Sonny Sharrock 1988 Knitting Factory

[@eddibble]

I could listen to Sonny all day every day

[@Exileonbackroad]

The original Knitting Factory on Houston was magical, so many great concerts in such a short span it's still hard to believe. You could go any night of the week and potentially have your life changed.

[@TheMonkeyJugglers]

This man was born and raised in the same town as me. We have a street named after him. I am also a musician and he is a huge inspiration to me:)

[@samaldini]

Something similar happens to me. I'm born and raised in the city of one of the most underrated talented guitarists ever. His name is Arismar do Espírito Santo if you want to check out. People don't know what playing guitar is like, they can't even remember Hendrix, Those guys will be ignored for a while.

[@jasmynsharrock]

I remember being at this concert......I miss the old Knitting Factory.

[@nevillesivan1]

Its beautiful music.

[@derglatzman]

youtube rules man it's such a privilege to get to dig gigs like this

[@jlhyz2]

This is incredible! There should be more bands who can just go off and jam like this. To me this is the perfect bridge between Coltrane and Hendrix! Thanks for posting.

[@samaldini]

Yea, you get what playing electric jazz guitar is like, but there's only a few people like this

[@deane1968]

Somewher between Jimi Hendrix~Louis Armstrong~John Coltrane~and The Beatles....you have Sonny Sharrock...the greatest and most underrated musician of the 20th century

[@mykeadaptiv5828]

I'm 40 and went my entire life without knowing who he was. What an incredible player and a mind-bendingly awesome polyrhythmic combo.

[@lex3729]

"A Prophet is not without fame, save on his own planet" ~archy

[@DougGroothuis]

Mr. Sharrock found his own voice on guitar.He wanted to play saxophone, but had a lung condition that prevented it. So, he sought he sound, style, and structure on electric guitar. I think his work with "Last Exit" may have been his best. And we lost him to early: 1991. Thank you, Sonny.

[@RogerMFox-vw5cm]

...SHARROCK LIVES!!!...4~Ever... Much Love To The Family, Fox...

[@blackrocknutt]

three guys listening deeply to each other, grooving hard, and playing some truly DIFFERENT and polyrhythmic stuff. where i come from we used to call that free jazz...

[@texicwaste]

THIS IS THE GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND OF ALL TIME

[@arthurschopenhauer9805]

What are you smoking?

[@maotse-tung4438]

@@arthurschopenhauer9805 nah hes right

[@rillloudmother]

that's because it ain't rock and roll

[@murattaner7384]

I first heard mr sharrock in Istanbul in 1969 with herbie mann and a rockish band called air. he comped the whole concert on his big hollowbody and then took a solo with lots of feedback and blew everybody away.... my life changed after that solo. r.i.p. mr sharrock

[@crustafari]

Check out his album Ask The Ages … masterpiece!

[@rillloudmother]

word up

[@stealthyBLK]

never was a big sonny sharrock fan his playin jus never moved me much but !!! melvin gibbs and pheeroan aklaf on the other hand i love!!! and they fuckin rocked this performance....

[@100proofboogie]

Allright! This is the tune"Fourteen" from the Seize The Rainbow album.I wanted them to do it when I saw Sonny in Chicago back around 1990 ,but he wouldnt do it. Now Im getting my redemption! Great post.

[@CarolineMartin]

I WAS AT THIS SHOW!

[@joakoPRIMUS]

Wow Sonny... that was beautiful

[@deluge71]

Interesting how he plays with his right hand up on the neck, rather than over the pick-ups. Also, Melvin Gibbs' performance here is amazing, especially toward the end!

[@H-OhmStudios]

Chris Alfano playing up there makes for a much more bass-heavy tone, really fat sounding.

[@rafaelsg7964]

same as Zappa

[@samaldini]

The bassist and the drummer are showing exactly HOW YOU MUST PLAY when you have a guitarist as your front man. You shouldn't ignore your talents, you shouldn't play some standard shit, you should match the talented guitar man, that's how's supposed to be.

[@uncleremus64]

@@rafaelsg7964 Yes, especially on the 88 tour.

[@davidsatkowski9080]

I wish I had a chance to see Sharrock live. What a band!

[@MetaphysicalMusician]

I Missed him he opened for Sun Ra. Iwas late saw about 5mins..kicking myself

[@freeavantgardevideos]

I agree with everything except with the fact that I think that his best work is his solo work, as a leader . I respect Last Exit but I think that it is aggressive and fast almost everytime. His work as a leader explores more the dinamics, tempos, textures, etc ...

[@UnitedEffect]

Saw/heard Sonny Sharrock in Montreal (93-94?). One of the BEST shows I've ever attended. Thanks for posting.

[@funkeemon]

This is beautiful music!!! It's from the hearts.

[@GHakkila]

Wow, that is effin' fun to watch. Thanks for posting.

[@apocangelus]

beautiful. thanks.

[@philliptaylor8861]

you cant feel energy thru youtube..so some.people wont get it..saw the tail end of one.of his shows..he opened . dimensions. ....deep

[@livingcurrency1294]

one of the greatest

[@silberpete]

thank you!

[@MAXIMUMCOLLABO]

thank u

[@tarantism]

wow how good is this

[@martesmuerto]

Holy shit! this is amazing!

[@freeavantgardevideos]

@funkeemon Perfect. Many people didn´t realize it yet, no matter their ages or level of ' knowledge '.

[@troyjones2358]

Amazing.

[@88keysallday]

life changing

[@slowjammerukdog]

I saw this band at the same venue maybe a year later. They were just MONSTROUS! There was a hippie-ish guy with them playing pretty synth chords - totally incongruous, but it worked. Anyone know what was the story with him? Thanks for posting; you made me very happy.

[@RichardWilliams-pu1ky]

April 21 1988 The Knitting Factory

[@Agrippah]

sublime

[@Mistercharming]

Wow! Jasmyn commented!

[@vanthamusic6402]

If anyone is on the lookout for something like this, it brings to mind Swollen Brain, an improv collaboration between Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos and Eric Gardner of Dot Hacker. Nick goes a bit more mental with pedals though.

[@funkeemon]

Beatles and Neil Young or whoever, they have their own expression.If it's from the heart, it's great.

[@jlhyz2]

Just because its not in the traditional way of jamming where the bass player and the drummer play one thing the whole time doesn't mean it's less valid. Jimi hendrix and Led Zeppelin used to experiment with this kind of stuff too. They are listening to eachother, just listen again and hear how the bass player and Sonny react to what each other is playing.

[@simonpoole1011]

As good as it gets. Just the highest truth. Bill Frizell, John Mclaughlin, Jeff Beck, Holdsworth even, you can name em all,,, Doesn't matter.

[@lousehr]

This shit is killin!

[@moesgard]

Second drummer is Pheeroan Aklaf. Wow, a shame they didn't play lie this on the album (seize the rainbow)

[@freeavantgardevideos]

I agree 100 %.

[@georgecartwright5748]

great is too short a word.

[@markovchaney1950]

It's sad to see what people who have no ears say about genius like this. I used to see Sonny whenever I could in the '80s, before I moved to Michigan in 1992. I may well have been at this show. I saw Melvin Gibbs play with several other brilliant combos, including Power Tools (Sonny Sharrock and Ronald Shannon Jackson). I'm sure the folks who hate this wouldn't have gotten that, either. Their loss, completely. But why make your deafness so public and judgmental? Admit you're ignorant.

[@robertcapa1233]

figassa

[@timeemotionstudies]

this is awesome shit !

[@thygordianknot]

Wow!

[@theo9952]

@kitboga2 You are very wrong. You don't need to throw insults at other worthy musicians to show your appreciation for this great guitar improviser.

[@thisismyfunnyname]

@radishrose What do you think the greatest electric guitarist of all time could learn from the second greatest?

[@RelativePitch]

If they don't hear beauty somewhere they shouldn't judge it negatively. Avant-garde music is unconventional. It requires one to cultivate a taste for it like Scotch. Most people like conventional music.

[@StradaEntraCasa]

I hate it when people state their opinion as if it is fact. I never hear people say "this isn't my thing" I always hear "they're not listening to each other" or "this is shit". So arrogant.

[@jussilliman]

good

[@markovchaney1950]

No doubt. But there's no reason to betray their limitations by bad-mouthing Sonny Sharrock.

[@slothrop11]

whats the name of this piece?

[@tommaytommay]

this + doses wouldve set me up

[@thisismyfunnyname]

@zeegaucheboy While I don't care for them, I wasn't saying anything about the Beatles.

[@Rawblah]

@kitboga2 thanks for irrelevant opinion! :D

[@thisismyfunnyname]

@deane1968 I wouldn't put the Beatles in that pantheon.

[@feminale]

oh i thought he said "This is THE shit."...really?

[@freeavantgardevideos]

Great joke!

[@freeavantgardevideos]

@dtoonzip Not, not

[@dtoonzip]

@freeavantgardevideos Not!

[@freeavantgardevideos]

Yes. This shit is not for you.

[@tricyclesinskirts]

@radishrose LOL

[@radishrose]

he should take lessons from neil young

[@zeegaucheboy]

@thisismyfunnyname The Beatles were to melody what Sharrock was to modality. Nowhere near as good as technical musicians, but arguably better as songwriters. The only person in this 'pantheon' that had a bigger effect on their musical genre was Louis Armstrong. No one played trumpet like Louis before Louis.

[@sevargre]

Judgmental? People who have no ears? Maybe they just hear beauty elsewhere.

[@jennytroth413]

fool.

[@addictedtobass42]

sorry, but this aint a jam . this is three guys playing completley different stuff, and not listening to each other .

[@addictedtobass42]

defo...... bit too out here for me.... its still shit tho