Black Woman (album)

Black Woman is the debut album by American jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock, recorded in 1969 and released on the Vortex label.[2][3] In 2000, it was reissued by the Collectables label, paired with the Wayne Henderson album People Get Ready.[4]

Black Woman
Studio album by
Sonny Sharrock
Released1970
RecordedMay 1969
Apostolic Recording Studios and A&R Recording Studio, New York City
GenreFree jazz[1]
Length31:20
LabelVortex
2014
ProducerHerbie Mann
Sonny Sharrock chronology
Black Woman
(1970)		 Monkey-Pockie-Boo
(1970)

The album was produced by Herbie Mann, with whom Sharrock recorded nine albums. When asked about his fondness for Sharrock's playing, Mann commented: "Lots of people say they can't understand how Sonny Sharrock can be in my band. The only reason for them saying that is: possibly they think that when you're a bandleader you expect all your children to be brought up in your exact image. Which just shows that people and critics don't know anything about individuals."[5]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

In a review for AllMusic, Wilson McCloy awarded the album 3½ stars, and stated: "Black Woman marks an early opportunity for Sharrock's own voice to be heard... This album is not for everyone, even Sonny Sharrock fans may find the music beyond their wildest expectations."[1]

Marcus J. Moore, writing for The New York Times, included the album on his list of "15 Essential Black Liberation Jazz Tracks," writing that the title track "was meant to convey the paralyzing stress felt by black women every day in this country. For much of the song, Sharrock's wife... emits primal screams, as the intensity of Sonny's rapid guitar chords grows more riotous. The track might be jarring, but it effectively captures the pain of being treated as subhuman."[6]

In an article for The Quietus, Stewart Smith called the album "a stone cold classic" and "an extraordinary piece of energy music that goes way beyond jazz," and praised Linda Sharrock's singing: "She sounds not unlike Albert Ayler, speaking in tongues and summoning the Holy Ghost".[7]

In an article for Trouser Press, Matthew Sumera called the album "a vital item in Sharrock’s catalogue," and wrote: "Sonny and crew whip up a hell of a maelstrom. Sharrock's most obviously avant-garde statement, the album also contains a kind of theme song in 'Blind Willy,' here played solo... What is striking about this version... ostensibly a tribute to Blind Willie Johnson but perhaps also to Blind Willie McTell, is Sharrock's audible breathing throughout the piece, pacing his phrases as a reed player would. The effect is intimate (and mildly unsettling) but entirely part of Sharrock's conception and approach to his instrument."[8]

Track listing

All compositions by Sonny Sharrock except as indicated

  1. "Black Woman" - 5:16
  2. "Peanut" - 9:16
  3. "Bialero" (Traditional) - 4:52
  4. "Blind Willy" - 3:22
  5. "Portrait of Linda in Three Colors, All Black" - 8:34

Personnel

References
  1. Jurek, Thom. Black Woman – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  2. Atlantic Records Catalog: East-West, Embryo, Vortex series accessed July 13, 2015
  3. Sonny Sharrock catalog accessed July 13, 2015
  4. Rickert, David (November 1, 2000). "Sonny Sharrock/The Freedom Sounds Featuring Wayne Henderson: Black Woman/People Get Ready". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  5. Shteamer, Hank (June 25, 2021). "How Avant-Guitar Godfather Sonny Sharrock Reconciled Terror and Beauty". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  6. Moore, Marcus J. (June 17, 2020). "15 Essential Black Liberation Jazz Tracks". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  7. Smith, Stewart (November 8, 2017). "The Strange World Of... Linda Sharrock". The Quietus. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  8. Sumera, Matthew. "Sonny Sharrock". Trouser Press. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
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