Sonny's Time Now

Last updated
Sonny's Time Now
Sonny's Time Now cover.jpg
Studio album by
Sunny Murray
Released1965
RecordedNovember 17, 1965
StudioNew York City
Genre Free jazz
Length36:07
Label Jihad
Sunny Murray chronology
Sonny's Time Now
(1965)		 Sunny Murray
(1966)

Sonny's Time Now is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his first as a leader. It was recorded in New York City on November 17, 1965 and first released on LeRoi Jones' Jihad label. It was later reissued on the DIW and Skokiaan labels.

Contents

The album features Albert Ayler and Don Cherry, with whom Murray had recorded and toured during the previous year, along with two bassists, Henry Grimes and Lewis Worrell. (Sonny's Time Now is one of the few recordings on which Ayler appears as a guest artist.) The track titled "Black Art" features Jones reading his poem of the same name, backed by the musicians. ("Black Art" is one of Baraka's most controversial poems, and it "became a central icon of the Black Arts Movement, and at the same time, it also became a favorite target of those critics who regarded the black aesthetic as an anti-aesthetic." [1] ) According to Jeff Schwartz, [2] bassist, Ayler biographer, and author of "Free Jazz: A Research and Information Guide", [3] Jones financed the recording, with Murray's choice of performers. [4]

The Jihad label released only three recordings: Black & Beautiful, which featured Jones reading poetry backed by Yusef Iman, his wife, and a Doo-wop group; A Black Mass , a play written by Jones about a mad scientist, with music by Sun Ra's Myth Science Arkestra; and Sonny's Time Now. [5]

When asked if he had been composing since leaving Cecil Taylor's band in 1964, Murray recalled: "After I left Cecil I didn't have much choice, because nobody was giving me a job. So I did a small job. Cecil came to it, and I played all of Max Roach's pieces. They were correct, and then I wrote some music, and I asked my children did they like it. They said, 'Yeah, Dad.' So I found out I could write. My first record, Sonny's Time Now, they're all my pieces: 'Virtue,' 'The Lie,' 'Justice.' It's a strange record because Albert and Don [Cherry] are playing like this [makes screeching sound]." [6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

Writing for AllMusic, Brandon Burke stated: "Were it not for Murray's name on the cover, Sonny's Time Now could probably be misinterpreted as an Albert Ayler record... this is a much more fractured affair than most Ayler records of the time... one is presented with some exceptionally free music that doesn't appear, on the surface anyway, to be based on any predetermined structures... This is some very serious music by some very serious cats." [7]

In his book The Freedom Principle, John Litweiler wrote: "Trumpet and tenor improvise in opposition to the grim Murray tides, and the two rumbling basses in 'Virtue', and an intense LeRoi Jones poem... answered by the flutter of drums and the tempoless, free-form quintet. Ayler does not dominate this recording... and he opens up in the 'Justice' collective improvisations, responding to Cherry's longer lines with snapping and snarling." [8]

Thurston Moore included Sonny's Time Now in his "Top Ten From The Free Jazz Underground" list, first published in 1995 in the second issue of the defunct Grand Royal magazine. [9] Moore wrote: "This recording is super-lo-fi and is awesome... This music is very Ayler but more fractured and odd." [10]

In the album liner notes, Jones wrote: "At last Sonny Murray, the mythical red-black man from Oklahoma, has an album of his own. Where he is given his long overdue." [11] Regarding Murray's outlook, Jones stated: "He is so purely and absolutely committed to making music, to thinking about, living within his music. 'Freedom,' Sonny has always said. 'Free,' about this music, about his playing. 'I'm trying to play the music, like I feel it. Free'... Sonny makes it about energy and strength. These are keys to his method and style. Freedom, energy, and strength. 'To play strong, forever,' is the holy man's wish. It is Sonny Murray's wish." [12] Concerning the album, Jones wrote: "Listen to the Cherry-Ayler duets... They make you slide around chortling. Don, instinctively placing his bullet-like metallic against wild Albert, getting in, getting in, describing the other space. When Albert might make you think there is no more space. But it's freedom. You can go any where, you can." [13] Grimes and Worrell "make a droning getup sound, behind and on top of everybody, that 'collects' the music and drives it at the same time." [13] He concludes: "This is deep music... It goes all through you, makes the circle of excitement and adventure, from earth to heaven, man in between going both ways, elliptical and perfect as anything. Get to this music, if you can. Get to it, and it will, in turn, get to you." [13]

Track listing

All musical compositions by Sunny Murray. The poem "Black Art" is by LeRoi Jones.

  1. "Virtue" - 11:07
  2. "Justice" - 12:43 (originally released in two parts)
  3. "Black Art" - 06:33
  4. "The Lie" - 05:44 (not included in original release)

Personnel

Related Research Articles

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Ayler</span> American jazz saxophonist (1936-1970)

Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Murray</span> American jazz drummer (1936–2017)

James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.

The New York Art Quartet was a free jazz ensemble, originally made up of saxophonist John Tchicai, trombonist Roswell Rudd, drummer Milford Graves and bassist Lewis Worrell, that came into existence in 1964 in New York City. Worrell was later replaced by various other bassists, including Reggie Workman, Finn Von Eyben, Harold Dodson, Eddie Gómez, Steve Swallow, and Buell Neidlinger. All About Jazz reviewer Clifford Allen wrote that the group "cut some of the most powerful music in the free jazz underground".

<i>Spiritual Unity</i> 1965 studio album by the Albert Ayler Trio

Spiritual Unity is a studio album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler. It was recorded on July 10, 1964 in New York City, and features bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray. It was the first album recorded for Bernard Stollman's ESP-Disk label, and it brought Ayler to international attention as it was so "shockingly different". At the same time, it transformed ESP-DISK into "a major source for avant-garde jazz". A 5-star review in AllMusic called it a "landmark recording that's essential to any basic understanding of free jazz", "the album that pushed Albert Ayler to the forefront of jazz's avant-garde... really the first available document of Ayler's music that matched him with a group of truly sympathetic musicians", and stated that "the results are a magnificently pure distillation of his aesthetic."

<i>New York Eye and Ear Control</i> 1965 studio album by Albert Ayler

New York Eye and Ear Control is an album of group improvisations recorded in July 1964 by an augmented version of Albert Ayler's group to provide the soundtrack for Michael Snow's film of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiri Baraka</span> African-American writer (1934–2014)

Amiri Baraka, previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at several universities, including the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University. He received the PEN/Beyond Margins Award in 2008 for Tales of the Out and the Gone. Baraka's plays, poetry, and essays have been described by scholars as constituting defining texts for African-American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Doyle</span> American musician

Arthur Doyle was an American jazz saxophonist, bass clarinettist, flutist, and vocalist who was best known for playing what he called "free jazz soul music". Writer Phil Freeman described him as having "one of the fiercest, most unfettered saxophone styles in all of jazz", "a player so explosive that it seems like microphones and recording equipment can barely contain him".

The Cricket, subtitled "Black Music in Evolution", was a magazine created in 1968 by Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal and A. B. Spellman. Baraka has said: "Larry Neal, AB and I realized the historical influence of music on African /Afro American Culture. I saw the magazine as a necessary dispenser of this influence as part of a continuum. And that attention to the culture was a way of drawing attention to the people’s needs and struggle." The headquarters was in New York City.

<i>Spirits</i> (Albert Ayler album) 1966 studio album by Albert Ayler

Spirits is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City in 1964 and first released on the Danish Debut label then later released on the Freedom label as Witches & Devils.

<i>Ghosts</i> (Albert Ayler album) 1965 studio album by Albert Ayler Quartet

Ghosts is the second album release by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler's quartet featuring Don Cherry, Gary Peacock and Sonny Murray recorded in Copenhagen in 1964 and first released on the Dutch Debut label then later released on the Freedom label as Vibrations.

<i>Prophecy</i> (Albert Ayler album) 1975 live album by Albert Ayler

Prophecy is a live album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded in New York City on June 14, 1964 and first released in 1975 on the ESP-Disk label.

<i>Lörrach / Paris 1966</i> 1982 live album by Albert Ayler

Lörrach / Paris 1966 is a live album by saxophonist and composer Albert Ayler, recorded in Europe in 1966 and first released on the Swiss hat MUSICS label in 1982. The album was remastered and rereleased on CD in 2002 with corrected track titles. The music was also reissued on a 2021 Hat Hut release titled Albert Ayler Quintet 1966: Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm. Revisited.

<i>The Hilversum Session</i> 1980 studio album by Albert Ayler

The Hilversum Session is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at a radio studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands on November 9, 1964 and first released in 1980 on the now-defunct Dutch Osmosis label. It was later re-released on DIW, Coppens, ESP, and Modern Silence. In 2016, the tracks that appeared on The Hilversum Session were re-released by hatOLOGY on the European Radio Studio Recordings 1964.

Lewis Worrell is a jazz double bassist best known for his work during the 1960s with Albert Ayler, the New York Art Quartet, Roswell Rudd, and Archie Shepp.

<i>The New Wave in Jazz</i> 1965 live album by Various

The New Wave in Jazz is a live album recorded on March 28, 1965 at the Village Gate in New York City. It features groups led by major avant-garde jazz artists performing at a concert for the benefit of The Black Arts Repertory Theater/School founded by Amiri Baraka, then known as LeRoi Jones. The album was released on LP in 1965 on the Impulse! label, and was reissued on CD in 1994 with a different track listing.

<i>The Copenhagen Tapes</i> 2002 live album with studio recordings by Albert Ayler

The Copenhagen Tapes is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler consisting of six tracks recorded live at the Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 3, 1964 plus three tracks recorded in a studio by Danish Radio in Copenhagen on September 10 of the same year. The album was released in 2002 by Ayler Records. The live tracks were also included on disc two of the 2004 compilation album Holy Ghost released by Revenant Records, and were also reissued in 2017 on Copenhagen Live 1964, released by hatOLOGY. In 2016, the three studio tracks were included in the album European Radio Studio Recordings 1964 released by hatOLOGY.

<i>Something Different!!!!!</i> (Albert Ayler album) Jazz album recorded in 1962

Something Different!!!!! is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded on October 25, 1962 at the Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, and originally released in very small quantities on the Swedish Bird Notes label run by saxophonist Bengt "Frippe" Nordström. Ayler plays tenor saxophone and is accompanied by Swedish musicians Torbjörn Hultcrantz (bass) and Sune Spångberg (drums).

<i>Stockholm, Berlin 1966</i> 2011 live album by Albert Ayler

Stockholm, Berlin 1966 is a live album by saxophonist and composer Albert Ayler, recorded in Europe in 1966 and released on the Swiss hatOLOGY label in 2011. The Berlin tracks were previously released on The Berlin Concerts - 1966, Albert Ayler Live In Europe 1964 - 1966, and the compilation Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70) (Revenant). All of the tracks were reissued on a 2021 Hat Hut release titled Albert Ayler Quintet 1966: Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm. Revisited.

<i>New York Art Quartet</i> (album) 1965 studio album by New York Art Quartet

New York Art Quartet is the debut album by the group of the same name. It was recorded on November 26, 1964, at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, and was released in 1965 by ESP-Disk as the fourth item in their catalog, following Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity and Pharoah Sanders's Pharoah's First. It features John Tchicai on alto saxophone, Roswell Rudd on trombone, Lewis Worrell on bass, and Milford Graves on percussion. In addition, LeRoi Jones recites his controversial poem "Black Dada Nihilismus" on one track.

References

  1. ↑ Smith, David L. (Autumn 1986). "Amiri Baraka and the Black Arts of Black Art". Boundary 2. 15 (1/2): 238. doi:10.2307/303432. JSTOR   303432.
  2. ↑ "Featured Author: Jeff Schwartz". Routledge.com. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  3. ↑ Schwartz, Jeff (2018). Free Jazz: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge.
  4. ↑ Schwartz, Jeff. "Albert Ayler: His Life and Music: Chapter 3: 1965-66". Archived from the original on 2010-12-06. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ Baraka, Amiri (2009). Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music. University of California Press. p. 257.
  6. ↑ Weiss, Jason (2012). Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk, the Most Outrageous Record Label in America. Wesleyan University Press. p. 257.
  7. 1 2 Burke, Brandon. "Sunny Murray: Sunny's Time Now". AllMusic. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  8. ↑ Litweiler, John (1984). The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958. William Morrow. p. 163.
  9. ↑ Moore, Thurston. "Top Ten Free Jazz Underground". Art and Popular Culture. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  10. ↑ Moore, Thurston. "Thurston Moore's "Top Ten From The Free Jazz Underground"". rateyourmusic. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  11. ↑ Jones, LeRoi (2010). Black Music. Akashi Classics. p. 170.
  12. ↑ Jones, LeRoi (2010). Black Music. Akashi Classics. pp. 170–171.
  13. 1 2 3 Jones, LeRoi (2010). Black Music. Akashi Classics. p. 172.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.