SONNY SHARROCK - Guitar

I am no fan of Bill Laswell. His NYC hipster bullshit more often than not contributes about as much to "art" as John Wayne Gacy's portraits of himself dressed as Pogo the Clown. And who gave the OK for him to desecrate some of Miles Davis' most sublime creations on that blasphemous remix album? That seems to me to be a crime punishable by castration. However, all ranting aside, I am eternally beholden to him for not only being astute enough to recognize the genius of Sonny Sharrock, but for actually coaxing some of his finest work out of him-- be it in Last Exit, the "Ask the Ages" LP and most importantly, his compassionate production work on this album.

The concept of "Guitar" is very simple: set up a basic thematic framework-- usually a stark chord progression or a sequence of unembellished riffs, then, through the miracle of overdubbing, allow Sharrock to duet with himself. The result is the most unhinged, unbridled pure Sonny Sharrock opus. His ode to "Blind Willie" Johnson opens the disc with an almost religious fervor-- Sharrock soaring into upper registers with the kind of zeal that was often muted earlier in his career. "Broken Toys" is positively heartbreaking-- a hymn to Childhood Lost with Sonny wringing every drop of emotion from his axe, with an arrangement most resembling a lullaby. For untainted, rapid-fire licks that'll make you question if the man was indeed human, let me direct you to "Black Bottom," his demented permutation of the blues. Beginning as a seemingly benign, albeit gorgeous, psalm, Thee Big Double-S ratchets up the intensity level with every blink-inducing run, until he has reached a peak of Sonic Ecstasy that few (if any) mere mortals have ever immortalized on tape.

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