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Music From The Spheres
''Music from the Spheres'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Simmons. It was recorded in December 1966, and was released by ESP-Disk in 1968. On the album, Simmons is joined by saxophonist Bert Wilson, trumpeter Barbara Donald, pianist Mike Cohen, bassist Juney Booth, and drummer Jim Zitro. The album was included in the 2005 compilation ''The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings''. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "Composition was the motivating factor for Simmons as a musician at the time, and despite his great talent as an improviser, it remains in the hold of his operative sustenance... here Simmons used strong modal figures to serve as both melody lines, stacking all of his players accordingly on the line, and equally as harmonic building blocks from which to continually push forward mode and interval... There aren't any weak moments here, just a very expansive hint on what was to come." The authors of ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' awarded the album 3 stars, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Simmons
Huey "Sonny" Simmons (August 4, 1933 – April 6, 2021) was an American jazz musician. Biography Simmons was born on August 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn. (Along with Vinny Golia, Simmons was among the few musicians to play the instrument in a jazz context.) At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument. Simmons played primarily in an avant-garde style, often delving into free jazz. His then-wife, Barbara Donald, played trumpet on several of his early records, including his ESP-Disk titles '' Staying on the Watch'' and ''Music from the Spheres''; Arhoolie title ''Manhattan Egos'', and Contemporary titles ''Rumasuma'' and the double album ''Burning Spirits''. Simmons also partnered with Prince Lasha on several recordings, two of which – ''The Cry!'' (1963) and ''Firebirds'' (1968) – were released by Contemporary. Personal problems derailed both his music career a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during this period believed that the bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz that had been played before them was too limiting. They became preoccupied with creating something new and exploring new directions. The term "free jazz" has often been combined with or substituted for the term "avant-garde jazz". Europeans tend to favor the term "free improvisation". Others have used "modern jazz", "creative music", and "art music". The ambiguity of free jazz presents problems of definition. Although it is usually played by small groups or individuals, free jazz big bands have existed. Although musicians and critics claim it is innovative and forward-looking, it draws on early styles of jazz and has been described as an attempt to return to primitive, often re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ESP-Disk
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP became the most important exponent of what is commonly referred to as free jazz. Early releases included albums by Paul Bley, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. ESP also released recordings by uncommercial underground rock acts including the Fugs, The Godz and Pearls Before Swine. The label's motto is "The artists alone decide what you will hear." Bernard Stollman faced allegations of not paying royalties to the artists that were signed to ESP-Disk. Tom Rapp of the band Pearls Before Swine claimed that: "We never got any money from ESP. Never, not even like a hundred dollars or something. My real sense is that he tollmanwas abducted by aliens, and when he was probed it erased his memory of where all the money was". Peter Stampfel of the band Holy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staying On The Watch
''Staying on the Watch'' is the debut album by jazz musician Sonny Simmons. It was released as ESP-1030 on the ESP-Disk label in 1966. The cover photograph is a mirror image displaying Simmons playing left handed against the NYC skyline.Sonny Simmons sessionography accessed December 28, 2012 The album was included in the 2005 compilation ''The Complete ESP-Disk Recordings''. Reception , writing in '''' considered the album "a masterpiece of new jazz". ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manhattan Egos
''Manhattan Egos'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Simmons. It was recorded at Sierra Sound Studios in Berkeley, California on February 10, 1969, and was released on LP later that year by Arhoolie Records. On the album, Simmons is joined by trumpeter Barbara Donald, bassist and percussionist Juma Sultan, drummer Paul Smith, and conga player Voodoo Bembe. In 2000, Arhoolie reissued the album on CD with four additional tracks recorded live on November 6, 1970, at the Newman Center in Berkeley, California, with Simmons in a quartet that features violinist Michael White, bassist Kenny Jenkins, and drummer Eddie Marshall. Reception Regarding the studio tracks, AllMusic's Thom Jurek wrote: "Simmons and Donald... create a such a dominant frontline there is little else for the rhythm section to do but find a way to create rhythm and harmony from the interplay of the horns." He described the band on the live tracks as "stellar," and stated that audience members were "present to history i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bert Wilson (musician)
Bert Wilson (October 15, 1939 – June 6, 2013) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. Early life Wilson was born in Evansville, Indiana. His father and grandfather were both vaudeville showmen, and as a child, he did routines in traveling shows with his grandfather, but after contracting polio at age four, he suffered extended paralysis and was unable to move his arms for years. Once he recovered, he learned piano, and picked up clarinet at age thirteen; he didn't begin playing saxophone until age 18, after he had relocated from Chicago to Los Angeles. Career In California, Wilson played as a leader in groups which included George Morrow and Albert Stinson, and played a show with John Coltrane in 1966. Later in 1966 he moved to New York City, where he played with James Zitro and Sonny Simmons; he returned to California in 1969, moving to Berkeley, where he worked with Barbara Donald, Donald Garrett, Eddie Marshall, and Smiley Winters. Later in the 1970s he mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Donald
Barbara Kay Donald (September 2, 1942 – March 23, 2013) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. Life and career She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Donald began playing trumpet aged eight in Minnesota, and her family relocated to California when she was a teenager. Beginning in the early 1960s, she began touring with both rhythm and blues and jazz ensembles throughout the US, and played with John Coltrane, Stanley Cowell, Richard Davis (bassist), Richard Davis, Dexter Gordon, Roland Kirk, Prince Lasha, and Sonny Simmons. In 1964, Donald and Simmons married; one of their children, Zarak Simmons, became a percussionist. Starting in 1978, she began recording with her own ensembles, while living in Washington (state), Washington, for the label Cadence Jazz. Her sidemen at one time included her son Zarak, Gary Peacock, Carter Jefferson and Rahn Burton. After experiencing a series of strokes rendering her unable to actively play live, Donald lived in an assis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Penguin Guide To Jazz
''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled by Richard Cook and Brian Morton, two chroniclers of jazz resident in the United Kingdom. History The first edition was published in Britain by Penguin Books in 1992. Every subsequent two years, through 2010, a new edition was published with updated entries. The eighth and ninth editions, published in 2006 and 2008, respectively, each included 2,000 new CD listings. The title took on different forms over the lifetime of the work, as audio technology changed. The seventh edition was known as ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD'' while subsequent editions were titled ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings''. The earliest edition had the title ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP and Cassette''. Richard Cook died in 2007, prior to the comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1968 Albums
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * January 10 – John Gorton is sworn in as 19th Prime Minister of Australia, taking over from John McEwen after being elected leader of the Liberal Party the previous day, following the disappearance of Harold Holt. Gorton becomes the only Senator to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the House of Representatives through the 1968 Higgins by-election in Holt's vacant seat. * January 15 – The 1968 Belice earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000. * January 21 ** Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8. ** 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash: A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs. * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ESP-Disk Albums
ESP-Disk is a New York-based record company and record label, label founded in 1963 by lawyer Bernard Stollman. History Though it originally existed to release Esperanto-based Esperanto music, music, beginning with its second release (Albert Ayler's ''Spiritual Unity''), ESP became the most important exponent of what is commonly referred to as free jazz. Early releases included albums by Paul Bley, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. ESP also released recordings by uncommercial underground rock acts including the Fugs, The Godz (New York band), The Godz and Pearls Before Swine (band), Pearls Before Swine. The label's motto is "The artists alone decide what you will hear." Bernard Stollman faced allegations of not paying royalties to the artists that were signed to ESP-Disk. Tom Rapp of the band Pearls Before Swine (band), Pearls Before Swine claimed that: "We never got any money from ESP. Never, not even like a hundred dollars or something. My real sense is that he [Stollman] was abducted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
