Last Exit

When it comes to avant-garde jazz-rock noise, few bands kicked out the jams better than did Last Exit. A who's who of jazz players with punk attitudes, Last Exit -- guitarist Sonny Sharrock, bassist Bill Laswell, drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson, and saxophonist Peter Brötzmann -- could swing, rock, and create an all-out free jazz din all in the blink of an eye. More important, Last Exit were about the thrill and danger of total improvisation; so much did they believe in this concept that their debut performance in Zurich in 1986 was completely improvised and unrehearsed. Grante...