Saturn 72579, presents Sun Ra in a unique piano trio setting with bassist Hayes Burnett and drummer Samarai Celestial, playing 'Days of Happiness', 'Magic City Blue', 'Tenderness', 'Blythe Spirit Dance' and 'God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be'. The mood ranges from contemplative to celebratory, and there is throughout the record a marvelous clarity of vision. The piano style is full of interest throughout. An excellent LP.
309. [241] Sun Ra and his Arkestra
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be
Sun Ra (p.); Hayes Burnett (b); Samarai Celestial [Eric Walker] (d).
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be
Sun Ra (p.); Hayes Burnett (b); Samarai Celestial [Eric Walker] (d).
Variety Recording Studio, NYC,
July 25, 1979
July 25, 1979
Days of Happiness (Ra)
Magic City Blue (Ra)
Tenderness (Ra)
Blithe Spirit Dance (Ra)
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be (Ra)
Saturn LP 72579, God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be, was released in 1979. It has also appeared under the titles Blithe Spirit Dance, Days of Happiness, and Trio. Trio was a 1989 reissue with a new cover by the Hinds brothers. Personnel identified and location verified by Samarai Celestial, who said that this was his first recording with Ra. Charles Blass believes that overdubbing was used on this recording.
From Campbell / Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.
Another absolutely amazing album that begs the question: Why has this not been reissued?!
Magic City Blue
Magic City Blue
God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be (1979)
1. Days of Happiness 7:25
2. Magic City Blue 4:45
3. Tenderness 8:31
4. Blithe Spirit Dance 10:27
5. God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be! 6:47
or
MANY Thanks to I-), Marc E of Philly, & Zyxirion for your continued contributions, kindness, and support!
:-) this album is so good, it should get re-posted at least once a week! :-)
ReplyDeleteactually, the music here is pretty powerful. i am not sure if listening to this album that often could be done? it most definitely deserves a slot in the rotation. a special 'thanks!' to Marc E., Zyxirion, and yotte for getting this music out there!
I-)
Hi I-) !
ReplyDeleteThis has got to be one of the best albums I've ever heard (bar none). Everything about it is amazing and wonderful - Samarai's joyful, exhuberant drumming, Hayes Burnett's tasty bass work (right up there with Boykins' playing), and Ra's rich chords and amazing syncopation... everyone's timing is fantastic and they really seem to be dialed-in to the same frequency and playing together as one mind.
I play this album more often than any other and every time I do, I think I enjoy it more than ever before.
You''r4e all welcome. I love this place more and more each time I check it. Thanks, Yotte and friends!
ReplyDeleteIndirect thanks to unknown sources where I got my version of the LP rip from.
On Astronation it gives the following band
ReplyDeleteRa-p; Richard Williams-b; Luqman Ali-d. Recorded 7/25/1979.
same band on The Temple,and on All About Jazz Bulletin Board.
NOT that it makes any difference to the amazing quality of the music, but how come the discrepancy ?
Thanks to you all for these brilliant posts...bless you !!!
Hi Ritzbird, great question!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to know anything for certain, isn't it? Both Richard Williams & Luqman Ali were playing in the Arkestra around this time and both, of course, are amazing musicians capable of pulling off a trio recording with Ra of this caliber. So, without further research, it seems likely that they were the other musicians on this LP. Reliable information about Ra's recordings and concerts has always been difficult to obtain and considering the fact that the Arkestra's membership is so dynamic, at times changing nightly, the job of determining who played on what (and when) has often fallen to educated-guesswork.
Fortunately, we now have Szwed's & Prof. Campbell's exhaustive research available to us (which may not have been available when The Temple & All About Jazz posted their info). Both scholars interviewed Ra, various Arkestra members, Ra music collectors, music industry professionals, and other Rassociates / experts such as Hartmut Geerken, Christopher Trent, and James Wolf. They also worked with archivists, researching Library of Congress entries and record label documents. Their wonderful publications are so well-researched and organized that I tend to accept their notes without (much) question. You'll notice Prof. Campbell's note above:
"Personnel identified and location verified by Samarai Celestial, who said that this was his first recording with Ra."
Without Samarai's input, I think RW and LA would be excellent guesses. Luckily, we don't have to guess at the line up any longer!
Many thanks Yotte, I think that clears it up ||
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf someone were to ask me, what spiritual jazz is; I might think a while, and reflect and ruminate over all that I had heard, and could immediately call to mind: Coltrane's A Love Supreme, Transition, Compassion (of the First Meditations),
ReplyDeleteKulu Se Mama, etc. Alice Coltrane, Stopover In Bombay, Turiya & Ramakrishna,
Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, the many mixtapes and mashups of Blackclassical. I could go on and on, Ra's Jazz From An Unknown Planet, loads of Sun Ra would fit the bill; but eventually I would pull out this CD, and play for her, or him, the simple trio: "God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be." At thirty-eight seconds in, Sun Ra strikes this truly beautiful panoramic modal chord with his left hand, and accompanies it softly with an otherworldly eastern melody in his right, as Samurai Celestial drums perfectly, and the bass calls out
its hypnotic spiritual drone and ostinato - and I would say, "That, that you hear is spiritual jazz." And they would know what spiritual jazz IS.
Best
Jim