Rabble Without A Cause, June 4: Shamek Farrah reissued
The elusive alto saxophonist Shamek Farrah only released 4 albums - we will listen to 3 of them
On Wednesday’s show, I will be playing two new reissues featuring Shamek Farrah from the Strata-East record label. Shamek Farrah (on alto sax) was the leader on the first release, “First Impressions” and was the co-leader on the second with pianist Sonelius Smith (“The World of the Children”).
I’ve called him “elusive” because after these two excellent recordings, he only recorded one other studio album and released a cassette of live performances with trumpeter Norman Person in 1991. After that, it has been radio silence.
Recorded in 1974, First Impressions has long been a difficult album to find and fetches high resale prices in the hundreds of dollars. The new reissue - also available digitally - is a welcome addition to any jazz fan’s collection. On the album, Shamek Farrah was joined by the following musicians:
Sonelius Smith: Piano
Milton Suggs: Bass
Ron Warwell: Drums
Calvert "Bo" Satter-White: Congas
Kenny Harper: Percussion
Norman Person: Trumpet
In 1977, Farrah released another album on the Strata-East label, along with Sonelius Smith – “The World of the Children”. In addition to Farrah on alto sax and Sonelius Smith on piano, the album featured Joseph Gardner on trumpet, Kiyoto Fuiwara on bass, Freddie Wren on drums and Tony Waters on percussion. This album has also just been reissued. We will hear the title track from this release.
In 1980, Shamek Farrah recorded a more conventional jazz release with RA Records, “La Dee La La”. Here’s a sample - “Waiting for Marvin”. A nice groove.
Between 1988 and 1991, Shamek Farrah and Norman Person recorded live performances and released a cassette of some of those performances in 1991, only available at their gigs.
That release was remastered and reissued in 2022. The show will end with a track from that cassette recording. Here is a video of a live performance by Farrah and Person of “Footprints”, with Sonelius Smith on piano.
And so ended the sparse recording career of Shamek Farrah - there is very little information about his subsequent years on the internet, although there are hints that he reverted to his birth name (Anthony Domacase) and became a minister.
We are fortunate to have his first two releases flawlessly remastered and reissued.
You can listen to the show live in the National Capital Region at 93.1 on the FM dial or through live streaming around the world at CKCUFM.com on Wednesday from 11 p.m. to midnight (EST). The show is also available for listening on demand.