Shamek Farrah is an

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

player, who was featured on many

Strata-East Records Strata-East Records is an American record company and label specialising in jazz founded in 1971 by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell with the release of their first recording ''Music Inc.'' The label released over 50 albums in the 1970s. Ma ...

albums, and released two albums on the label as leader.

allmusic Biography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

/ref> Reviewing ''First Impressions'',

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said: "This is the standard spiritually intense new jazz one learns to expect from the label, soaked in some Eastern influences but always with its ear to the street.". allmusic ((( First Impressions > Overview )))/ref> He was born Anthony Domacase in New York City, New York. He began studying the alto saxophone under Garvin Bushel at age 12. In the late 1960s he began performing with upcoming Latin and Latin-jazz groups around the New York area. In the mid 1970s and 80’s when live loft jazz was popular in New York City, He performed with his own groups and other prominent jazz musicians such as Sonelius Smith,

Rashid Ali Rashid Ali al-Gaylaniin Arab standard pronunciation Rashid Aali al-Kaylani; also transliterated as Sayyid Rashid Aali al-Gillani, Sayyid Rashid Ali al-Gailani or sometimes Sayyad Rashid Ali el Keilany ("Sayyid, Sayyad" serves to address higher st ...

John Stubblefield John Stubblefield (February 4, 1945 – July 4, 2005) was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and oboist. Early life Stubblefield was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied music at the Association for the Advancement of Crea ...

Carlos Garnett Carlos Garnett (born December 1, 1938) is a Panamanian-American jazz saxophonist. Biography Garnett was born on December 1, 1938, in Red Tank, Panama Canal Zone. He was interested in jazz after hearing the music of Louis Jordan and James Mood ...

Walter Davis Jr. Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American bebop and hard bop pianist. Davis once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a body of work while never be ...

In late 1972, at age 25, he signed with Strata-East Records and in 1974 his first jazz album "First Impressions" was released. In 1977 his second Strata-East Records album, ''Shamek Farrah/Sonelius Smith-The World Of The Children''. In 1979, he signed with RA Records and the album ''Shamek Farrah And Folks-La De La La'' was released in 1980. Each of those recordings have since been re-released. ''First Impressions'' and ''The World Of The Children'' were re-released in 1996 on the Japanese record label, Bomba Records and ''Shamek Farrah And Folks-La De La La'' was re-released in 2002 on the Quadraphonic Sound Modules Records label. His legendary composition "First Impressions" performed on the album of the same name continues to fascinate listeners around the world many years after its inception. In 1992, Soul Jazz Records, a British record label, released the original recording of "First Impression" on a compilation CD "Soul Jazz Loves Strata-East" featuring other Strata-East Records artists as well. In 2006 the British record label Soul Brothers Records re-release "First Impressions" again on a compilation CD "Fusion With Attitude" featuring jazz greats

Joe Henderson Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades, Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his day and recorded for several prominent l ...

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

and Walter Bishop Jr. performing on their own selections.

Discography

*1974: ''First Impressions'' (

) *1977: ''The World of the Children'' (with

Sonelius Smith Sonelius Larel Smith (born December 17, 1942, Hillhouse, Mississippi) is an American jazz pianist and composer. His family moved to Memphis in 1948, where he learned to play piano. He got a degree in music education at Arkansas Agricultural, Mec ...

) *1980: ''Shamek Farrah And Folks La De La La''

A Records A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

*1992: ''Soul Jazz Loves Strata-East'' (compilation featuring Shamek Farrah and other Strata-East Records artists, Soul Jazz Records UK) *1996 ''First Impressions'' and ''The World Of The Children'' (re-release of the original Strata-East Records recordings, Bomba Records Japan) *2002: ''Shamek Farrah And Folks La De La La'' (re-release of the original RA Records recording, Quadraphonic Sound Modules Records) *2006: ''Fusion With Attitude" (Compilation, Soul Brothers Records UK)

References

External links

Allmusic discography AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrah, Shamek Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists Soul-jazz saxophonists Free jazz saxophonists Hard bop saxophonists Post-bop saxophonists Strata-East Records artists 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians