Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Sonic Liberation Front: Meets Sunny Murray

Sonic Liberation Front: Meets Sunny Murray

By Mark Corroto
April 26, 2011
View read count

Sonic Liberation Front: Meets Sunny Murray

Sonic Liberation Front—the inheritors of both

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra and the

Art Ensemble Of Chicago

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Ensemble Of Chicago's traditions—teams up with jazz legend, drummer

" data-original-title="" title="">Sunny Murray, to create both a studio and live recording. The music continues SLF's dedicated effort to mine the percussive traditions of Afro-Cuban, Yoruba/West Africa, and American-fostered free jazz.

The percussion-heavy band's previous release, Change Over Time (High Two, 2006), included some electronic flavors. Here, the sound is all acoustic, with free jazz drummer Murray providing the inspiration for the album's eight tracks. Best-known for his time in both

Cecil Taylor

piano
1929 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Cecil Taylor and

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler's band, Murray adds his distinctive playing to a setup that's already tailor-made for him.

With saxophonists Terry Lawson and Adam Jenkins, and cornetist Todd Margasak playing the studio date (trumpeter Kimbal Brown replaces him on the live session), the music proceeds with wandering notes, as if the purpose here is the pulse and consciousness-raising properties of the vibrations emitted. The band features various bata drums (the itotele and iya), congas, and other percussive tools, extending the free expression of the horns.

Perhaps we could call them a West African/Cuban/AACM jam band that's the child of Albert Ayler and Sun Ra.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Init; Knowledge Of The Sun; Meaningless Kisses; Cosa de Grupo; Ochun Libre; Some Other Times; Nomingo; Under The Wave Of Kanagawa.

Personnel

Sonic Liberation Front

band / ensemble / orchestra

Sunny Murray: drums; Kevin Diehl: drums, percussion, bata; Chuck Joseph: iya, conga, bata; Shawn Hennessy: bata; Mat Engle: bass; Okomfo Adwoa Tacheampong: bata; Nichola Rivera: itotele, conga; Joey Toledo: okonkolo, percussion; Terry Lawson: tenor saxophone; Adam Jenkins: alto saxophone; Todd Margasak: cornet; Kimbal Brown: trumpet; Fahir Kendall: bass.

Album information

Title: Meets Sunny Murray | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: High Two Recordings

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Flashpoint: NDR Jazz Workshop - Apri...
< Previous

Ascension
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.