2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Blue Delight (1989)

Blue Delight is a great late-period Arkestra recording, notable for several reasons: 1. This is a very large, impeccably recorded Arkestra featuring special guests Tommy Turrentine and Don Cherry* AND a number of Arkestra alumni returning for the date. 2. Although synthesizers are present, the majority of Ra's solos are on piano. 3. John Gilmore solos on nearly every cut. 4. The band swings mightily from start to finish. Blue Delight also features a program of a handful of standards mixed with Ra originals that don't head too far into outer space. Although this recording is out of print, it is well-worth seeking out.
AMG Review by Sean Westergaard

*There is no reference to Don Cherry playing on this release in either the CD liner notes or in Campbell / Trent.

 
Sunrise

597. [398] Sun Ra

Blue Delight / Somewhere Else

Sun Ra (p, syn); Fred Adams (tp); Tommy Turrentine (tp); Ahmed Abdullah (tp); Al Evans (flg, Fr hn); Tyrone Hill (tb); Julian Priester (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, cl in A); Noël Scott (as, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, bgo); Eloe Omoe (bcl, as, cacl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Bruce Edwards (eg); Carl LeBlanc (eg - all solos); John Ore (b); Billy Higgins (d); Earl "Buster" Smith (d); Elson Nascimento (surdo grande, perc).

Variety Recording Studios, NYC, December 5, 1988

Blue Delight (1989)

1. Blue Delight   11:13
2. Out Of Nowhere   5:29
3. Sunrise   11:51
4. They Dwell On Other Planes   14:45
5. Gone With The Wind   5:53
6. Your Guest Is As Good As Mine   5:56
7. Nashira   4:11
8. Days Of Wine And Roses   6:58

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Check comments in these related posts for new links!

Purple Night

Somewhere Else

Sun Ra - The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Vol 1 (1965)

HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1 charts a period in the Sun Ra Arkestra's development (the mid-1960s) when Sun Ra was experimenting with orchestral improvisation, conducting sections of his ensemble both into and away from an expressionistic whole. Here Ra's music is completely stripped of its swing and bop roots, and even of the solid rhythmic principles that defined it in the early '60s. Working instead with atonality, silence, delicate ambient passages, and bold swaths of noise, Ra builds an increasingly abstract and wholly unprecedented sound here.

There are seven compositions on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS VOL. 1, and each is characterized by Sun Ra's feel for contrasts. Low-end instruments (tympani, bass, baritone sax and other low-end horns, and bass marimba) bounce off high-end instruments (trumpets and saxophone) in a sometimes-delicate, sometimes-violent teeter-totter. Pieces like the "The Cosmos," though full of jittery, frantic passages, are restrained by a soft dynamic (a feeling heightened by the presence of electronic celeste--played by Ra)... the music on HELIOCENTRIC WORLDS is challenging, beautiful, and totally engaging.

from Oldiesdotcom

The album is a notable example of the radical break which Sun Ra's music of that time had made with "previous notions of melody or harmony". Although heavily percussive, the music also dispenses with a continuous beat; instead Ra's music is reconstructed around "interweaving compositional and improvisatory creative principles with programmatic affects". 

The album was originally released as The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, with a B/W sleeve designed by Ra himself. This was replaced with a new orange and red sleeve by Howard Bernstein & Baby Jerry - showing Sun Ra with the third eye - and the appendage Vol. 1 added when The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two was released in 1966.

Gene Tyranny describes the album in his review as "The astonishing sessions that went light years beyond "free jazz" improvisation to create a music of deeply felt explosive and gentle gesture made from sound itself without reference to previous notions of melody or harmony."

Marshall Allen described the recording of the album in John F Szwed's biography of Ra, Space Is The Place:

    "Sun Ra would go to the studio and he would play something, the bass would come in, and if he didn't like it he'd stop it; and he'd give the drummer a particular rhythm, tell the bass he wanted not a "boom boom boom," but something else, and then he'd begin to try out the horns, we're all standing there wondering what's next...

    "I just picked up the piccolo and worked with what was going on, what mood they set, or what feeling they had. A lot of things we'd be rehearsing and we did the wrong things and Sun Ra stopped the arrangement and changed it. Or he would change the person who was playing the particular solo, so that changes the arrangement. So the one that was soloing would get another part given to him personally. 'Cos he knew people. He could understand what you could do better so he would fit that with what he would tell you."

From Wikipedia

These seven sides became the first of what many free and avant-garde jazz enthusiasts had heard from Ra. At the heart of his post-bop performances is the flexibility of the support from the Arkestra, whose percussive talents were equal only to their unquestionable abilities on other respective instruments. The probing nature of longer selections such as "Outer Nothingness" and "The Cosmos" contrasts "Of Heavenly Things," providing Ra a chance to steer the combo's intrepid excursions from the all-too-rare perspective of a percussionist. His tympani leads motivate the cut, which is also highlighted by Ronnie Boykins (bass) and John Gilmore (tenor sax). All the more impressive is the consistent level of improvisational skills that each member brings to the ensemble. Jimmy Johnson's (drums) timekeeping ranges from appropriately propulsive and bombastic to a spurious foil for Ra's seemingly maniacal prodding. Indeed, this material solidifies the progression that the bandleader had made from his former tuneful, yet ever intricate big-band type of arrangements.

From the AMG Review by  Lindsay Planer

114. [101]  Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

Sun Ra (bass marimba -1, 2, 5; e-celeste -3, 4, 6; tymp -2); Chris Capers (tp -3, 4); Teddy Nance (tb -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); Bernard Pettaway (btb -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6); Marshall Allen (picc -1, 3, 5; as -2, 3, 6; bells -1, 5; spiral cymbal -4); Danny Davis (fl -2, 3; as in ens -3, 4, 6); John Gilmore (ts -2, 3, 4, 6; tymp -1, 5); Pat Patrick (perc; bars -3); Robert Cummings (bcl -1, 2; wood blocks -5); Ronnie Boykins (b); Jimmy Johnson (d -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; perc -2; tymp -4).

RLA Studio, NYC, April 20, 1965

Heliocentric (Ra) -1
Outer Nothingness (Ra) -2
Other Worlds (Ra) -3
The Cosmos (Ra) -4
Of Heavenly Things (Ra) -5
Nebulae (Ra) [p, e-celeste only]
Dancing in the Sun (Ra) -6

These tracks were first issued in 1965 on ESP-Disk' 1014, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra volume 1, in mono and stereo editions.  The original cover was a black-and-white drawing by Sun Ra; most reissues have used a purple-and-yellow drawing of Sun Ra instead.  There was an 8-track tape issue by ESP in the 1970s (thanks to Henry Weld for this information).  Reissues: Fontana STL 5514 in the 1970s, Japanese Phonogram BT-5055, Japanese ESP SMF-7455, and Japanese ESP TKCZ-79107 [CD], Base ESPS-1014 [German CD, 1992].  Bootlegs: ESP Explosive 538.110 from France (c. 1970; different cover art from the ESP releases); Happy Bird B 90131, German bootleg issued in 1983 under the title Other Worlds; German Tobacco Road 111 and Magic Music 30011 [CD, 1990] under the title Cosmic Equation.  Thanks to Hartmut Geerken, Marco Melaragni, and Tom Lord, as well as Tilman Stahl's discography, for guidance through the thicket of secondary releases.

An allegedly 180-gram LP reissue of Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 1 appeared on an italian bootleg, Get Back GET 1004.

Jimmy Johnson's first name spelled "Jimhmi" on all releases.

A 4:39 excerpt of "Outer Nothingness" appeared on the CD accompanying Barry Kernfeld's book What to Listen for in Jazz (Yale University Press, 1995).  The CD number is Yale University Press DIDX 024157.

The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

(LP Rip)

1. A1 Heliocentric   4:21 

2. A2 Outer Nothingness   7:37
3. A3 Other Worlds   4:35

4. B1 The Cosmos   7:30
5. B2 Of Heavenly Things   5:46
6. B3 Nebulae   3:21
7. B4 Dancing in the Sun   1:59

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The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra Volume 1

(CD Rip)

1. Heliocentric   4:19
2. Outer Nothingness   7:40
3. Other Worlds   4:37
4. The Cosmos   7:32
5. Of Heavenly Things   5:46
6. Nebulae   3:21
7. Dancing In The Sun   1:56

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In 2010 ESP Disk' reissued all three Heliocentric Worlds volumes in a single 3-CD package.  The reissue includes several photos, critical writings, and the 1968 documentary "Spaceways."

Heliocentric Bonus Material

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Heliocentric Worlds (Vol 2)

Many Thanks to I-) for scouring the web and sharing the following images!

Sun Ra's Departure - Black Classical Compilation 2010

In April, 2010, Blackclassical began soliciting contributions towards 'The Sun Ra Project.'  The idea was to collect original recordings, original cover versions, and visual artwork from readers to be stirred into a monumental and fascinating 2-hour mix celebrating Sun Ra and marking the anniversary of his earthly departure.  The result of the collective efforts was originally presented as a webcast on Space Invader Radio on May 30, 2010.  Unfortunately, I miscalculated the difference between local and broadcast times (and missed 1/2 the show) and Blackclassical kindly send me the below.  Many Meni Amens & Thanks to BlackClassical for creating and sharing this Cosmo Alter Ra-recording. 

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The show:

RobD @NorthernComfort: I’ll wait for Sun Ra

BUG: Paradis Afrique (A Tribute To Sun Ra)

Seja Herói and BKCL: Spaceways at 125th & Lenox

I.H.C.: Space Probe

I.H.C.: Twilight at Rome

On Ka’a Davis: Festival of Strange Affinity

We’re Late for Class: Stanley’s Sun Ra Conga Line Experience

Tani Palefski : Along the Tiber

On Ka’a Davis: Return Send

I.H.C.: Lanquidity (Dub)

RAA: Intergalactic Racecar Driver

VDSO: Red Pyramid

UYA: I Let Him In

UYA: Carefree

Jimmy Ghaphery/Will Bryce: Theme of the Stargazers

Ratchet Orchestra: Love on a Faraway Planet

LA BRUHA DESI LA: Cosmic Wave

Joyful Noise Big Band: D.27-II/Life Is Splendid

I.H.C.: Space is the Place

2nd Chance: Sun Ra - The Solar-Myth Approach, Vols. 1-2 (1969-71)

The French record label BYG/Actuel was founded in March 1967 by Fernand Boruso, Jean-Luc Young, and Jean Georgakarakos (a/k/a “Karakos”) as an outgrowth of Actuel magazine, an underground arts journal active in the student protest movements of the time. In July, 1969, the Pan-African Arts Festival attracted a number of American musicians to Algiers and photographer and hardcore jazz fan, Jacques Bisceglia was enlisted to attract some of the expatriate Americans to Paris with a promise of paying work and the opportunity to record. A number of studio recordings were made that summer by such luminaries as Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Dave Burrell. The label also planned an Actuel Festival to be held in Paris, but the French government denied them permission given their (tenuous) connection to the riots of 1968. The festival finally occurred in October, 1969 in the Belgian town of Amougies and while it was an economic disaster, the music was excellent and provided further material for the fledgling label. By 1972, BYG/Actuel had released almost fifty LPs documenting the cream of American and European free jazz and experimental musicians, but financial difficulties caused the partnership to disintegrate into acrimonious litigation and eventual bankruptcy. The original albums, with their striking graphic design by Claude Caudron, quickly fell out of print and remain valuable collector’s items today. Accusations of impropriety have tainted the label ever since its dissolution and bootlegged editions of certain titles (including this one) have been widely available over the years, lending credence to these allegations. Georgakarakos went on to found Celluloid while Young started Charly, small record labels with their own reputations for questionable business practices. Nevertheless, in 2002, Charly commissioned Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and journalist Byron Coley to curate Jazzactuel, a three-CD box set of highlights from the BYG era and, for a few years thereafter, legitimate (and, later, not-so-legitimate) reissues of the catalog started appearing on the market. (Currently, the BYG/Actuel label has been seemingly resurrected and is re-releasing titles on LP only, but I haven’t heard any of them.) Ethical issues aside, the music is uniformly wonderful and well worth seeking out.

Sun Ra himself was unable to personally attend the festivities in Europe, but instead compiled two LPs worth of music for the label entitled Solar Myth Approach Volumes 1 and 2, which were released as BYG/Actuel 529.340 and 629.341 in 1972, toward the end of the label’s existence. Consisting of various recordings made between 1967 and 1970, each volume is carefully sequenced to highlight the most avant-garde, experimental and downright trippy elements of the Arkestra’s music while remaining a satisfyingly coherent pair of albums. “Spectrum” sets the mood, opening Volume 1 with thick, dissonant chords that rise and fall over the ominous heartbeat of Ra’s clavinet. Meanwhile, Gilmore blows tightly controlled overtones on tenor with Patrick asserting angular counter-figures on baritone sax. The drummer-less texture sounds more like contemporary classical music than any kind of “jazz” but the following track, “Realm of Lightening,” features clattering clouds of trash-can percussion and blatting trombones over a hypnotic, repeated bass line. Things briefly settle down with a lovely rendition of “The Satellites Are Spinning,” taken at a lugubrious tempo with June Tyson and Gilmore singing in unison over Ra’s rhapsodic clavinet and some softly supportive hand drums. “Legend” is the centerpiece of the album, an astounding ten-minute excursion for straining trombones and frenzied oboes, with Gilmore and Ra engaged in pitched battle, Sonny attacking the clavinet with an unusually Cecil Taylor-ian aggression. “Seen III, Took 4” is another inventive Minimoog solo from 1970. By de-tuning the oscillators and with a call and response form, Ra simulates polyphony on the monophonic instrument, adding creative volume swells, filter and ring modulator effects, and ending with swooning pitch bends. “They’ll Come Back” is a short but tantalizing composition that calls to mind both Bélá Bartok and Duke Ellington with its interlude of fiercely rumbling piano and ringing, childlike celeste before a dramatic full stop and beautifully rendered coda. Volume 1 closes with “Adventures of Bugs Hunter,” which starts out as a groovily choogling number for Ra’s funky clavinet and Boykin’s rock-solid bass. But then Marshall Allen intercedes with some ear-piercing piccolo, in a deliberately contrary key and rhythm, all of which is swathed in Hunter’s patented echo/reverb effect. Far out, man! A perfect ending to an adventurous LP.

Volume 2 is perhaps even more intense, opening with “The Utter Nots,” another minimalist composition for maximalist Arkestra, consisting of an insistent one-note figure interspersed with blasting space chords... (continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays).

These two discs from Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra are not, as their title suggests, parts of a singular or continuous work. They were initially issued as two separate titles -- similar to the two-part Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra -- by the Belgian BYG Actuel label in 1971. Both volumes consist of mid-fidelity and primarily self-realized and -produced recordings. Despite the claim that these sides were taped in New York City at Sun Studios, Ra discographer Robert L. Campbell notes that by the time these tracks were documented, the Arkestra had ended its N.Y.C. residency and returned to Philadelphia. Although this collection may not be the highest priority for potential converts or the uninitiated, there is a tremendous spectrum of sounds from Ra and the Arkestra on these discs. Volume One ranges from the atonal sparseness of the keyboard solo "Seen III Took 4" to the equally intimate ensemble work of "Adventures of Bugs Hunter" -- which in true Ra fashion doesn't even feature the musician. There are also more percussive works such as "Realm of Lightning" -- whose lead instrument sounds like newspaper being struck with pencils. This is augmented with a percussive onslaught featuring several distinct waves of rapid and emphatic timbale-style solos. The performances on Volume Two contain a noticeably heavier and more aggressive sound from the Arkestra. "The Utter Nots" is a classic example of many early-'70s arrangements, which were becoming almost ridiculously arithmetical. The extended work features some inspired and nimble fretwork from Ronnie Boykins (acoustic bass). Also of note are early renderings of "Outer Spaceways, Inc." and "The Satellites Are Spinning." These vocal tracks would be reworked and recycled into Ra's groundbreaking film Space Is the Place. [In 2001, after some years in obscurity, The Solar Myth Approach, Vol 1-2 was issued as a two-CD set for the first time in the domestic U.S.]

AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

Solar-Myth Approach vol. 1

One of Sun Ra's more experimental sets (and that's saying something), 1970's The Solar-Myth Approach, Vol. 1 is an eclectic set of tapes from sessions that date back to 1967 and include some of Sun Ra's earliest experiments with Moog synthesizers (the clatteringly primitive solo "Scene III, Took 4" sounds like it could have come from the very first time he experimented with the machine) and evidence of his increasing interest in dissonance and repetition. For example, the opening "Spectrum" sets various horn and reed players against each other in such a fashion that they sound woozily out of tune, even though they're playing in the same key; like most of the rest of the album, this piece is built on the most minimal compositional skeleton, with little in the way of melodic development or counterpoint. The pieces are also recorded with typically eccentric instrument groupings; most of the ten-minute "Legend" is an extended duet for trombones, and only the rollicking "They'll Come Back" has a typical small-combo lineup. Those who are into Sun Ra's most non-traditional musical ideas should look no further.

AMG Review by Stewart Mason

Solar-Myth Approach vol. 2

Recorded between 1970-1971, The Solar Myth Approach, Vol. 2 is comprised of solo keyboard explorations by Sun Ra, couched in between two free-form workouts by his whole Arkestra. Kicking off the set is the first band workout "The Utter Nots," which, amidst a relentless Afro-percussion backdrop, features a loose mix of fiery and mild statements by most of Ra's main soloists (alto saxophonist Marshall Allan, oboe player James Jackson, tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, et al.). The more frenetic of the two Arkestra features, "Strange Worlds," alternates between full band outbursts and cryptic keyboard and vocal interludes. The high points of the album, though, are Ra's wonderfully strange excursions at the keys. Evoking a child's outer-space play land, Ra produces a dizzying whirl of celestial noises on the Moog synthesizer for "Scene 1, Take 1" while switching the keyboard to harpsichord mode for a hauntingly beautiful meditation of baroque proportions on "Pyramids." The final solo finds Ra running amok over both the piano keyboard and the strings inside, producing a ghostly haze of sound. Balancing out the momentous proceedings are two brief and whimsical numbers, "Ancient Ethiopia" and "Outer Spaceways, Inc.," the last of which includes a pleasant vocal request to join Sun Ra and the Arkestra on a journey to world beyond, an invitation implied throughout the disc.

AMG Review by Stephen Cook

The Solar - Myth Approach Vol. 1 - 2
CD

1.  Spectrum   5:02
2.  Realm Of Lightning   12:24
3.  The Satellites Are Spinning   3:32
4.  Legend   9:56
5.  Seen III, Took 4   3:29
6.  They'll Come Back   3:51
7.  Adventures Of Bugs Hunter   6:38

8.  The Utter Nots   11:23
9.  Outer Spaceways, Inc   1:21
10. Scene 1, Take 1   8:22
11. Pyramids   2:29
12. Interpretation   7:43
13. Ancient Ethiopia   2:49
14. Strange Worlds   8:32

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The Solar - Myth Approach Vol. 1 (LP)
180 gram LP Reissue

1. Spectrum   5:00
2. Realm of Lightning   12:20
3. The Satellites are Spinning   3:30

4. Legend   9:53
5. Seen III, Took 4   3:29
6. They'll Come Back   3:50
7. Adventures of Bugs Hunter   6:35

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The Solar - Myth Approach Vol. 2 (LP)
180 gram LP Reissue

1. A1 The Utter Nots   11:18
2. A2 Outer Spaceways, Inc   1:21
3. A3 Scene 1, Take 1   8:18

4. B1 Pyramids   2:29
5. B2 Interpretation   7:40
6. B3 Ancient Ethiopia   2:49
7. B4 Strange Worlds   8:29


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2nd Chance: Marshall Allen's Arrival

Maestro Marshall Allen turns 88 today.

Marshall Allen played reeds with Sun Ra for decades. Matthew Shipp has created one of the most distinctive piano voices of his generation. Joe Morris anchors on bass, an instrument he mastered after first establishing himself as a guitarist. At the CareFusion Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., the meeting of three top free improvisers performing Night Suites 1-5.
Personnel: Marshall Allen, winds; Matthew Shipp, piano; Joe Morris, bass.
Available for streaming or download HERE.


direct download link
(left click to play, right click to save)

Marshall's bio at AMG:

A longtime member of Sun Ra's Arkestra, alto saxophonist Marshall Allen later assumed leadership of the group following the deaths of Ra and his immediate successor, John Gilmore. He was also a regular collaborator of Babatunde Olatunji, in the process emerging as one of the first jazz musicians to fuse the avant-garde with traditional African music.

Allen was born May 25, 1924, in Louisville, KY, beginning clarinet lessons at the age of ten. After enlisting with the U.S. Army's renowned Buffalo Soldiers in 1942, he played clarinet and alto saxophone with the 17th Division Special Service Band, subsequently forming a trio with pianist Art Simmons and guitarist Don Byas while stationed in Paris. After spending the late '40s touring and recording behind James Moody, Allen studied at the Paris Conservatory of Music before returning stateside in 1951, settling in Chicago and forming his own dance band. He also began writing his first original compositions.

Circa 1956, Allen met Sun Ra, joining the pianist's legendary Arkestra two years later. He would go on to lead its reed section for more than four decades, over time earning renown as one of the most distinctive and original saxophonists of the postwar era. In tandem with tenorist Gilmore and baritone saxophonist Pat Patrick, Allen played on more than 200 Sun Ra recordings. He also developed his own reed instrument (dubbed the "morrow") by attaching a saxophone mouthpiece to an open-hole wooden body but failed to patent his creation, which is now commercially available under different names.

Whenever the Arkestra went on hiatus, Allen moonlighted with Olatunji and his Drums of Passion, even learning to build and play the West African multi-stringed instrument the kora; he also guested on live dates and recordings headlined by a multitude of next-generation musicians, including jam band Phish, avant rock combo Sonic Youth, and hip-hop upstarts Digable Planets. When Sun Ra died in 1993, the Arkestra's reins were handed to Gilmore, who himself passed away two years later; at that point Allen assumed control, leading the 18-piece ensemble well into the next millennium. In addition to giving master classes, lectures, and demonstrations of Sun Ra's enduring creative principles, Allen also founded the El Ra label, home to such latter-day Arkestra recordings as A Song for the Sun and Music for the 21st Century. 

by Jason Ankeny

In 2005, Marshall released a stunning album of duets with NRBQ pianist Terry Adams called Ten by Two.  The CD artwork is a throwback to the glory years of Sun Records, with the album title simply stating that 10 tracks are from the two performers, pianist Terry Adams (NRBQ) - who also plays a Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer - and alto saxophonist Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra).

Five numbers each are from the August 18, 1996, performance at the Brooklyn Museum and June 27, 1997, set during the Toronto DowntownJazz Festival. What makes the pairing click is how they easily flow into any number of musical genres - classic pop, jazz, avant-garde, blues - without a hitch. A neat gem is "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" - the iconic masterpiece from Hal David and Burt Bacharach - while the ragtime vibe is vivacious throughout "My Little Brother."

Adams and Allen obviously have a special professional/personal respect for each other and it is clearly heard note-by-note during the serious fun.
Amazon Review

Interstellar Low-Ways

Ten By Two
Terry Adams and Marshall Allen
 

1.    Prelude To A Kiss (Live)   5:57
2.    Wrong Gasket (Live)   3:29
3.    Cocktails For Two (Live)   3:50
4.    Blue Skies (Live)   5:20
5.    Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (Live)   2:56
6.    Friday The 13th (Live)   4:30
7.    Hey Little Brother (Live)   4:39
8.    Interstellar Low Ways (Live)   5:22
9.    I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good (Live)   4:44
10.  Evil Art (Live)   3:45

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Sun Ra Arrival Day Mix - Black Classical (2010)

Does anyone else remember and miss the amazing blog, Black Classical?  No one created mixtapes with such depth and diversity as these guys.  Of all the blogs that have disappeared over the last couple of years, this is one of a handful that I miss the most.

In May 2010, Black Classical presented this mix by Monohub who deftly blends both rare and familiar snippets of Arkestral performances into a fascinating long form composition.  I hope you enjoy his 2-hour tribute as we remember and celebrate the arrival of one of the world's great thinkers and musicians.

Many Thanks to Greg and Monohub of Black Classical for the original broadcast.

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Audio Gumbo Sun Ra Celebration May 21, 22

Lovevolv

Sun Radio

Continuing in the spontaneous groove / abstract sound tradition of NYC's "Audio Gumbo", Sun Radio brings an ecstatic, eclectic, electric, acoustic, organic, synthetic, syncretic sonic stew to your ears and souls.
Unhinged from stylistic limitations or delineations. Crossing borders without passports. From hyperwarp uberfunk to solar sparks, outer realms of impossibility to eternal serenity.
Including: Jazz / Funk / Folk / Fusion / African / Indian / Jamaican / Experimental / Electronic
Focus on live performance and living ensembles, new music, upcoming projects, rare materials. Local Zurich Kultur, Swiss regional and transnational diversifications.
Crunchy Muesli for your Mind. Tone Science for your Ass. Straight from Outer Space to Zurich and Beyond. And Back.
Sunshine in the middle of the night.
Jeden 3. Montag im Monat

Sendezeit: Montag, 00:00 bis 04:00
Internet: www.lovevolv.org
E-Mail: programm@lora.ch

Um die archivierten Sendungen zu hören brauchst du einen RealPlayer.
Mehr dazu und Player herunterladen.

Sun Ra Celebration - May 25, 2012

“HE WAS WHAT HE WAS”: ALABAMA JAZZ LEGEND “DOC” ADAMS ON THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF SUN RA

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Burgin Mathews

“Music is a language, and I’m saying things that can reach people.  I’m not a prophet.  I’m a destiny-changer.  It’s all right to prophesy, but the best thing to do is change things, if you’ve got the power.”

                                                                   — Sun Ra, The Birmingham News, 1998 

FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and Birmingham Mountain Radio’s The Lost Child present A SUN RA CELEBRATION: an evening of music, film, reminiscence, and poetry in honor of jazz legend and spaceways traveler, Herman “Sonny” (Sun Ra) Blount.

Sun Ra was one of jazz music’s most creative, prolific, and outrageous personalities, a composer, bandleader, poet, and philosopher whose home, he said, was outer space and whose mission was to communicate cosmic truths—via his band, the Intergalactic Arkestra—to the lost citizens of this poor planet.  Through the medium of music Sun Ra sought to expand the narrow consciousness of mankind, tuning us in to the interplanetary vibrations and opening us up to a greater harmony with ourselves, with each other, and with the larger universe.

Sun Ra was devoted entirely to his task, consuming himself, his whole life, with his music and outer-space philosophy.  If, with his colorful gowns and ceaseless talk, he was an eccentric, his eccentricity was no put-on or cheap gimmick.  As a musician his tastes were diverse, his ear acute, and his talents wide-ranging; he bended musical genres, taking in and riffing on the broad sweep of the jazz tradition, while pushing his musicians and his listeners into strange—and sometimes liberating—new places.  His critiques and observations of the human race, if often couched in bizarre and convoluted discussions of space and mythology, contained moments of eye-opening and original insight.  And he believed, wholeheartedly, in his mission.

Sun Ra returns to Birmingham for a legendary concert at the Nick, 1989 / photo courtesy Craig Legg

 

The upcoming Sun Ra Celebration will pay tribute to Sun Ra and his Birmingham roots in a variety of ways.  First, Birmingham jazz legend Frank “Doc” Adams, who, in the 1940s, played in Sun Ra’s original band, will perform his own tribute to Sun Ra and discuss his experiences with his early bandleader.  Birmingham spoken-word poet Brian Voice Porter Hawkins will present selections of Sun Ra’s original poetry.  Prizes will be given out throughout the night, courtesy of Sun Ra Research, a California-based operation which, for going on three decades, has been devotedly documenting the Sun Ra story.  The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame’s museum and bar will be open to visitors throughout the evening.  Finally, Phill Niblock’s classic short film, 1968’s The Magic Sun, will be shown on the big screen of the Hall of Fame’s historic theatre.  A program booklet will offer additional context on Sun Ra’s life and music.

What follows, here, are two excerpts from a recent interview with Frank “Doc” Adams, in which he discusses the constellation of musicians that formed around Sun Ra in 1940s Birmingham.  Adams, who played in Sun Ra’s band as a teenager, was also a member, at that time, of John T. “Fess” Whatley’s Vibraphone Cathedral Orchestra, Birmingham’s preeminent “society” dance band.  In the years to follow Adams would play alongside Erskine Hawkins, Duke Ellington, and many others.  Today, he is the Director of Education, Emeritus, for the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.  He is a lifelong educator, whose decades-long work with music in the Birmingham schools has left a tremendous impact on his community.  His new book with Burgin Mathews, titled Doc: The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man, is due out in October of 2012 from the University of Alabama Press and tells the story of Adams’ remarkable life in music.  (Chapter Five, “Outer Space,” focuses specifically on Sun Ra and his Birmingham years.)

Frank "Doc" Adams, 2011 / photo by Garrison Lee

The following interview excerpts were recorded by Burgin Mathews in Adams’ office at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.  (Note: an interview with filmmaker, composer, and multimedia artist Phill Niblock, discussing the making of The Magic Sun, will appear soon on this website.  The two advertisements featured on this page for A Sun Ra Celebration include black and white stills from Niblock’s film.)

(continue at Lady Muleskinner Press)