Black Woman (album)

Last updated
Black Woman
Black Woman (album).jpg
Studio album by
Sonny Sharrock
ReleasedDecember 1969
RecordedMay 1969
StudioApostolic Recording Studios and A&R Recording Studio, New York City
Genre
Length31:20
Label Vortex
2014
Producer Herbie Mann
Sonny Sharrock chronology
Black Woman
(1969)		 Monkey-Pockie-Boo
(1970)

Black Woman is the debut album by American jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, recorded in 1969 and released on the Vortex label. [3] [4] In 2000, it was reissued by the Collectables label, paired with the Wayne Henderson album People Get Ready. [5]

Contents

The album was produced by flutist Herbie Mann, with whom Sharrock recorded nine albums. When asked about his fondness for Sharrock's playing, Mann commented: "Lots of people say they can't understand how Sonny Sharrock can be in my band. The only reason for them saying that is: possibly they think that when you're a bandleader you expect all your children to be brought up in your exact image. Which just shows that people and critics don't know anything about individuals." [6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]

In a review for AllMusic, Wilson McCloy awarded the album 3½ stars, and stated: "Black Woman marks an early opportunity for Sharrock's own voice to be heard... This album is not for everyone, even Sonny Sharrock fans may find the music beyond their wildest expectations." [1]

In The Quietus , Stewart Smith called the album "a stone cold classic" and "an extraordinary piece of energy music that goes way beyond jazz," and praised Linda Sharrock's singing: "She sounds not unlike Albert Ayler, speaking in tongues and summoning the Holy Ghost". [7]

In Trouser Press , Matthew Sumera called the album "a vital item in Sharrock’s catalogue," and wrote: "Sonny and crew whip up a hell of a maelstrom. Sharrock's most obviously avant-garde statement, the album also contains a kind of theme song in 'Blind Willy,' here played solo... What is striking about this version... ostensibly a tribute to Blind Willie Johnson but perhaps also to Blind Willie McTell, is Sharrock's audible breathing throughout the piece, pacing his phrases as a reed player would. The effect is intimate (and mildly unsettling) but entirely part of Sharrock's conception and approach to his instrument." [8]

In 2020, Marcus J. Moore of The New York Times included the album's title track on his 2020 list of "15 Essential Black Liberation Jazz Tracks," writing that it "was meant to convey the paralyzing stress felt by black women every day in this country. For much of the song, Sharrock's wife... emits primal screams, as the intensity of Sonny's rapid guitar chords grows more riotous. The track might be jarring, but it effectively captures the pain of being treated as subhuman." [9]

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Sharrock, except as indicated.

  1. "Black Woman" - 5:16
  2. "Peanut" - 9:16
  3. "Bialero" (Traditional) - 4:52
  4. "Blind Willy" - 3:22
  5. "Portrait of Linda in Three Colors, All Black" - 8:34

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Jurek, Thom. Black Woman – Review at AllMusic . Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ "10 Essential Spiritual Jazz Albums". Treble Zine. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  3. ↑ Atlantic Records Catalog: East-West, Embryo, Vortex series accessed July 13, 2015
  4. ↑ Sonny Sharrock catalog accessed July 13, 2015
  5. ↑ Rickert, David (November 1, 2000). "Sonny Sharrock/The Freedom Sounds Featuring Wayne Henderson: Black Woman/People Get Ready". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  6. ↑ Shteamer, Hank (June 25, 2021). "How Avant-Guitar Godfather Sonny Sharrock Reconciled Terror and Beauty". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  7. ↑ Smith, Stewart (November 8, 2017). "The Strange World Of... Linda Sharrock". The Quietus. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Sumera, Matthew. "Sonny Sharrock". Trouser Press. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ Moore, Marcus J. (June 17, 2020). "15 Essential Black Liberation Jazz Tracks". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
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