Last Exit was an American

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 duri ...

supergroup, composed of electric guitarist

Sonny Sharrock Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. He was married to singer Linda Sharrock, with whom he recorded and performed. One of only a few prominent guitarists who participated in the fir ...

, drummer/occasional vocalist

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

, saxophonist

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus move ...

, and bass guitarist

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

. They were active from 1986 to the early 1990s, releasing primarily

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s recorded in Europe. Sharrock's death in 1994 caused the dissolution of the band, though touring had not occurred for several years before his demise. The band is unrelated to the 1970s British

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

band of the same name.

History

The band was known for its uncompromising musical ferocity, fueled by the band members' confrontational attitudes.

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the '' Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busine ...

wrote that they brought a level of "volume and violence that makes most rock bands sound tame." Their music was largely improvised; John Dugan wrote "Granted, one person's

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

is another's tuneless chaos, but Last Exit, due primarily to the skill of its individuals, only infrequently fell off the precipice into the netherworld of arty wanking ... The playing is intricate, wildly adventurous, frequently funny, and, perhaps most important, a tribute to musical democracy in action." Far louder than most jazz bands (even than most free jazz groups) Last Exit found a modest following among some more open-minded

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

fans. The band released five live albums, one of which contains guest appearances from

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

and Akira Sakata. Most of their albums were released on Enemy Records, but the band's sole studio effort, ''Iron Path'', was released on Venture, a sublabel of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

. Enhanced by Laswell's studio atmospherics, ''Iron Path'' found the band somewhat more restrained. It contains less of their blistering live sound, focusing more on studio textures and experiments. Most of Last Exit's albums have been out of print for years; however, in 2005,

Atavistic Records Atavistic Records is an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois, known for its no wave and free jazz recordings. Atavistic has released albums by Glenn Branca, Nels Cline, Lydia Lunch, Peter Brötzmann, Ken Vandermark, Pinetop Seven, Sw ...

's Unheard Music Series reissued ''

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

''. The material heard on ''Köln'' was actually recorded in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

on February 12, 1986, four days before the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

concert that was recorded for the release issued, as their self-titled debut album.

Discography

Studio album

*'' Iron Path'' (1988), reissued in 2015

Live albums

*'' Last Exit'' (1986) *'' The Noise of Trouble: Live in Tokyo'' (1986) *''

Cassette Recordings '87 ''Cassette Recordings '87'', also issued with the title ''From the Board'', is the third live album by the free jazz group Last Exit. It was released in March 1987 by Enemy Records. Reception In a review for AllMusic, John Dougan wrote: "Still ...

'' (reissued in 1995 as '' From The Board'') (1988) *''

'' (1990) *'' Headfirst into the Flames: Live in Europe'' (1993)

Compilation albums

*'' The Best of Last Exit'' (1990) *Featured on ''Live At The Knitting Factory, Vol. 4'' (1990)

References

External links

Bill Laswell discography (includes details of all Last Exit releases)Details of ''Köln'' reissue
* {{Authority control American jazz ensembles Free jazz ensembles Jazz supergroups Musical groups established in 1986 Enemy Records artists