| Sounds of Synanon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1, 1962 | |||
| Studio | Pacific Jazz Studios, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 42:11 | |||
| Label | Pacific Jazz | |||
| Producer | Richard Bock | |||
| Joe Pass chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| DownBeat |   [1] |
| Allmusic | [2] |
Sounds of Synanon is the debut album by jazz guitarist Joe Pass. The album was recorded with patients at the Synanon Drug Center where Pass was being treated for addiction to heroin. [2]
Jazz critic Leonard Feather reviewed the album for the July 5, 1962 issue of DownBeat magazine and said, [3] "This album does more than merely present a group of good musicians, it unveils a star. In Joe Pass, Synanon and Pacific Jazz have discovered a major jazz talent..." [1]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "C.E.D." | Joe Pass, Arnold Ross | 3:14 |
| 2. | "Aaron's Song" | Dave Allen | 4:30 |
| 3. | "Stay Loose" | Arnold Ross | 4:22 |
| 4. | "Projections" | Greg Dykes | 5:10 |
| 5. | "Hang Tough" | Pass | 6:30 |
| 6. | "Self-Image" | Dave Allen | 9:06 |
| 7. | "Last Call for Coffee" | Arnold Ross | 4:43 |
| 8. | "Blues" | 4:36 |
Joe Pass was an American jazz guitarist. Pass worked often with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald.
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a distinctive sound.
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Synanon was initially a drug rehabilitation program founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich Sr., (1913–1997) in 1958 in Santa Monica, California. By the early 1960s, Synanon became an alternative community centered on group truth-telling sessions that came to be known as the "Synanon Game", a form of attack therapy. Synanon ultimately became the Church of Synanon in the 1970s. Synanon disbanded in 1991 due to members being convicted of criminal activities and retroactive loss of its tax-free status with the Internal Revenue Service due to financial misdeeds, destruction of evidence, and terrorism. It has been called one of the "most dangerous and violent cults America had ever seen".
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