Ask the Ages

Ask the Ages is the final album recorded by jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock during his lifetime (though posthumous albums of earlier recorded material would follow). It was recorded with producer Bill Laswell and released in 1991; It featured Sharrock alongside saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Elvin Jones.[1][2] Sharrock died on May 25, 1994.

Ask the Ages
Studio album by
Sonny Sharrock
Released1991
GenreJazz, post-bop
Length45:18
LabelAxiom Records
ProducerBill Laswell, Sonny Sharrock
Sonny Sharrock chronology
Faith Moves
(1991)		 Ask the Ages
(1991)		 Space Ghost Coast to Coast
(1996)

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[6]
Pitchfork9.5/10[7]
Q[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[10]

In a contemporary review for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said Ask the Ages was a thrilling and essential album for fans of the guitar: "Despite the volcanic power of his playing, Sharrock's majesty is in the lyricism and warmth he finds in even the most abrasive alleyways."[4] Rolling Stone magazine said it sounded like a "classic free-blowing jazz album from the Sixties had been recorded with the clarity and punch of today's rock".[9] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" and described it as "Bill and Elvin's excellent jazz record". He singled out "Little Rock" as the highlight.[11] In the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent American critics, Ask the Ages was voted the 15th best album of 1991.[12]

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Steve Huey cited Ask the Ages as Sharrock's best work: "the most challenging jazz work he recorded as a leader, and it's the clearest expression of his roots as a jazz player, drawing heavily on [John] Coltrane's modal post-bop and concepts of freedom."[3] In the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), the record was ranked 88th on a list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums".[10]

Track listing
  1. "Promises Kept" –9:43
  2. "Who Does She Hope to Be?" –4:41
  3. "Little Rock" –7:12
  4. "As We Used to Sing" –7:45
  5. "Many Mansions" –9:31
  6. "Once Upon a Time" –6:26

(all compositions by Sonny Sharrock)

Personnel

References
  1. "Ask the Ages by Sonny Sharrock". Billboard. 103 (34): 64. Aug 24, 1991.
  2. Point, Michael (8 Aug 1991). "Sharrock breaks limits of jazz guitar". Onward. Austin American-Statesman. p. 13.
  3. Huey, Steve. Ask the Ages at AllMusic
  4. Greg Kot, "Sonny Sharrock Ask the Ages", Chicago Tribune Archived 2013-02-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. Rucker, Leland (1999). "Sonny Sharrock". In Graff, Gary (ed.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Detroit: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1578590612.
  6. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (1992). The Penguin Guide to Jazz. Penguin Books. p. 972. ISBN 0140153640.
  7. "Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
  8. Q. London: 84. May 1992.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  9. "none". Rolling Stone. New York. September 19, 1991. Reviews.
  10. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Sonny Sharrock", "Top 100 Alternative Albums". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  11. "Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide Jan. 28, 1992". www.robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
  12. "Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1991: Critics Poll". www.robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
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