Sonny Sharrock

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Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (* 27. August 1940 in Ossining , New York ; † 25. May 1994 ) was an American jazz - guitarist .

Live and act

Sharrock began his musical career in 1953 as a singer in a Doo Wop group before switching to guitar in 1960. In 1965 he went to New York, where he initially worked with Byard Lancaster and Babatunde Olatunji . In 1966 he worked on the recording of the album Tauhid by Pharoah Sanders , with which he stayed until 1968. He then performed with Don Cherry and his Eternal Rhythm at the Berlin Jazz Festival and became a member of Herbie Mann's group, with whom he was involved in his hit album Memphis Underground and toured internationally several times. In 1969 his first album was released as a band leader. Miles Davis involved him in the recording of A Tribute to Jack Johnson . After leaving H. Mann's group in 1972 and touring (through the USA and Europe) with his then wife Linda, Sharrock was initially hardly active in the scene. During this time he worked as a taxi driver and carer for mentally handicapped children.

In 1986 he became a member of the jazz noise group Last Exit , initiated by Bill Laswell , with whom he went on a world tour and recorded several albums. In 1991, his perhaps most important album, Ask the Ages , appeared, on which he can be heard with Pharoah Sanders and Elvin Jones . The soundtrack to the cartoon talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast , which he completed shortly before his sudden death in 1994, also became famous.

Sharrock is one of the first guitarists who implemented free jazz on their instrument. Unlike Attila Zoller , he also played non-tonally and consistently used feedback and distortion. It was only towards the end of his life that he received the recognition he deserved from critics and audiences. His debut album Black Woman was included in The Wire's 1998 wirelist "100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)" .

Discography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sharrock, Sonny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sharrock, Warren Harding
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Ossining , New York, USA
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1994
Place of death Ossining , New York, USA