Prince Lasha & Sonny Simmons - Firebirds

1993 CD reissue.

In the turbulent 1960s, when reedmen/composers Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy were reordering the very notion of improvisation, Prince Lasha (b. 1929) and Sonny Simmons (b. 1933) forged an intermittent but fruitful alliance. Inspired by, but far less well known than, the tandem of Coltrane and Dolphy, Lasha (who was a Fort Worth, Texas schoolmate of Coleman) and Simmons engaged in furious dialogues, deployed “exotic” instruments (flute, English horn), and moved powerfully from free-bop to sheer, non-linear space. Joined by vibist Bobby Hutcherson and bassist Buster Williams, two of the most gifted young artists on their respective instruments, plus the strikingly original Charles Moffett (another Fort Worth friend and cohort of Lasha and Coleman) on drums, Firebirds soars and sears.