Sonny Sharrock

Sonny Sharrock was one of the first American free-jazz guitarists. He played in the '60s and early '70s with Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Roy Ayers, Herbie Mann and many other greats. He also recorded three solo LPs at the beginning of the '70s with his wife Linda Sharrock on vocals, before discreetly disappearing from the musical scene. The couple divorced in 1978.

Sharrock came out of retirement in the very early '80s when he met Bill Laswell, who brought him into the Material fold, and later the free-rock-jazz-noise Last Exit quartet (with Ronald Shannon Jackson and Peter Brötzmann) between 1986 and 1990. The '80s and '90s saw him performing and recording in a myriad of free improvisation and noise ensembles, blurring the boundaries between jazz, metal and punk.

Sharrock released many recordings as both solo artist and bandleader between 1986's Guitar and his death in 1994, including the highly acclaimed Ask The Ages on Laswell’s Axiom Records, with Pharoah Sanders again; he also played as a guest on many other records (including Material, Machine Gun, Ginger Baker, Nicky Skopelitis, F. Robert Lloyd, etc.).

Born : August 27, 1940 in Ossining, New York.
Died : May 25, 1994 in Ossining, New York.