A Sonny Simmons Curiosity

[JSngry]

LTB turned on the tv this morning, and it was on the Music Choice "Sounds Of The Season" channel for some reason. Probably El Carlitos' nocturnal doings. Anyway, since there's no "seasonal" music for right now other than the sound of sweat and desparation, they seem to be playing acid-jazz/nu-jazz/whateverthefucktheycallit. The music ranges from dreadfully boring to fairly stimulating, but what stopped me in my tracks was when heard a rather distinctive alto tone. I looked at the screen & saw the name Sonny Simmons. WHOA! And WTF?

The album was called The Best Of The Rhythm Section and the cut was called "Tachyon". Nothing earth-shattering, but still, Sonny Simmons! A little research turns up this bit of info:

http://julien.palomo.club.fr/disco3.htm

THE RHYTHM SECTION

Various Artists : Home Cookin'. Featurde track The Rhythm Section, Tachyon Various Artists : Best Of Cookin'.

• Various Artists, Home Cookin’, Ubiquity URLP 001 (LP, USA), 1994 *

• Various Artists, Home Cookin’, Ubiquity URCD 001 (CD, USA), 1994

• Various Artists, Best Of Cookin’, Ubiquity URCD 063 (4LP, USA), 2000 **

• Various Artists, Best Of Cookin’, Ubiquity URCD 063 (2CD, USA), 2000

1993

Live at Swing Shift, San Francisco, USA ***

1. Tachyon (Dan Prothero) [6:49]

The Rhythm Section, a/k/a Dan Prothero : arranger, mixes, voice

Sonny Simmons : alto saxophone, voice

producer : Dan Prothero

notes :

* : This compilation features other tracks by DJ Greyboy (feat. Karl Denson), 10BassT, Mock Quintet (feat. Khewan Onaje), Spirit Level (feat. Kim Edwards), Sharpshooters, The Rhythm Section (feat. John Payne).

** : This compilation features other tracks by DJ Greyboy (feat. Karl Denson), The Rhythm Section (feat. Jacko Peake), Slide 5, Vibes Aliven, Ping Pong (feat. Kelly Huff), Galactic, New Legends, 10NBassT, Sharpshooters, Spirit Level, Greyboy Allstars, Jacko Peake, Mock Quintet (feat. Danny Cao), Sweet Potato, Skyjuice, DJ Swingsett.

*** : Dan Prothero’s own testimony on this meeting : « Friends of mine ran into Sonny when he was playing sax on the sidewalk in San Francisco, and a few months later they suggested I record a track with him. At that time I was putting together tracks with loops and samples, and having people blow solos over them. That's what I ended up doing with Sonny, in the dingy basement studio of a friend of mine... Not much else to report, as Sonny kind of disappeared off the radar for a while after that. At some point later on, his career seemed to get a revival but I didn’t hear much about him gigging locally. » (Learn more on Dan Prothero at http://www.fogworld.com/dpro.html .)

No real reason for posting this other than to provided a bit of discographical trivia for Sonny Simmons fans. No need to rush out and find this unless you're a true completist.

[Noj]

The entire "Cookin'" series is available on emusic.

[HW!]

Thanks for picking it anyway! (the corect link is now www.sonnysimmons.org/disco.htm, leads you to the up-to-date discography).

This track is the best exemple of what Mr Simmons has to give - much more than he is famous for. He could have flirted with fusion (check Bert Wilson' "Palo Colorado Suite") and his aftermath - so, "Tachyon" - and again in the early 00's had a funky quartet. There's a full tape of Sonny Simmons goes rap somewhere...

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry to hear that.

[HW!]

Sorry to hear that.

... Wait until you hear it!

[clifford_thornton]

I've heard Simmons rapping, and it's not too great.

His LPs are all a treasure, however...