Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons: "The Cry!"

This is a fine album and a debut date for flutist Prince Lasha and alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons. Both of these men from different states met when they both moved to Oakland, Calif. Both were influenced by the music and philosophy of Ornette Coleman. They formed a mutual musical alliance and wrote all of their repertoire together. They performed as a unit around small clubs in Oakland and the Bay area and ventured down the coast to Los Angeles where they were heard by head honcho of Contemporary Records Lester Koenig. They recorded "The Cry!" in November 1962. Lasha and Simmons have two bassists. One is Mark Procter and the other is a young Gary Peacock. Peacock is the dominant bassist and Proctor takes a secondary roll. The drummer is Gene Stone who does all the right stuff for this music. The primary soloist here is Sonny Simmons and is the third lesser known voice of the alto saxophone that we're featuring this month. Sonny is the dominant voice here. The tunes exhibit a variety of moods and the whole album is a rather startling debut of two very creative underground players with new things to say. Check out "The Cry!" tonight.