Ask the Ages cover

Ask the Ages

Released

Guitarist Sonny Sharrock had made a few impressive albums in the late ’60s, but largely fallen off the scene until the mid-’80s, when bassist and producer Bill Laswell brought him back as a member of jazz-noise-rock supergroup Last Exit and helped him reestablish himself as a leader. His final album was this free jazz summit conference with Pharoah Sanders on saxes, Charnett Moffett on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The pieces have soaring, anthemic melodies, and both Sharrock (multiply overdubbed) and Sanders deliver what fire music fans will be seeking, but the ballad “Who Does She Hope To Be?” is tender and loving.

Phil Freeman

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