Tag: Sun Ra

Sun Ra – Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, VOL 2 Shandar SR 10.003 (1971)

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VOL 2 is a great extension of the first Nuits de la Fondation Maeght disc.  Although similar in ways, particularly across the more “out there” second side, this second volume also moves into other areas.  There is space for quieter sounds, as with Alan Silva’s bass solo on “Friendly Galaxy Number Two.”  “Spontaneous Simplicity” also delivers some richly harmonic horn charts, and then moves on to the sort of modernized, pan-African ethno-grooves that would become a mainstay of the Arkestra’s 1970s period.  This is almost as good as the first volume, though middle of side two can’t consistently match the focused intensity of the other disc.  Start with VOL 1, and if you like it plan a stop here as well.

Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra – “Night of the Purple Moon” El Saturn LP 522 (1972)

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Not the greatest entry in the Sun Ra catalog, but an intriguing one.  Backed by a small combo, “The Night of the Purple Moon” is interesting in how Sun Ra’s own keyboard playing is up front.  Let’s face it, most Arkestra albums feature a lot of great performances from many different quarters, making it seem a bit silly to focus in too much on any one performer.  This album avoids that altogether by stripping down the raw numbers a bit so that Ra is clearly heard.  John Gilmore predominantly plays drums instead of sax, which may be a disappointment to some listeners, but he’s at least adequate as a drummer.  There are a few tracks that meander, but also some particularly good ones.  What stands out most in Sun Ra’s playing is how he navigates the limitations of the rather primitive keyboards he uses.  Some of his instruments don’t provide much in the way of dynamic range.  To get around that, he plunks and jabs the keys in ways that hold little intrinsic melodic or harmonic interest, but add rhythmic subtlety that subverts the flat dynamics.  In many ways, he’s using his skills as a good arranger to structure his own solos.

Another reviewer already said it, but it bears repeating.  Sometimes, for a particular mood, only Sun Ra will do.  “The Night of the Purple Moon” is the perfect album for a certain frame of mind, like on a mellow Saturday night.

Sun Ra – Disco 3000 El Saturn CMIJ 78 (1978)

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Sun Ra’s catalog is filled with surprises, and Disco 3000 is yet another.  It is a live quartet recording from an Italian tour, with Sun Ra featured heavily on a “Crumar Mainman” (probably Ra’s own name for a Cruman Multiman or Multiman-S analog synthesizer with a built-in rhythm box made in Italy around 1975-77).  This album sounds as otherworldly as ever, but with driving grooves and intimate passages that set it apart from other Arkestra recordings.  Newcomer Michael Ray establishes himself as an asset on trumpet, with Luqman Ali providing varied percussive grounding throughout and John Gilmore playing marvelously as always.  The lengthy title track ranges all over the place.  While ostensibly a single suite-like song, the quartet touches on an amazing number of different themes and styles.  About three minutes in Sun Ra is using the same drum machine beat that Sly Stone used on “In Time” from Fresh (there are echoes of Sly’s “Cat Woman” throughout too).  Later the song turns into a rendition of “Space Is the Place” at one point.  It sounds loose but never messy.  On the title track and “Dance of the Cosmo-Aliens” Ra pushes his synthesizer to the limits while keeping the sonic textures unusually smooth.  “Third Planet” mellows things a bit.  Gilmore and Ali get the spotlight on “Friendly Galaxy” for some fiery solos.  This album is a real treat, and it’s proof that even well into his sixties Sun Ra hadn’t slowed down yet.  Media Dreams, side two of The Sound Mirror, Other Voices, Other Blues, and New Steps were all recorded the same month with the same quartet (the first two live and the latter two in the studio).

[Note: Fans of this album might also be interested in Steve Reid‘s Nova.]

Sun Ra Arkestra – Nuclear War Y Records Y RA 2 (1984)

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A thoroughly enjoyable late period album from the Sun Ra Arkestra.  The title track with its sing-speak vocals from Ra and a few bandmates is something unique, even for this eccentric group of performers.  While “Nuclear War” may be the main attraction, there is a lot more to like.  Much of the rest of the album is pretty mellow, with Ra mostly playing what sounds like a roller rink or baseball stadium organ.  Anyone wanting to call this interstellar lounge music has probably hit it on the head.  While the performances hardly aim for the stratosphere there is an energy that the Arkestra wouldn’t be able to muster a few years on (compare Mayan Temples).  This is just pleasant, guileless music.  So if you can’t appreciate the grooving sax on “Blue Intensity,” June Tyson‘s breathy vocals on Charlie Chaplin‘s “Smile” (Michael Jackson‘s favorite song), or the gentle if slightly off-kilter big band charts sprinkled through other cuts, then, well, you might want to take your blinders off and give this another try.  The same recording sessions produced Celestial Love and A Fireside Chat With Lucifer.

Sun Ra – Sleeping Beauty El Saturn 11-1-79 (1979)

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A compilation of Sun Ra Arkestra tracks was subtitled Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel.  While a catchy phrase, it is a better descriptor for Sleeping Beauty, which is Sun Ra at his most laid-back.  This is okay, but not a favorite of mine because I feel that rhythmically the group isn’t operating at its full potential.

Sun Ra & His Solar Arkestra – Secrets of the Sun El Saturn GH 9954-E/F (1965)

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At an exhibit on space exploration at Chicago’s Science & Industry Museum, off a ways from near-advertisement “exhibits” about what your friendly neighborhood petrochemical company does for you and the glories of genetically modified frankenfoods, a corner of a sign reads: “‘Space Is The Place’ – Sun Ra”.  If you want to understand why that’s a true statement, just take a listen to Secrets of the Sun.

Sun Ra’s best albums tend to be ones that focus on a single one of his many interests.  Secrets of the Sun is a moderately experimental effort that puts on display a lot of the things Ra was working with in the late 1950s and early/mid 1960s, with a decidedly sci-fi exotica feel to everything.  The solos aren’t always as intriguing as they could be.  Still, this was one of the more listenable of Ra’s albums to date.

The CD reissue of the album is great because it features “Flight to Mars”, a track intended as side two of an album that was never released.  It’s a pre-psychedelic masterpiece of Ra’s 1960s period.  I’m tempted to say it’s one of the best tracks of his early/mid 60s period.

Sun Ra – Jazz by Sun Ra, Vol. 1 Transition TRLP J-10 (1957)

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Sun Ra didn’t start releasing recordings as a leader until he was well into his forties, making him somewhat of a late arrival–like Sam Rivers or Bill Dixon.  Recorded for Tom Wilson‘s Transition label in 1956, Jazz By Sun Ra, Vol. 1 (later issued as Sun Song, the CD edition of which Includes the bonus track “Swing a Little Taste” from Jazz in Transition) is made up of the type of skewed big band music featured on Jazz in Silhouette and a smattering of other recordings The Arkestra made in Chicago but did not release until they had relocated to New York City in the 1960s.  As an album made specifically for a willing record label, this sounds quite a bit more hi-fi than the many rehearsal tapes from the same time period released on El Saturn records in the coming years.  As for the music, it’s all quite good.  The Arkestra sounds very polished.  Some great songs too, with Sun Ra’s arrangements giving this an adventurous feel.  The harmonies were advanced and novel for the day.  Hindsight may not make this seem all that innovative, given what came later, but you wouldn’t have found solos like John Gilmore‘s on “Brainville” or “Future” anywhere else in 1957 (save perhaps Jazz Advance).  The prominent percussion on “New Horizons” and “Street Named Hell” were also rare in a jazz context when this came out (though Buddy Collette and others had similar notions).  Then of course there is the closer, “Sun Song”, on which Sun Ra’s organ gives a big hint as to where he would go in the next few decades.  This album is pretty consistently good from beginning to end.  Sun Ra and his Arkestra may have made even better recordings, but this still ranks among their most listenable efforts.

Sun Ra – Space Is the Place Blue Thumb BTS-41 (1973)

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What Space Is the Place (not to be confused with the soundtrack to the movie of the same name) offers is a broad and eclectic overview of the multifaceted musical philosophy of Sun Ra and His Arkestra.  From here you can move into a lot of different territories of Sun Ra’s oeuvre according to what strikes your fancy.  This is one of the very best introductions to Ra’s music, even if further exploration of the catalog will likely quickly supplant it with new favorites.  The title track is one of the group’s space chants, but at an extended length that allows room to go a bit further out than usual.  “Images” is a fresh new performance of one of the band’s swinging evergreens.  It’s probably my favorite version, with a hint of smiling sourness in the horns, a hearty electric bass that stands out from the rest of the band without just playing a walk, and Ra himself clanging away at the keys in perfect rhythm.  “Sea of Sounds” is free-form noise that would appear a bit less frequently in the coming years.  “Discipline” and “Rocket Number Nine” fill out the album with more of the quintessential afro-futurist Sun Ra sound.  An excellent place to start.

Sun Ra – The Antique Blacks El Saturn 81774 (1978)

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The Antique Blacks fits on the continuum of albums Sun Ra made in the 1970s with electric instrumentation and fusion-influenced stylings, like “The Night of the Purple Moon” and The Great Lost Sun Ra Albums: Cymbals / Crystal Spears from earlier in the decade and Lanquidity and Sleeping Beauty later on.  An unknown electric guitarist (possibly a young Dale Williams or someone named “Sly”) armed with a wah pedal lays down some fervid licks much like what Pete Cosey was doing with Miles Davis around the same time period, though without the same nuance as Cosey.  John Gilmore is of course great on sax.  Many songs, like “There is Change in the Air,” feature free-form improvisations from the whole group and solos interspersed with spoken word passages where Sun Ra recites cryptic and confrontational poetry thick with references to afro-consciousness and socio-political issues and deeply imbued with biblical and cosmic overtones.  Other tracks feature some nice group chants.  This is a good disc, even though there are more impressive ones from the era.  The highlights are a choice reading of “Space Is the Place” and some noisy keyboard soloing — comparable to that of Concert for the Comet Kohoutek — on “Would I for All That Were.”  Ra’s spoken word readings are noteworthy too.  While people who lived in close proximity to Ra probably knew full well that he could rant with the best of them, as he regularly distributed leaflets and preached on street corners about various topics of intergalactic significance (some books like The Wisdom of Sun Ra: Sun Ra’s Polemical Broadsheets and Streetcorner Leaflets have posthumously documented those activities), this album is one of the few times that aspect of Sun Ra’s life directly manifested itself in his recordings.