No Material cover
Released

In 1987, while guitarist Sonny Sharrock and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann were playing in bassist Bill Laswell’s jazz-metal quartet Last Exit, they embarked on a brief side trip to join drummer Ginger Baker (whose album Horses And Trees Laswell had just produced) in this quintet, which also featured guitarist Nicky Skopelitis and bassist Jan Kazda. They performed two concerts at the end of March; this album originally contained just one of them (March 28), but the next night’s show was added to the 2013 reissue. Those coming in expecting Last Exit-ish fire and fury will come away mildly disappointed. The grooves are gentler, with Skopelitis’s hypnotically repetitive lines and Kazda’s deep, dubby bass honoring Baker’s interest in African rhythm and extended exploration. Brötzmann blows free, but never attempts to drown out the others — as always, he’s listening more carefully than he’s given credit for — and Sharrock returns to his roots in R&B, while keeping his strings sharp for when the right moment strikes.

Phil Freeman

Suggestions
Real Deal cover

Real Deal

David Murray, Milford Graves
Orange Fish Tears cover

Orange Fish Tears

Baikida Carroll
Live in Vilnius cover

Live in Vilnius

David S. Ware Quartet
Touchin' on Trane cover

Touchin' on Trane

Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, William Parker
Live in Seattle cover

Live in Seattle

John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders
Urban Bushmen cover

Urban Bushmen

Art Ensemble of Chicago
Good Days cover

Good Days

Chicago Underground Quartet