Song:The Other East
Album:Ancient Ritual
The 1994 CD Ancient Ritual was a big comeback for 1960s avant garde alto sax player Sonny Simmons after disappearing for a couple of decades. He was born Aug. 4, 1933 in Sicily Island, LA. but grew up in Oakland, CA. He took up alto sax at age 16 and got started playing in bands led by R & B singers Lowell Fulsom & Amos Milburn. He toured with Charles Mingus in 1961 and then formed a band with flutist Prince Lasha. 1n 1965, he married trumpeter Barbara Donald and they recorded several experimental jazz LPs for ESP Records. But by the mid-70s, Simmons marriage ended and he dropped out of the music business. Supposedly he was even playing in the streets of Oakland. He rarely recorded so he wasn't able to make a complete comeback until signing with Quincy Jones' Qwest label. The excellent Ancient Ritual was the result and it features his son Zarak Simmons on drums and Charnett Moffett on bass. Even mainstream jazz fans who normally wouldn't like Simmons will enjoy this. In 1996, he got together with reed player Michael Marcus for the 1996 CD Transcendence. Marcus plays a lot of different reed instruments a la Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The two formed the group The Cosmosamatics in 2000 and have recorded several free jazz CDs for Boxholder Records. Sonny Simmons continues to tour and record today. His latest CD is a duet with pianist Bobby Few called True Wind on his own Hello World label. Sonny Simmons continues to experiment with the boundaries of jazz at age 75. When I featured Simmons a couple of years ago, there was no video footage online. I am featuring him again because now there is video footage. Here's Sonny Simmons performing in 2005.
No comments:
Post a Comment