Red Warrior

Red Warrior is an album by the American jazz drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, released in 1990.[2][3] It was rereleased by Mango Records the following year.[4]

Red Warrior
Studio album by
Ronald Shannon Jackson
Released1990
GenreJazz, free jazz
LabelAxiom Records[1]
ProducerBill Laswell
Ronald Shannon Jackson chronology
Taboo
(1990)		 Red Warrior
(1990)		 Raven Roc
(1992)

Production

The album was produced by Bill Laswell.[5] Jackson opted to record the album without horns, instead utilizing a three-guitar roster.[6] Red Warrior, inspired by a tour that Jackson undertook in Africa, was recorded in one day.[7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Chicago Sun-Times[9]
Robert Christgau(2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention)[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
Los Angeles Times[12]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

The Washington Post thought that the guitarists "all fall into one hard-rock or funk cliché after another ... For all the volcanic energy happening at the bottom of this music, the top is so uninspired that it dooms the album."[5] The Los Angeles Times called the album "a flawed experiment," writing that Jackson "failed to solve metal's rhythmic stolidity."[12] The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "the songs cut deeper than any Jackson has delivered since the days of his harmolodic fusion band, the Decoding Society."[9] The St. Petersburg Times relegated it to "the guitar-mag crowd."[4]

AllMusic wrote that "the mix is expanded with plenty of jazz improvisation, weaves of effects-riddled guitar lines, complex head statements, and, of course, the drummer's pan-stylistic rhythmic support."[8] Billboard called Red Warrior an "extremely uncompromising fusion" album.[14] The New York Times, in its Jackson obituary, deemed it "a fiery guitar-oriented session."[15]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Red Warrior"4:43
2."Ashes"4:40
3."Gate to Heaven"5:14
4."In Every Face"6:06
5."Elders"13:33
6."What's Not Said"4:15

Personnel

References
  1. "Sounding Off". Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company. April 19, 1992 – via Google Books.
  2. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 353.
  3. Giddins, Gary (November 15, 2004). "Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century". Oxford University Press – via Google Books.
  4. Green, Tony (15 Mar 1991). "LOSING BATTLE FOR `RED WARRIOR'". St. Petersburg Times. Weekend. p. 19.
  5. "RECORDINGS". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  6. Shimamoto, Ken (July 5, 2012). "Jazz Great Ronald Shannon Jackson Returns to DFW". Dallas Observer.
  7. Flans, Robyn (July 1991). "Update: Ronald Shannon Jackson". Modern Drummer. 15 (7): 8.
  8. "Red Warrior - Ronald Shannon Jackson | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  9. Sachs, Lloyd (January 10, 1991). "Ronald Shannon Jackson, 'Red Warrior' (Axiom)". Chicago Sun-Times. Features. p. 56.
  10. "Robert Christgau: CG: Ronald Shannon Jackson". www.robertchristgau.com.
  11. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 540.
  12. Snowden, Don (7 July 1991). "Charting Pop's Format Orphans". Los Angeles Times. Calendar. p. 54.
  13. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (8th ed.). Penguin. 2006. p. 684.
  14. Macnie, Jim (July 4, 1992). "Jazz Postcards From the Edge". Billboard. 104 (27): J18.
  15. Smith, Steve (October 23, 2013). "Ronald Shannon Jackson, Composer and Avant-Garde Drummer, Dies at 73" – via NYTimes.com.
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