Highlife (Sonny Sharrock album)
Highlife is a studio album by American jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock. It was recorded at Jersey City's Quantum Sound Studio in October 1990 and released later that same year by Enemy Records.[1][2]
| Highlife | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Sonny Sharrock Band | ||||
| Released | 1990 | |||
| Recorded | October 1990 | |||
| Studio | Quantum Sound Studio in Jersey City | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion, pop, rock | |||
| Length | 44:18 | |||
| Label | Enemy | |||
| Producer | Sonny Sharrock, Francis Manzella | |||
| Sonny Sharrock chronology | ||||
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Critical reception
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave Highlife an "A" and called it a "gorgeously straightforward guitar record" from someone whose musical principles reflect "a genius son" of Jimmy Smith and Jimi Hendrix. He said Sharrock expresses his themes in a dignified manner, with variation in timbre more so than in harmony, while committing to both cacophony and melody in his exploration of jazz and rock traditions.[3] Christgau named it the sixth best album of the year in his list for the Pazz & Jop critics poll.[4] In The Philadelphia Inquirer, jazz critic Francis Davis hailed Highlife as "instrumental-pop at its most energetic and uncontrived".[5] She felt the "vivacious" record was more "pop" than "jazz" but nonetheless a "persuasive argument for the advantages of maturity" in which Sharrock embraced "simplicity and directness, qualities you'd never have expected from his twenty-five years ago".[6]
In The Penguin Guide to Jazz (1992), Richard Cook and Brian Morton gave Highlife three out of four stars and found it more polished than Sharrock's previous records but with "bass-heavy" jazz fusion exercises that showed potential for more in the future.[7] AllMusic's Steve Huey was less enthusiastic, giving it three out of five stars and deeming it "something of a transitional album, catching Sharrock in the midst of figuring out where to take his music next, yet that searching quality makes it a compelling listen for fans".[8]
Track listing
All music is composed by Sonny Sharrock, except "All My Trials" and "Highlife" which are Traditional arranged by Sharrock, "Venus/Upper Egypt" by Pharoah Sanders, "Giant Steps" by John Coltrane, and "Kate", which was written by Sharrock and inspired by "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush.[8].
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "No More Tears" | 5:38 |
| 2. | "All My Trials" | 8:01 |
| 3. | "Chumpy" | 5:40 |
| 4. | "Highlife" | 4:14 |
| 5. | "Kate (Variations on a Theme by Kate Bush)" | 5:51 |
| 6. | "Venus/Upper Egypt" | 8:38 |
| 7. | "Your Eyes" | 5:38 |
| 8. | "Giant Steps" | 0:38 |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]
- Charles Baldwin – bass guitar
- Lance Carter, Abe Speller – drums
- Francis Manzella – recording, mixing and co-producer
- Michael Knuth – executive producer
- Sonny Sharrock – guitar, production
- Dave Snider – Korg M1, Korg Wavestation
References
- Sonny Sharrock catalog accessed July 13, 2015
- Chronological Recordings of Sonny Sharrock accessed July 13, 2015
- Christgau, Robert (June 4, 1991). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- Pazz & Jop 1991: Dean's List
- Davis, Francis (March 27, 1992). "Jazz Meets Metal, And Sparks Fly". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
- Davis, Francis (September 3, 1991). "This Is Not Jazz: The Guitar Buzz and Howl of Sonny Sharrock". The Village Voice. pp. 67‐68.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1992). The Penguin Guide to Jazz. Penguin Books. p. 972. ISBN 0140153640.
- Huey, Steve. "Sonny Sharrock: Highlife > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- Highlife (booklet). Sonny Sharrock. Brooklyn, New York: Enemy Records. 1990.CS1 maint: others (link)