Adventure-Equation's solo piano series ends with Ra's final release in this genre; 1980's Aurora Borealis. Note that in the review below, the album sides are reversed.
Aurora Borealis is a very interesting album of solo piano from Sun Ra. Side A features two Ra compositions, "Aurora Borealis" and "Omniscience," both of which feature pretty melodic passages laced with dissonance and some thunderous low chords. Despite getting pretty "out," there is always a strong sense of structure and some downright stunning passages. Side B begins with Ra interpolating Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# Minor (!), then moving into "Quiet Ecstasy," a beautiful, sparse and contemplative piece. Aurora Borealis is one of only a handful of solo piano dates from Sun Ra, and remarkable for that alone.
AMG review by Sean Westergaard
Aurora Borealis (Ra Rachmaninov)
Prelude in C# Minor (Rachmaninov) 4:27
Quiet Ecstasy (Ra) 9:08
Aurora Borealis (Ra) 4:06
Omniscience (Ra) 5:13
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Many THANKS to Marc E for this rip of his treasured LP.
Thanks to I-) for suggesting I post this alternate cover.
Thanks to I-) for suggesting I post this alternate cover.
i was thinking about this album last night... and here it is!
ReplyDeleteI-)
thanks for shining the light on the rare solo ra
ReplyDeletemerci yotte
ReplyDeleteVery nice, thanks a lot!!!
ReplyDeleteLove that drawing of Sonny playing piano behind his back. Years ago when he appeared on Saturday Night Live I’d encouraged coworkers at the music store I worked in to catch the show. One guy came in the following Monday and said as soon as he saw Sonny do that, he felt he was a charlatan and refused to take him seriously. I guess that’s one way Sonny used to weed out the earth bounders from those ready for the voyage. In any event, this is a wonderful recording. It’s live but much of what Sonny plays is so ethereal, you could hear a pin drop. Hope this copy’s not as riddled with pops and crackles as mine. El Saturns you know, you take what you get. A friend has one with a huge palm/hand print on one side! Again, that you so much of your efforts.
ReplyDeletethat 'alternate' cover is the one that i am used to seeing for this album. so, first time seeing that 'other' cover (the first image, way up top) was a real treat! i guess that is what this space is all about!!!
ReplyDeleteI-)
Hey, here's a different rip of the album. I think even noisier but maybe you find it interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.megaupload.com/?d=FJSZ3YE9
Ooooh yeah, I like this one good. When Ra lets rip with those thunderous pounding's on Quiet Ecstasy like only he can do, I just dig it. This sort of playing which helped turned me on to him via the live At Montreux Album. thanks for your rip too, it is far better than the 192 rip I had where some one had a poor turntable which was picking up external vibrations and disturbing the music. Not much info out there in netland about this
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I just checked out the Megaupload link that Zyxirion posted and it is a lossless version of the 192k wobbly rip I just deleted. I wonder if it is the original rip or has someone converted it to lossless from MP3. There are plenty of people out there in net land that seem to think that by up scaling a rip from say 128k to 320k or from MP3 to lossless that they improve the quality.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the tenuous quality of rips out there - it's impossible to predict what people will do. I'm pretty sure that Marc E's rip is truly lossless but unfortunately, the recording quality of the original leaves a lot to be desired. I'm a big fan of these solo piano releases.
ReplyDeleteAfter an enthralling listen of the Rachmaninov rendition, I'm into the Quiet ecstasy. Superb.
ReplyDeleteMerci Marc and Yotte