bondagewound's Full Review: Ask the Ages by Sonny Sharrock
The land of free-jazz is a scary place. The boldest of men generally dare not cross the gates to that place where streams and melodies cross paths, and the beat is all in the mind. Sonny Sharrock got his boost into the world of known musicians when he joined Pharoah Sanders’ bee-bop outfit in the mid-sixties. From there he went on to become an important pioneer of free-jazz, along with more well known jazz staples like Miles Davis. Though his catalog is usually reserved for only brave souls and ardent jazz nuts, Sharrock did achieve something like cult status among jazz aficionados and late-night viewers of the Cartoon Network, where Sharrock’s music appeared on the mentally unstable show Space Ghost: Coast To Coast. The most prominent selection that appeared on the show was a section of the solo to the song As We Used To Sing. The chaotic, brittle chord work, lead heavy picking, monster distortion, and random squeaking sounds nothing traditional jazz and even now sounds as far out as when it was first recorded ten years ago. This far out sound is the mark of a man who is himself, perpetually far out. That man is Bill Laswell who co-produced the album with Sharrock. The record bears some of Laswell’s signature moves: a fondness for ambience, intense and delicate soundscapes, brutal, sonic assaults.
But it is clearly Sonny’s show here. This is clearly a jazz record too. Take the bouncy, light shuffle of Little Rock. It opens up with melody that could have been ripped right from an old Miles Davis standard. It is immediately familiar somehow. The melody starts right up high and descends jauntily. It repeats until Sonny decides to take a solo, which is indication that the whole band is going to jam. This is a familiar formula for jazz and it continues throughout the record’s six cuts. In terms of structure there is nothing incredibly new here. What will blow you away are the songs arrangements, particularly for the guitars. While they stay in relatively simple harmony, there are so many of them. Many different parts come through both ears, all in with drastically different tones. The effect is not unlike hearing a dozen whales sing at once. This sonic gumbo is most fully realized on As We Used To Sing, where the stereo effect can be so intense that when everything cuts out for the solo and only a lone guitar can be heard through a single, centered channel, you feel almost as if the fire hose spraying your face has suddenly stopped. It takes a few minutes to actually here the first note of Sonny’s solo(which has already passed of course). Here his leaden attack really shines and one begins to understand why it is called free-jazz as Sonny just plays whatever he feels like playing, be it be, an it out, up in all, through and through, rite to th’ bone, clean and silvery, free planes crossed, by, whipping, horses, in a starlight moonpie. It’s kind of like that.
The path his solos take usually goes from chaos, to lots of chaos, with a generous helping of free-form melody. These free-form melodies also make up the basis for most of the songs. Sharrock has an uncanny ear for a tune. His are not instantly sing able, but they are very catchy and pleasing to the ear. They are in fact, transcendent. Transcending is very much what this record makes me feel like doing. It prompts the question, “What the Hell is going on?” a good deal. But that’s not always unwelcome, nor is it welcome by everybody. This record is not for those who demand a strict and steady beat. Though the music is steady and correct in a classical sense, the drumming is as free-form as any of the guitar or sax solos that abound throughout. Like in the height of Many Mansions, where Sharrock, Pharoah Sanders, and drummer Elvin Jones all solo at once, with the melody coming out of both ears. Or in Once Upon a time which has a plodding, near-rythmless melody(and accompanying chord work) from sax and the many guitars of Sharrock, and variations on said melody provided with Sharrock’s stellar lead tone. This is all on top of continuing tabla drumming, which isn’t exactly in sync with the rest of the band. Here, Sharrock’s tones really stand out.
Perhaps that’s what makes him feel unique. He, unlike most jazz guitarists, is a fan of the wailing guitar solo. He understands that power of a single note pounded through a Marshall amp by a Les Paul. His solos are truly breathtaking and ironically it is them, which provide the anchor for this musical tidal wave.
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