Mark O's Year of the Guitar - Part 2: Sonny Sharrock

My fellow IMC member - in fact, the man who brought me into the Now's the Time fold - Mark O has deemed 2008 The Year of the Guitar, the Chinese Zodiac be damned. He's committed to devoting every one of his shows this year to a different guitarist, and he kicked things off last month with a look at the work of Grant Green. And last night was part two. The target? The Space Ghost himself, Sonny Sharrock.

Sharrock's guitar-as-horn aesthetic makes for compelling listening, whether on the overdubbed solo work of Guitar, or the more full-throated (-necked?) sound of the celestial alignment that is Ask the Ages. We heard stuff from both last night, as well as work by Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis and Marzette Watts, but Ask... enjoyed the honour of being the evening's featured album (meaning Mark played the whole damn thing). If you were busy, distracted, or otherwise engaged, I'm happy to announce that you didn't miss your chance to hear this singular example of the radio broadcaster's art, because now, at long last, the Improvised Music Collective is extremely pleased to introduce downloadable versions of your favourite jazz/improvised music show:

Now's the Time, February 21, 2008: Mark O's Year of the Guitar - Part 2: Sonny Sharrock

Watch this space weekly for a link to the Now's the Time download, or check our Myspace blog.