Essra Mohawk -

Essra Mohawk — born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz on April 23, 1948, in Philadelphia — is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist known for her visionary lyricism and genre-defying albums.

She emerged with Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last! (1968) on Verve after a stint with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, followed by the cult classic Primordial Lovers (1970) on Reprise. Her 1974 self-titled album on Asylum and the jazz-soul fusion Essra (1976) on Private Stock showcased her evolving sound.

Over the years, her songs have been recorded by the Shangri-Las, Vanilla Fudge, and Cyndi Lauper, while she contributed vocals to Schoolhouse Rock! and collaborated with Jerry Garcia, Al Jarreau, and John Mellencamp.

Background

Essra Mohawk was born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz on April 23, 1948, in Philadelphia. A child prodigy on piano and voice, she grew up in a musical household and began composing original material in her early teens. At sixteen, she recorded her debut single under the name Jamie Carter: “The Boy With the Way” backed with “The Memory of Your Voice,” released by Liberty Records in 1964.

By 1966, under her birth name Sandy Hurvitz, she caught the attention of producer Shadow Morton, who placed her compositions with the Shangri-Las (“I’ll Never Learn”) and Vanilla Fudge (“The Spell That Comes After”). Her songwriting during this period showed a sophisticated harmonic sense and lyrical depth beyond her years. While based in New York in 1967, she crossed paths with Frank Zappa through mutual friends from Philadelphia. Impressed by her voice and songwriting, Zappa invited her to perform with the Mothers of Invention during their Garrick Theater residency, where he introduced her onstage as “Uncle Meat.” He then signed her to his Bizarre production company.

Initially, Zappa planned to produce her debut album himself but soon turned the task over to Mothers keyboardist Ian Underwood. During this transitional period, Hurvitz opened for Procol Harum at the Café Au Go Go and developed a brief personal and creative rapport with lyricist Keith Reid, who later wrote “Quite Rightly So” with her in mind. These combined experiences—Zappa’s avant-garde circle, downtown NYC’s countercultural scene, and her growing network of collaborators—laid the foundation for her first album.

Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last!

Sandy Hurvitz released her debut album, Sandy’s Album Is Here at Last!, in December 1968 on Bizarre/Verve.

The album presents an unvarnished set of solo piano-and-voice pieces, where shifting tempos and loose structural arcs replace fixed patterns. Hurvitz stretches vocal phrasing across sparse, often unresolved harmonic figures, with no adherence to conventional form.

“All This Time Going By” and “Woman” unfold in long, contoured lines, while group-backed tracks like “Three Hawks” and “Many Different Things” add unstable pacing and ensemble parts that orbit rather than ground the piano. “The Sun” introduces flute and saxophone in drifting overlays that thicken the texture without anchoring it. Piano and voice frequently move in divergent directions, generating tension through asymmetry.

A1. “Child” (3:07)
A2. “Three Hawks” (3:21)
A3. “All This Time Going By” (4:25)
A4. “Woman” (2:20)
A5. “The Sun” (6:50)

B1. “Many Different Things” (4:00)
B2. “You’ll Dance Alone” (3:25)
B3. “Tree of Trees” (3:46)
B4. “Arch Godliness of Purplefull Magic” (3:26)
B5. “Love Is What I’ve Found” (3:33)

Sessions took place at Apostolic Studios under the supervision of Herb Cohen and engineer Dick Kunc. Initially helmed by Frank Zappa, the project was passed to new Mothers of Invention member Ian Underwood, who also received arrangement and production credit. Hurvitz later cited the sessions as chaotic and unfinished, describing how Underwood erased vocal takes and repeatedly overdubbed then discarded his own horn parts, none of which appeared on the final mix.

Following the album’s release, Hurvitz was scheduled to perform at the 1969 Woodstock Festival but failed to appear due to a wrong turn en route. She arrived only in time to witness the final act’s closing song. While preparing her second album, she married producer Barry Friedman (aka Frazier Mohawk) and adopted the name Essra Mohawk, a condensed form of her birth name, Sandra.

Primordial Lovers

Essra Mohawk released her second album, Primordial Lovers, in May 1970 on Reprise.

The album blends extended piano-based forms with sudden metric shifts and instrumental counterpoint. Guitarist Jerry Hahn threads angular phrasing through “Spiral” and “It’s Been a Beautiful Day,” while keyboardist Mike Cohen and vibraphonist Joe Keefe engage in layered modal interplay on “I Have Been Here Before,” surrounded by brass, woodwinds, and a rotating cast of rhythm players.

“Thunder in the Morning,” written as an encouragement to Stephen Stills, draws contrast between pastoral imagery and emotional vulnerability. “I Have Been Here Before” features a circular structure and dense jazz orchestration with contributions from Bert Wilson (tenor sax), Al Aarons and Warren Gale (trumpets), and a full brass and woodwind section.

A1. “I Am the Breeze” (3:11)
A2. “Spiral” (4:08)
A3. “I’ll Give It to You Anyway” (3:18)
A4. “I Have Been Here Before” (6:39)

B1. “Looking Forward to the Dawn” (8:36)
B2. “Thunder in the Morning” (4:34)
B3. “Lion on the Wing” (6:41)
B4. “It’s Up to Me” (2:20)
B5. “It’s Been a Beautiful Day” (2:11)

Essra recorded the album at Elektra Sound in Los Angeles and Pacific High in San Francisco under the production of her new husband, Frazier Mohawk.

“It’s Up to Me” appeared first as the b-side of “Jabberwock Song,” an April 1970 standalone single, followed in September by the album track “Spiral,” backed with the exclusive “Images of Yu.”

Essra Mohawk

Essra Mohawk released her self-titled third album in November 1974 on Asylum.

The album merges tight ensemble arrangements with spiritual and sensual lyric themes, alternating piano-centered ballads and layered full-band tracks. Electric guitarist Larry Carlton and acoustic guitarist Dean Parks trade lead and rhythm roles across the album, while keyboardists Tom Sellers, Joe Sample, and Tom Hensley construct harmonic frameworks that shift from modal warmth to bright, open voicings.

“Openin’ My Love Doors” blends lyrics by Mohawk with co-composed music by Sellers, while the George Gershwin standard “Summertime” appears in a rearranged form with tenor sax by Bert Wilson and piano by Dave Kempton.

A1. “New Skins for Old” (2:30)
A2. “Openin’ My Love Doors” (2:24)
A3. “Full Fledged Woman” (3:10)
A4. “You’re Finally Here” (2:56)
A5. “Summertime” (2:28)
A6. “Back in the Spirit” (2:40)

B1. “You Make Me Come to Pieces” (3:09)
B2. “I Cannot Forget” (4:47)
B3. “Song to an Unborn Soul” (2:19)
B4. “If I’m Gonna Go Crazy with Someone It Might As Well Be You” (3:22)
B5. “Magic Pen” (2:25)

Tom Sellers produced the album and shared instrumental duties across multiple tracks. Sessions took place at Western Recorders in Los Angeles, with overdubs and mixing at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia.

Asylum issued “Full Fledged Woman” as a January 1975 single backed with “Magic Pen.”

Between 1974 and 1977, Mohawk contributed three songs—“Interjections,” “Sufferin’ ’til Suffrage,” and “Mother Necessity.”—to the animated musical education series Schoolhouse Rock!

Essra

Essra Mohawk released her fourth album, Essra, in December 1976 on Private Stock.

The album shifts between jazz-tinged ballads and uptempo theatrical pop, driven by polished studio interplay. She’s backed on vocals by David Lasley, Arnold McCuller, Ula Hedwig, and Rhetta Hughes.

Guitarists Eric Gale and Jonathan Kalb alternate lead figures and fills over keyboardist Sonny Burke’s lush string arrangements, while flutist Jeremy Steig adds lyrical phrases that drift in and out of frame. They’re anchored by bassist Richard Davis and a rotation of three drummers: Bernard Purdie, Andy Newmark, and Howie Wyeth.

A1. “People Will Talk” (3:54)
A2. “I Wanna Feel Ya” (4:40)
A3. “Summersong” (3:53)
A4. “Time to Start” (2:12)
A5. “Holy Trinity” (4:20)

B1. “God Help It” (5:21)
B2. “Appointment With a Dream” (2:06)
B3. “Hello Winter” (2:45)
B4. “Hallelujah, I’ve Been Released” (3:28)
B5. “People Will Talk” (3:43)

Mohawk recorded the album at The Hit Factory and Sound Ideas Studios in New York, with rhythm and string arrangements by Sonny Burke and final remix supervision by Jerry Ragovoy.

Private Stock issued “I Wanna Feel Ya” as a January 1977 promo-only single.

Burnin’ Shinin’

Essra Mohawk’s fifth album, Burnin’ Shinin’, appeared in 1982 on SFS (San Francisco Sound).

The album trades her earlier freer forms for compact, synth-framed arrangements with occasional excursions into jagged rock and rhythmic soul.

Keyboardist Mike Ruff shapes the material with layered synthesizer textures and chordal piano voicings, while guitarist Billy Bockhold provides clipped rhythmic accents and loose phrasing on the more exploratory tracks.

“Take Me Columbia” reflects Mohawk’s characteristic eccentricity with its space-themed subject matter and off-kilter structure.

A1. “It’s No Secret”
A2. “Can’t Turn the Night Off”
A3. “Morning Afternoon and Evening Too”
A4. “In a Heartbeat”
A5. “God Help It (Excerpt)”

B1. “Who Gets More”
B2. “Burnin’ Shinin’”
B3. “Poor People Know How to Play”
B4. “Take Me Columbia”
B5. “Who Gets More (Reprise)”

Mohawk recorded the album without formal contract oversight at Skip Saylor Studios in Los Angeles and Indigo Ranch in Malibu. Daoud Shaw produced and played drums, with Freddie Beckmeier on bass and Tony Ben on percussion.

SFS issued the album in a small run, mastered at JVC in Hollywood and packaged as a numbered “certified limited edition” with lyric insert and artwork by Gerald Chok and Matthew Katz.

E-Turn

Essra Mohawk released her sixth album, E-Turn, in 1976 on Private Stock.

The album blends synthesizer textures and electronic rhythm tracks with lyrical themes of alienation, romantic frustration, and social satire.

Guitar synthesist Ronnie James frames multiple songs with sliding leads and ambient backdrops, while keyboardist Edgar Kashatka adds clustered electric chords and echo-processed harmonies. “Jealousy” includes backing vocals by Bonnie Jones and Patti Nickell.

A1. “Let Her Know” (4:20)
A2. “You’re a Mover” (4:28)
A3. “Mankind” (3:48)
A4. “Silver Ships” (4:39)

B1. “Jealousy” (3:08)
B2. “Digital” (4:11)
B3. “Cynthia” (3:01)
B4. “All for Your Love” (4:41)
B5. “I’ll Get Down With You” (3:37)

Mohawk recorded the album at Starr Recording and Kajem West Studios in Pennsylvania under the direction of drummer-producer Daoud Shaw. Mitch Goldfarb engineered and David Starobin mastered the material, which features arrangements centered on Roland guitar synth and layered keyboard overdubs.

Cal Schenkel designed the sleeve; Eclipse issued the LP in a small run with photography by Susan Bulkin and notes by Michael Tearson.

Discography: