Jazz Articles about Shamek Farrah

Shamek Farrah: First Impressions

by Chris May
March 29, 2018

Launched by trumpeter Charles Tolliver and pianist Stanley Cowell in New York in 1971, the Strata-East label became synonymous with the black-consciousness informed spiritual-jazz movement which was perhaps the crowning glory of African American music during the 1970s. By the close of the decade, the label had released just shy of 60 albums, an impressive catalogue for a company founded on a shoestring and run for love rather than profit by two musicians, neither of whom had any previous business ...

Shamek Farrah and Folks: La Dee La La

by Rex Butters
March 23, 2005

Reed player Shamek Farrah ranks with the great unrecorded. Two releases on Strata East in the '70s, some for RA, a release in '95. The reissue of this 1978 recording for RA by Quadraphonic Sound Module reintroduces a roomful of rarely heard musicians, along with a young Malachi Thompson. Roger Howell's congas and Lenny King's percussion give the music a tropical feel, while Saeed Amik's quick luscious piano harmonies blossom all over the music.

The disc opens with ...