Seize the Rainbow

Seize the Rainbow

Seize the Rainbow

ASIN: B0000042LB

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Sharrock is one of the few jazzers to make it into Chuck Eddy's book-length celebration of heavy metal, Stairway to Hell, but Seize the Rainbow is more than just free noise with two drummers. Sharrock's oft-cited wish was to equal John Coltrane's power with his two hands and an electric guitar, and performances such as "Dick Dogs" surely smash into the middle of that target. Several Caribbean-flavored tunes add spice to the mix, and alt-rockers and jazzbos searching for the eternal skronk should seize this. --Rickey Wright

Seize the Rainbow,Sonny Sharrock,Enemy
Seize the Rainbow
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • ...sonny on fire...
  • Unsung guitar hero.
  • Crank up the volume
  • one of the most impressive electric guitar recordings ever!
 Seize the Rainbow
Sonny Sharrock
Manufacturer: Enemy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Experimental RockExperimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0000042LB
Release Date: 1992-05-21

Tracks:

  1. Dick Dogs
  2. My Song
  3. Fourteen
  4. J. D. Schaa
  5. Seize The Rainbow
  6. The Past Adventures Of Zydeco Honeycup
  7. Sheraserhead's Hightop Sneakers

Amazon.com

Sharrock is one of the few jazzers to make it into Chuck Eddy's book-length celebration of heavy metal, Stairway to Hell, but Seize the Rainbow is more than just free noise with two drummers. Sharrock's oft-cited wish was to equal John Coltrane's power with his two hands and an electric guitar, and performances such as "Dick Dogs" surely smash into the middle of that target. Several Caribbean-flavored tunes add spice to the mix, and alt-rockers and jazzbos searching for the eternal skronk should seize this. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars ...sonny on fire..........2005-12-11

Probably the best Sonny record out there (along with 'Ask the Ages,') ...the guitar work is just ridic from beginning to end...BE CAREFULL!!...if you are unfamiliar with Sonny's work, his music can easily spoil you for any artist for a long time, it's almost a religios experience...Play very very loud...

5 out of 5 stars Unsung guitar hero........2005-08-18

When people speak of guitar heroes, the same names always come up-- Hendrix, Clapton, Page, maybe if you're a bit more adventerous you'll hear McLaughlin, Fripp, Frisell, Howe, etc. But there are some names that don't come up often enough-- one of them is Sonny Sharrock, and as evidence, I present "Seize the Rainbow".

While not my favorite album by Sharrock, it is an extraordinary record, and it certainly shows Sharrock's technique as well as any other album. With a supportive backing band of Melvin Gibbs on bass and Abe Speller and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums (with producer Bill Laswell adding bass to one number), the album slides easily through genres, allowing Sharrock to explode in every direction imaginable.

Certianly opener "Dick Dogs" sets the stage, a pretty straightforwawrd rock piece, Sharrock cuts loose and explodes, totally hanging off the edge by about three minutes into the piece. Quite frankly, if you're not convinced by this point, you'll never be.

The remainder of the album finds Sharrock feeling meditative ("My Song", featuring some of his most passionate playing), melodramatic ("J.D. Schaa", heavily indebted to the free jazz tradition) and goofy ("The Past Adventures of Zydeco Honeycup"), but one thing that is consistent throughout is the high level of musicianship-- Sharrock of course is incomporable, but Gibbs, while mixed a bit quieter than I'd like, is all over the place, hodling down basslines and rhythm effortlessly, often liberating the drummers to pursue a more Rashied Ali-ish approach to timekeeping, with an implied rhythm rather than a directly stated one.

For fans of jazz, rock, or just fine guitar playing, this record is superb, and a bit more accessible than Sharrock's masterpiece ("Ask the Ages"). Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars Crank up the volume.......2003-04-06

Seize the Rainbow (1989), Highlife (1990), and Ask the Ages (1991), the last three studio recordings that guitarist Sonny Sharrock made before his untimely death in 1994 could be regarded as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. "Seize the Rainbow" is a guitarists record -- it is the most rock oriented, and indeed heavy metal listeners would feel right at home on the opening track, "Dick Dogs." This is a guitar record with a muscular rhythm section of Melvin Gibbs on electric bass and Abe Speller and/or Pheeroan Aklaff on drums. I can still remember Sharrock with a crazed look on his face moistening his guitar picks in his mouth. Play this one loud -- its the way Sonny would have wanted it.

"Highlife" was recorded with Sharrock's touring band, and while never entirely checking his free jazz credentials at the door, the inclusion of keyboardist Dave Snider and an emphasis on song forms and the inclusion of recognizable tunes (the traditional "All My Trials" and British prog-rocker Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting"?!) makes this a more broadly accessible disk - i.e. the one your wife doesn't tell you to turn down.

"Ask the Ages" reunites Sharrock with fellow Coltrane acolytes Pharoah Sanders and Elvin Jones, and with Charnett Moffett on acoustic bass, they make the unusual line-up electric guitar/sax/drums/acoustic bass work. The compositions are more developed than the guitar rave-ups of "Seize the Rainbow" but more harmonically open-ended than the more pop-oriented material of "Highlife." The most firmly rooted in the jazz tradition of the three, "Ask the Ages" is a worthy synthesis and a sad though ultimately fitting close to Sharrock's career.

5 out of 5 stars one of the most impressive electric guitar recordings ever!.......1999-05-21

Sonny Sharrock ranks alongside Jimi Hendrix as one of the most influential electric guitarists of the past 30 years. Long known since the 1960's for his contributions to groups led by other jazz masters such as Don Cherry and Pharoah Saunders, Sonny really came into his own on recordings made for the Enemy label in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Seize the Rainbow is perhaps his hardest edged demonstration of what he could do with the electric guitar. Very loud and very electric and VERY musical. Both hard rock and electric jazz fans should find this recording a revelation.
Seize the Rainbow
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Unsung guitar hero.
 Seize the Rainbow
Sonny Sharrock
Manufacturer: Enemy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free JazzAvant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Experimental RockExperimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008F1JE
Release Date: 1994-11-07

Tracks:

  1. Dick Dogs
  2. My Song
  3. Fourteen
  4. J.D. Schaa
  5. Seize the Rainbow
  6. Past Adventures of Zydeco Honey Cup
  7. Sheraserhead's Hightop Sneakers

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Unsung guitar hero........2005-08-18

When people speak of guitar heroes, the same names always come up-- Hendrix, Clapton, Page, maybe if you're a bit more adventerous you'll hear McLaughlin, Fripp, Frisell, Howe, etc. But there are some names that don't come up often enough-- one of them is Sonny Sharrock, and as evidence, I present "Seize the Rainbow".

While not my favorite album by Sharrock, it is an extraordinary record, and it certainly shows Sharrock's technique as well as any other album. With a supportive backing band of Melvin Gibbs on bass and Abe Speller and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums (with producer Bill Laswell adding bass to one number), the album slides easily through genres, allowing Sharrock to explode in every direction imaginable.

Certianly opener "Dick Dogs" sets the stage, a pretty straightforwawrd rock piece, Sharrock cuts loose and explodes, totally hanging off the edge by about three minutes into the piece. Quite frankly, if you're not convinced by this point, you'll never be.

The remainder of the album finds Sharrock feeling meditative ("My Song", featuring some of his most passionate playing), melodramatic ("J.D. Schaa", heavily indebted to the free jazz tradition) and goofy ("The Past Adventures of Zydeco Honeycup"), but one thing that is consistent throughout is the high level of musicianship-- Sharrock of course is incomporable, but Gibbs, while mixed a bit quieter than I'd like, is all over the place, hodling down basslines and rhythm effortlessly, often liberating the drummers to pursue a more Rashied Ali-ish approach to timekeeping, with an implied rhythm rather than a directly stated one.

For fans of jazz, rock, or just fine guitar playing, this record is superb, and a bit more accessible than Sharrock's masterpiece ("Ask the Ages"). Highly recommended.

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