Ask the Ages

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|5|5}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2Score = {{Rating|4|4}}

| rev3 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide

| rev3Score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite book|last=Rucker|first=Leland|editor-first=Gary|editor-last=Graff|editor-link=Gary Graff|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Detroit|year=1999|isbn=1578590612|edition=2nd|chapter=Sonny Sharrock|title-link=MusicHound}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5Score = 9.5/10{{Cite web|title=Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sonny-sharrock-ask-the-ages/|access-date=2021-07-19|website=Pitchfork|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625185405/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sonny-sharrock-ask-the-ages/|url-status=live}}

| rev4 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz

| rev4Score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite book|last1=Cook|first1=Richard|authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist)|last2=Morton|first2=Brian|authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer)|year=1992|title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz|page=972|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=0140153640|title-link=The Penguin Guide to Jazz}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite journal|journal=Q|location=London|page=84|date=May 1992|title=none}}

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev8Score = 10/10

}}

In a contemporary review for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said Ask the Ages was a thrilling and essential album for fans of the guitar: "Despite the volcanic power of his playing, Sharrock's majesty is in the lyricism and warmth he finds in even the most abrasive alleyways."Greg Kot, "Sonny Sharrock Ask the Ages", Chicago Tribune [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/09/05/sonny-sharrockask-the-ages-axiom-starstarstarstarno-guitar/] . Rolling Stone magazine said it sounded like a "classic free-blowing jazz album from the Sixties had been recorded with the clarity and punch of today's rock".{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=September 19, 1991|title=none|at=Reviews}} In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" and described it as "Bill and Elvin's excellent jazz record". He singled out "Little Rock" as the highlight.{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv192-92.php|title=Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide Jan. 28, 1992|website=www.robertchristgau.com|access-date=2015-08-18|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172318/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv192-92.php|url-status=live}} In The Village Voice{{'}}s annual Pazz & Jop poll of American music critics, Ask the Ages was voted the 15th best album of 1991.{{Cite web|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres91.php|title=Robert Christgau: Pazz & Jop 1991: Critics Poll|website=www.robertchristgau.com|access-date=2015-08-18|archive-date=2006-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507034515/http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres91.php|url-status=live}}

In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Steve Huey cited Ask the Ages as Sharrock's best work: "the most challenging jazz work he recorded as a leader, and it's the clearest expression of his roots as a jazz player, drawing heavily on [John] Coltrane's modal post-bop and concepts of freedom."{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r104670|first=Steve|last=Huey}} In the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), the record was ranked 88th on a list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums".{{cite book|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|year=1995|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|isbn=0-679-75574-8|chapter=Sonny Sharrock", "Top 100 Alternative Albums|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide}}

All tracks are written by Sonny Sharrock.

1. "Promises Kept" – 9:43
2. "Who Does She Hope to Be?" – 4:41
3. "Little Rock" – 7:12
4. "As We Used to Sing" – 7:45
5. "Many Mansions" – 9:31
6. "Once Upon a Time" – 6:26

• Sonny Sharrock — electric guitar
• Pharoah Sanders — tenor and soprano saxophones
• Elvin Jones — drums
• Charnett Moffett — double bass
• Bill Laswell — producer

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17594 Sonny Sharrock's Ask the Ages] — article by Trevor MacLaren from [http://www.allaboutjazz.com All About Jazz].

{{Sonny Sharrock}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Sonny Sharrock albums

Category:1991 albums

Category:Axiom (record label) albums

Category:Albums produced by Bill Laswell