organize the tapes. I think if I ever launched a Kickstarter project, that would be it—a massive Last Exit box with as much unreleased stuff as could be unearthed.
― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 3 July 2013 02:04 (ten years ago) link
Yeah man--still a lot of incredible Sharrock here and there in the Interweb universes---recently heard Pharoah with Sonny and the dual-drummer combo in Japan: robust vocal intro (not Leon-style yodeling)maybe Sonny, who was a singer way before starting over as a guitarist. It's wordless at first then, "My mother's son/My father's son", and onto the guitar (sounds like another guitar behind his solo; Nicky S., perhaps?), sax, bass drums--9 minutes rolling like 3.
― dow, Thursday, 4 July 2013 14:53 (ten years ago) link
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=469038this was upped to Dime a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't work out how to find this thread and post to it at the time,Has search engine actually started working again, just did this today with google.
Lovely set with 3 of the 4 players from the lp but Pheroaan AkLaff on drums instead of Elvin Jones.Very good set, a bit less droney than the lp, more upbeat not so old -timey. Extended versions of several of the lp tracks plus a 17 minute plus upper and Lower Egypt
― Stevolende, Tuesday, 21 March 2017 21:28 (seven years ago) link
Whoa would love to hear that! I'm not on DAD unfortunately.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 22 March 2017 14:08 (seven years ago) link
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=3370
― tylerw, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 14:17 (seven years ago) link
I was hoping the tread-revive was due to an impending vinyl reissue.
I've been listening to ATA in the car this week. It's beautiful. I really didn't dig it when I got it in the late 90's during my first furtive forays into free jazz because it sounded tame to me compared to Tauhid or Izipho Zam or whatever shreddin' Sonny I'd heard at that point. It sounded like a Santana record to me back then, which was a bad thing (I've since come around on Santana, too) and I traded it away. I picked it up again on the cheap a year or so back and now it sounds perfect to my old ass. Dude left us too soon!
― Cannonley Adderall (InternationalWaters), Friday, 24 March 2017 14:56 (seven years ago) link
have also been listening to this a lot the last 2-3 weeks, coincidentally. Great record, tho I think of it less as "free jazz", than an extension of mid 60s Impulse/Coltrane quartet sound. Will have to check out that live set.
― Dominique, Friday, 24 March 2017 15:20 (seven years ago) link
an extension of mid 60s Impulse/Coltrane quartet sound
― PURE, BEAUTIFUL OIL (Sparkle Motion), Saturday, 25 March 2017 05:30 (seven years ago) link
I'm seeing that Hive Mind Records is doing a vinyl reissue - double LP, 45rpm, edition of 500. I feel like I'll look forward to this and then look forward to paying exorbitant prices to a flipper. Still, sounds pretty cool.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 01:07 (five years ago) link
Kinda surprised I never once popped into this thread over the years just to say 'masterpiece.'
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:05 (five years ago) link
i have it on cassette, sounds great. will happily dub it for you if you’d like xp
and yeah. masterpiece.
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:19 (five years ago) link
is there a link to some info about this new vinyl release? if it's that limited i don't have much of a chance but a guy can dream.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:24 (five years ago) link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtwQ-YDAv6e/
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:29 (five years ago) link
hivemindrecordsComing soon2 x 12” 45rpmFirst time on vinyl for Sonny Sharrock’s final album, which features Pharoah Sanders on sax, Elvin Jones on drums and a young Charnett Moffett on bass. The whole lovely package was produced by Bill Laswell and originally released in 1991. We feel the 45rpm pressing was the only way to give the album the sound quality it deserves.Limited to 500 copiesAvailable soon.#newvinyl #newrelease #vinyl #vinylcommunity #vinylcommunitypost #jazz #jazzvinyl #sonnysharrock #pharoahsanders #elvinjones #elvinjonesjazzmachine #charnettmoffett #billlasswell
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:30 (five years ago) link
thank u
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 03:46 (five years ago) link
I never know where they come up with a number like 500 - is that all these labels feel like they can be sure they'll sell? Is 1000 too big a run?
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 04:26 (five years ago) link
having run a small reissue labeli do have an answersitting on 80 units at $7 eachafter you sell the bulk of itand are still not in the blackit’s hardthe margins are so slightdouble your order (500 vs 1000)and your cost goes way downbut who wants to buy those 580 rex
so. i’m drunk, maybe have a better answer in the morning
labels that manufacture mystique and purposely run short are garbage
the point is get music to people
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 05:59 (five years ago) link
Or a licensing thing. Hopefully there will be digital on bandcamp as well but there's also a good chance they don't have the digital rights.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 07:13 (five years ago) link
I highly doubt that a Sonny Sharrock reissue is going to crash the Hive Mind Records website the minute the presale goes up. Those 500 copies will be around for a while.
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 07:48 (five years ago) link
I'm guessing Laswell still maintains the digital rights- he did a CD reissue a couple of years ago. Neither reissue looks like they're going with the low-budget but very beloved (by me) original artwork, for reasons unknown.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 07:59 (five years ago) link
also can I just say that A) I adore Sonny Sharrock and B) the more I think about it this is one of my favorite albums ever
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 08:00 (five years ago) link
yeah you can definitely say that
b) mee too :)
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 08:17 (five years ago) link
The new artwork is so boring. Also, double 45's is my least favorite way to listen to an album that was never conceived as a double album. I came to listen to the jams, not get up every 12 minutes.
What I'm saying is that I'll be sticking with my old cd of this all-time great.
― InternationalWaters, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 15:21 (five years ago) link
Agreed on the artwork. Just because this record is something else, it doesn't need to look like Something Else.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 16:17 (five years ago) link
I kind of like the new artwork, anyway I'm way into this, esp double 45s, I wonder what the source is? Original tapes, hopefully.
I love this record so much. A friend of mine owns this on cassette!
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link
i just assumed the image was only for the ig announcement tbh
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 20:46 (five years ago) link
I hope that's not the real cover. Laswell's M.O.D. Technologies label reissued it on CD in 2015, with this cover:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Fjl3hcK7L.jpg
That's not bad. (The CD is already out of print - I wonder if they only had the rights for a little while, or a limited print run, too?)
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 20:56 (five years ago) link
I'm guessing Laswell still maintains the digital rights
Possibly not as he has a lot of stuff on Bandcamp (including Sharrock's 'Guitar') but not ATA.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 21:01 (five years ago) link
that reissue cover is bad too
og cover is totally cool don't fix a thing that isn't broke
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 21:05 (five years ago) link
it's available to order now
― Black Arkestra, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 01:56 (five years ago) link
thanks, got it. even with shipping to the u.s. the price wasn't outrageous which is cool.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 02:14 (five years ago) link
Oh? I’m not seeing anything on hive mind’s website.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 02:52 (five years ago) link
go to their bandcamp
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 02:54 (five years ago) link
Bull Moose Music still has a few copies of the 2015 M.O.D. CD in stock. all of M.O.D.'s releases from 2016 onward have been digital-only, and it looks like they're allowing their other CD releases to go out of print as well
― unregistered, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 04:01 (five years ago) link
Ah got it thanks
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 04:01 (five years ago) link
Obviosuly I dunno how many going to distributors but - 11 left on Bandcamp.
Almost considering getting one just for the digital tbh.
Edit - down to 8 since I started typing LOL.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:05 (five years ago) link
Thanks for the heads-up on the vinyl, picked it up. And added the Rodrigo Tavares record Hivemind put out. Couple hours later, get an email from Bandcamp, “A virtual high five and/or fist bump to you, Rodrigo de Vasconcelos Faria Tavares just bought the following item after discovering it via your recommendation [Ask the Ages].” lol.
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:16 (five years ago) link
Actually looks like there is no digital at all accompanying the vinyl in case anyone else was wondering.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:21 (five years ago) link
aaaand sold out.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:22 (five years ago) link
I didn't get to ordering last night, so guess I'll wait and hope to encounter a copy.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:23 (five years ago) link
Still saying 1 available ATM!
― *there's (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link
I think that's only around 50 sold through BC anyway so it should be around.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:33 (five years ago) link
Around.
looks like you can still get it here:
https://www.hhv.de/shop/en/item/sonny-sharrock-ask-the-ages-636054
not sure if hive mind has us distribution
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 13 February 2019 19:45 (five years ago) link
https://honestjons.com/shop/artist/Sonny_Sharrock/release/Ask_The_Ages
― *there's (Noel Emits), Friday, 15 February 2019 09:25 (five years ago) link
I realise this running commentary on availability of a reissue isn't very interesting but anyway there it is.
― *there's (Noel Emits), Friday, 15 February 2019 09:35 (five years ago) link
everyone should have this album, so there’s that.
― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Friday, 15 February 2019 14:58 (five years ago) link
And now the digital is up on Laswell's Bandcamp:
https://billlaswell.bandcamp.com/album/ask-the-ages
― grawlix (unperson), Saturday, 16 February 2019 21:02 (five years ago) link
If you saw the craigslist post going around where someone was selling Sonny Sharrock's amp, here's an awesome end to the story: Henry Kaiser got it! pic.twitter.com/NlSi6Dkmzt— Marc Masters 🌹 (@Marcissist) February 19, 2019
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Wednesday, 20 February 2019 06:43 (five years ago) link
Wow
― Only a Factory URL (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 20 February 2019 10:59 (five years ago) link
I finally got my copy of the vinyl release. At first blush it sounds great- big, lots of dynamics, and not too big of a hassle to do it over 2 LPs. Package on the whole is pretty underwhelming though- cover design is bland, no liner notes or any additional info, printing & cardboard are on the cheaper side. I don't need the "deluxe version" but I guess I'd have like to see something that approached the majesty of the music. That said, it's great to finally hear this on vinyl.
― pippin drives a lambo through the gates of isengard (Sparkle Motion), Friday, 15 March 2019 19:04 (five years ago) link
seems stranded has some copies in stock for the us market in case anybody is still interested in buying the 2xlp reissue:
https://www.strandedrecords.com/collections/hive-mind/products/sonny-sharrock-ask-the-ages-2xlp?mc_cid=e7184cd5cd&mc_eid=ad2240ad80
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 18:05 (four years ago) link
They repressed it too so there should be a few more out there.
It sounds truly incredible. I’d love to hear any outtakes they had from those sessions.
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 11 June 2019 18:52 (four years ago) link
re yr previous post about the packaging, is it a gatefold sleeve or just two discs in a single jacket ?
― budo jeru, Tuesday, 11 June 2019 19:00 (four years ago) link
The latter- packaging is very bare-bones.
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Tuesday, 11 June 2019 19:35 (four years ago) link
it's weird how this is the greatest album of all time
― american bradass (BradNelson), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:31 (four years ago) link
it's so good.
― calzino, Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:32 (four years ago) link
i would really like to buy this reissue lol
― american bradass (BradNelson), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:35 (four years ago) link
I still enjoy digging out Last Exit - Iron Path a lot as well.
― calzino, Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:41 (four years ago) link
The other day I thought of it as the last great album of the 60s
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:48 (four years ago) link
Do you mean in some sort of rhetorical sense? I honestly thought it was recorded not that long before his death in the early 90's, but I'm often wrong on these matters.
― calzino, Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:56 (four years ago) link
Assumed it was rhetorical myself but thanks for asking
― If I were a POLL I’d be Zinging (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 23 June 2019 14:57 (four years ago) link
wasn't trying to be dickish, just genuinely thought have I got something wrong here? never mind!
― calzino, Sunday, 23 June 2019 15:07 (four years ago) link
I wasn't giving you any snark, I was wondering myself!
― If I were a POLL I’d be Zinging (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 23 June 2019 15:30 (four years ago) link
Sorry for the confusion... what I was thinking of was more along the lines that it was the last great album of the Impulse! records era. The energy, the power, the players (Moffett excepted, and he acquits himself wonderfully for what I believe is his first recording session) are all of the era... it's a real lightning in a bottle session, just astounding and easily on the same level of anything Sonny or Pharoah had recorded previously. Remarkable for these guys being 30+ years into their careers.
Astonishing music easily one of my favorite albums ever.
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Sunday, 23 June 2019 15:52 (four years ago) link
Doesn't seem to be Charnett Moffett's first recording session:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnett_Moffett
― If I were a POLL I’d be Zinging (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 23 June 2019 15:59 (four years ago) link
Yeah, I was very wrong! The '84 Frank Lowe album that appears to be his earliest has a great lineup, sounds interesting.
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:32 (four years ago) link
Moffett's earliest work was with the Marsalis brothers - he was on Branford's Scenes in the City when he was like 16.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:44 (four years ago) link
Yup
― If I were a POLL I’d be Zinging (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link
wow, I had no idea- I have only encountered him occasionally
― the public eating of beans (Sparkle Motion), Sunday, 23 June 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link
this set was mentioned above, here's a youtube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4FzQof6AI
sounds so good rn
― budo jeru, Friday, 5 July 2019 16:09 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxIZurCfheM
― budo jeru, Monday, 8 January 2024 20:06 (three months ago) link
Cool, thanks! What's in Easley's right hand?
Man, Bellerose is another drummer (like Brian Blade and Bill Stewart) I just love in every context.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 8 January 2024 20:13 (three months ago) link
It's a straw I guess? I asked a pedal steel player about it, and he said he wasn't sure but it's probably just to reinforce his hand position. After listening to a podcast in part about what a crazy instrument it is, I'm even more impressed by Easley. Also only recently made the connection that he's on the first couple Brian Blade Fellowship albums.
Hope that one places in the ILM poll.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Monday, 8 January 2024 20:40 (three months ago) link
I interviewed Blade eons ago, and this is what he told me about Easley on those records:
Oh, that was just Dave (Easley’s) sound, what he expressed through the instrument. It could have been … actually, the sympathetic sort of overtone or relationship between the horn, the string, and John’s piano, it’s like our little orchestra. Since I write on the guitar, I like having the steel and the texture that it adds to the ensemble. But then, Dave is a great improviser, so we just got so much from this one voice that it’s brilliant.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 8 January 2024 20:44 (three months ago) link
Nice. Is the full interview out there?
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Monday, 8 January 2024 21:16 (three months ago) link
Some of it. Here's the whole unedited thing. This was from ... 2001?
Interview with Brian Blade
Before he even turned 30, drummer Brian Blade had already built up a resume that would put most musicians to shame. He worked as the drummer of choice for such pop artists as Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Seal, as well as jazz players Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell, and Joshua Redman. In what little spare time he had left Blade developed his Brian Blade Fellowship project, a fascinating hybrid of jazz, blues, folk, and country that released one of the most distinctive and wonderful albums this year, Perceptual. Yet the soft-spoken Blade is remarkably humble about his achievements and extremely generous, as The Onion discovered.
The Onion: You recently recorded with Wayne Shorter.
Brian Blade: Yeah. For me, man, it just kind of keeps coming up roses, Privileges, honors. Just being around these people you have such great respect for. They paved the way for you. Like Wayne: he’s so heavy, you know? Brilliant.
O: It’s also pretty appropriate, since I hear so much of (legendary Miles Davis Quintet drummer) Tony Williams playing in you.
BB: It’s such an influence that it’s almost scary at times, when I realize that it’s him playing the horn in front of me. It’s kind of daunting, but I just try to surrender to the moment. He’s so brilliant.
O: It must be scary to put it all in perspective. You know, Tony was playing with Wayne and Miles when he was about ten years younger than you are now.
BB: Yeah, I guess so. I try not to think about it so much just because, well, it’s hard not to think about it. I often do, actually. The whole idea of what hasn’t really been said. Like John Lennon said (laughs and sings) “nothing you do that can’t be done.”
O: The Fellowship is actually saying and doing a lot of things that haven’t been done.
BB: Well, I appreciate that. It came together over a period of almost a decade, actually. Unknowingly, when (piano player) Jon Cowherd and I met in New Orleans – (bassist) Christopher Thomas was also there at that time – we always talked about having a group some day. It just took this long to come to pass, but all the musicians in the band kind of came into my life and here we are, trying to do it together.
O: Why did you decide to incorporate pedal steel, which doesn’t seem a traditional jazz instrument?
BB: Oh, that was just Dave (Easley’s) sound, what he expressed through the instrument. It could have been … actually, the sympathetic sort of overtone or relationship between the horn, the string, and John’s piano, it’s like our little orchestra. Since I write on the guitar, I like having the steel and the texture that it adds to the ensemble. But then, Dave is a great improviser, so we just got so much from this one voice that it’s brilliant.
O: Since the recorded versions already sound so organic, I was wondering how things were developing live.
BB: It’s evolving and changing. We’re taking chances every night. No one is sort of tied to anything, necessarily. Of course, we respect the forms and structures, the melodic integrity of the music, but we always try to push ourselves to, even in the melodic interpretation, make that as powerful as possible, so that maybe there doesn’t need to be a solo, or maybe there doesn’t need to be the drumming here. Perhaps just that one note has the power to make people feel something.
O: How does the audience respond?
BB: It’s been great. People have been coming out. People are slowly realizing that we exist, and hopefully they’ll listen to the music and want to hear it live. Not everybody’s downloading their music, you know! (laughs) People still want to have a live experience.
O: How tough is it to tour with such a large band?
BB: Extremely tough. Of course financially, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for as long a necessary. Just because I want it to happen, and if I can sort of be my own benefactor for however long, so be it. I’ll do that. I’d like to get to the point where we are somewhat recognized by people and have an audience that we feel we’ll grow together. We’ll change along the way, and you’ll come along for the trip, and we’ll change with you. That way maybe we can start helping people who need some help, on a whole other level, not just playing live gigs. That gets kind of personal too, I guess.
O: Music is always personal, right?
BB: Well, the music is, but it’s also what you do away from the music that the music actually fuels. In fact, even more so, it’s what you do away from the music that the music fuels. You know, like charity. Sometimes it can get sort of selfish. It’s what you do, but how can you just give it and have your life be something other than that? It’s kind of a heavy weight sometimes.
O: Well, your music is very alive, and music like that always brings people together. Then after they gather other things can happen.
BB: I hope so. That’s ideal, but we’ll see, as time goes by, if we can continue to do good work.
O: With a lot of the work you’ve been getting, it does kind of show that people are listening.
BB: I think so. I’m trying to be an optimist …
O: Oh, there’s not much to be pessimistic about. You can just list the names of all the people you’ve played with.
BB: Yeah. I’m always at the crossroads, I think, for myself, which is personal, but also the strain of traveling with seven folks at times gets to be … you lose sight of the beauty in it. But when we start playing everything’s OK! It’s alright.
O: What kind of music did you listen to growing up? Your playing is all over the map.
BB: Well, I grew up in church, so gospel music I guess was kind of the first music I heard. Choral music, sacred music. I have a pretty clear memory of hearing Al Green when I was at my grandmother’s. It was kind of the first musical experience that sticks in my memory. But everything along the way that I thought was great – Earth, Wind, and Fire, Stevie Wonder, all these things. Later I got into Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Joni Mitchell, and all these recordings just made me want to buy more recordings! And New Orleans, when I moved there to go to college, was kind of emerging into such a rich musical community, just on the street there, that everything started to multiply in a good way.
O: New Orleans is eating, sleeping, and breathing jazz.
BB: Even if you’re not a music student, per se, just being in the city it all passes through you for sure.
O: So you were really familiar with Joni Mitchell before she called you up?
BB: Yeah, she’s my greatest musical influence. I felt like I owed her this debt, she had given me so much! All of a sudden I felt that I was just getting more blessings. I just hope I can serve the situation properly.
O: And she picked you personally, right?
BB: Yeah, you can’t even put it into words. It’s so fulfilling.
O: I was surprised to see you playing with Seal alongside Tony Levin and David Sancious.
BB: Yeah, it’s absolutely brilliant, man, all those people. I guess my head should be getting pretty big. But hopefully it’ll stand up. These recordings and all, beyond one night stands. Hopefully they’ll be important to people, as they are to me, and touch folks.
O: That’s definitely the case with Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. Time Out of Mind and Wrecking Ball both mean a lot to many people. How difficult is it to get past their iconic status?
BB: Of course that’s on your mind, that these are some of the most amazing voices of any time, some of the greatest songwriters of any time. You’re standing before these people and obviously your knees wobble a bit, probably. (laughs) But it’s also rewarding when you have such reverence for someone and you meet them and they’re even greater than you thought. They let you in on it and then they’re not puffed up, you know? It kind of takes away my nervousness and hesitation. I just feel that I’m here and they want me to try to do what I do. I just try and do it, man.
O: You’re a composer yourself, and your own playing is pretty musical. When you’re in a situation like that, how much freedom do you have to do what you want?
BB: It’s been absolutely carte blanche. If there’s ever a suggestion made, it’s never restrictive. It’s more conceptual. But most times, with Joni or with Wayne, it’s always this dance, you know that I mean? You figure that the other person knows their steps so that you don’t step on each other’s toes. Just have a good time.
O: Maybe that’s why the music sounds so natural.
BB: I think so. They give so much freedom so that the music can just unfold. For me, that’s the only way, I think. Of course, these are my heroes, too, so anything they say I’m going to do! (laughs) But they’ve never made me feel uncomfortable that way.
O: Both Emmylou and Dylan were produced by Daniel Lanois. He must have been pretty helpful in getting you these jobs.
BB: Oh, absolutely. He’s a great friend. He introduced me to Joni from a long distance. Music that I had been recording with him, his music, he played for her. She liked the tone of it and that’s how we started talking over the phone. Then of course, he brought me in on the sessions with Bob and Emmy. Of course, we’ve had this relationship for so long. He’s such an inspiration to me, his songwriting and what he does as a producer. Brilliant.
O: And with Bill Frisell you did those covers of the Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach collaboration.
BB: Man, I love Bill. He’s probably … you think about it, the guitar. How many guitarists could there be in the world? But, man, he’s so special. Such a voice, and I love playing with him. I definitely feel a kindred spirit in Bill. Hopefully we’ll record some of his music or even my music again some day.
O: You’ve been fortunate enough to play with a lot of your musical heroes. Who do you hope to play with that you haven’t played with yet?
BB: Neil Young. Gee whiz. I’d love to play with a Symphony, you know, New York Philharmonic or something. (laughs) It sounds strange, but I want to try to start writing in this way, as if the band wasn’t big enough already! It’s so unseen, in a way, because there are so many artists that maybe people don’t know about – Dave Berkman or Sam Yahel, that I play with so often in New York – I want to continue these things so that they grow over time. When you can make a session but then never see these people again, I’m not too fond of doing that. I’m more in for the long run. It’s been a real privilege to be able to do these things and still play with the band and tour with friends. It’s sometimes a fragile balance, because there’s not much time between these things, but that’s fine because it’s what I want to do. There’ll be time to sleep later!
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 8 January 2024 21:53 (three months ago) link
Lovely, thank you!
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Monday, 8 January 2024 22:13 (three months ago) link
that live session is beautiful, thanks for sharing
great record
― corrs unplugged, Wednesday, 10 January 2024 16:44 (three months ago) link
Took me a while to figure out what David Berkman was doing on this thread.
― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 19:53 (three months ago) link
Not sure where to put this but a big piece in the NYT today on Linda who had a stroke a long time ago and can’t speak but is somehow still making records and performing:https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/08/arts/music/linda-sharrock.html
― Naive Teen Idol, Sunday, 14 January 2024 23:27 (three months ago) link
Saw that. Interesting Mike Rubin written article on Linda
During surgery for an intestinal blockage in 2009, Sharrock suffered her stroke, and spent the following two years in and out of the hospital. In 2012 she was visited in Austria by the jazz bassist Henry Grimes. “She was sitting on the couch while he played,” Rechtern recalled, “and I heard her very softly singing into the music.”
Intrigued, Rechtern began gradually coaxing Sharrock to perform again. “She started to develop first this growl sound, this cry, because she couldn’t articulate,” he said. “Out of the blues and this typical sound, she found this explosion.”
Beginning with “No Is No” in 2014, Sharrock has released five recordings in Europe since her stroke. Her recent music is more in the spirit of the free jazz she made with Sonny than her somewhat more conventional work with Puschnig, though her vocal range is understandably not the same.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 January 2024 17:50 (three months ago) link
Thanks for posting that BB interview!
― brimstead, Monday, 15 January 2024 18:38 (three months ago) link
Could have sworn there was a thread about Sonny Sharrock and The Savages---anyway some Sonny thread where there was a query and we agreed that it was the Black Woman/WKCR line-up---however, the knowledgeable Mike Rubin, who once ran worthy printzine Motorbooty, thinks otherwise, as he says in the xpost amazing Linda update:
Released on the Vortex subsidiary of Atlantic Records, the trailblazing “Black Woman” failed to find a larger audience. A few years later, the couple put together the Savages, a working band that could play out regularly. The group included steel drums and Latin percussion and gigged at downtown venues like the Tin Palace and lofts like Studio Rivbea, said Abe Speller, the band’s drummer. The Savages recorded a soundtrack to Sedat Pakay’s 1973 short documentary “James Baldwin: From Another Place” and performed a live set in 1974 on WKCR, which are the only surviving souvenirs of their existence. Speller recalled the band holing up to rehearse before entering a studio in December 1977 to record a four-song demo tape, but the group failed to score a label deal and eventually fizzled out.
― dow, Monday, 25 March 2024 17:50 (three weeks ago) link