Sonny Sharrock

One of the most dynamic guitarists in avant-garde jazz, the former doo-wop singer Sonny Sharrock was inspired to switch to jazz guitar at the height of the 1960s free-jazz movement. Sharrock released a string of solo albums after several stints playing for heavyweights like Miles Davis and Pharaoh Sanders. With a style that vacillated between delicate, traditional jazz and ferocious death-metal riffage (particularly in his work with avant supergroup Last Exit), Sharrock became a fixture of the Knitting Factory jazz scene centered on the New York City club of the same name. He passed away in 1994.