Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions - November 1991

In November, 1991, Sun Ra played a string of gigs at the Village Vanguard.  Originally, the band was intended to be listed under John Gilmore's name but at the last minute was renamed Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions.  Recordings from November 13th were released by Rounder in 1992 under the title Sun Ra Sextet At The Village Vanguard.  Thanks to the kindness of our friend, Ritzbird, we can all enjoy two more nights from this run, November 15th and 17th.

If one takes away what he knows, that is the health problems of both Gilmore and Ra, the slowing down of energy due to the passing of time, if one doesn't expect the well known exciting performances of the five decades before, well this is a masterpiece. Everything is cut to the core, the instruments have become voices more than they ever were, and we can feel an intensity that very few artists can achieve after many years of dedication.

Roberto T's reflections on the Rounder Release, Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard

728. [472]  Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions

Sun Ra (Yamaha SY22 syn; Yamaha SY77 syn); John Gilmore (ts, voc, announcement); Chris Anderson (p.); Bruce Edwards (eg); John Ore (b); Buster Smith (d, announcement); June Tyson (voc - 1st set only); Jothan Callins (flg - 2nd and 3rd sets only).

The Village Vanguard, NYC,
November 15, 1991

1st set:
Friendly Galaxy (Ra)
unidentified ballad [p with syn]
The Shadow World (Ra)
Ankhnaton (Ra)
Love in Outer Space (Ra)
unidentified ballad [p with syn]
Space Aura (Ra)
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [JG, JT voc]

2nd Set:
Images (Ra)/
Deep Purple (DeRose-Parish)
Retrospect (Ra)
What's New? (Burke-Haggart)
Over the Rainbow (Arlen-Harburg) [syn, p only]/
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [JG voc; ens voc]

3rd Set:
Autumn in New York (Duke-Harburg)
Carefree (Ra)
Out of Nowhere (Green-Heyman)

There is an audience tape, slightly under 90 minutes, of the first set.  A second audience tape includes all three sets.  Date and location from Michael Fitzgerald and Charles Blass; tunes for the first set identified by Fitzgerald and ct; tunes from the second and third sets identified by ct.  According to ct, the two ballads were improvisations.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

730. [474] Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions

Sun Ra (Yamaha SY22 syn; Yamaha SY77 syn); John Gilmore (ts, voc, announcement); Chris Anderson (p.); Bruce Edwards (eg); John Ore (b); Buster Smith (d, announcement).

The Village Vanguard, NYC,
November 17, 1991

1st set:
unidentified titles

2nd set:
unidentified titles
Space Aura (Ra) [inc]
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [syn only]

3rd set:
Carefree (Ra)
Lights on a Satellite (Ra)
Theme of the Stargazers (Ra) [JG voc]
We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) [JG voc]

According to Charles Blass, there are audience tapes of all three sets (approximately 180 minutes in all).  The second set (from "Space Aura" onward) and third set take up one 90-minute cassette.  (Or are there just two sets?  This was a Sunday night at the Vanguard!)  Tunes identified by ct.  June Tyson may have made a cameo appearance on "We Travel the Spaceways."
from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions
The Village Vanguard, NYC,
November 15, 1991

1.  Friendly Galaxy   10:03
2.  ballad/Shadow World   15:43
3.  Ankhnaton   11:04
4.  Love in Outer Space   9:06
5.  ballad   10:47
6.  Space Aura   9:56
7.  Theme of the Stargazers   3:28
8.  Images   1:33
9.  Deep Purple (tape flip)   13:42
10. Retrospect   16:45
11. What's New (tape flip)   24:22
12. Over the Rainbow   1:18
13. Theme of the Stargazers   4:33
14. Autumn in New York   13:35
15. Carefree   19:07
16. Out of Nowhere (tape flip)   9:45

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Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions
The Village Vanguard, NYC,
November 17, 1991
MP3 320 kbps

Sun Ra Village Vanguard 17 11 1991 disc 1   1:03:17
     Friendly Galaxy (tape flip)   (0:00 - 29:00)
     Autumn in New York   (29:00 - 43:17)
     Space Aura / piano coda   (43:17 - end)

Sun Ra Village Vanguard 17 11 1991 disc 2   1:08:13
     Carefree (tape flip)  (0:00 - 38:00)
     Lights on a Satellite  (38:00 - 51:35)
     Theme of the Stargazers / We Travel the Spaceways  (51:35 - end)

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I-) broke down the track listing even further for us:

set 1
00:00  synth and piano intro >

02:15  Friendly Galaxy (has tape flip) >
28:49  applause >
29:03  synth and piano intro >
32:19  Autumn In New York >
43:16  applause >
43:18  Space Aura / piano coda >
55:30  bowed bass solo >
58:50  group >
59:13  sax solo (seems to cut in suddenly?) > drums > sax >
62:31  applause >
62:32  synth intro of Theme of the Stargazers >
63:05  applause and announcement

length = 63:17


set 2
00:00  synth intro >
01:46  Carefree (tape flip?) >
33:15  drums >
34:38  group
37:47  applause
38:00  synth intro >
38:51  Lights On a Satellite (40:58 = dead air) >
51:28  applause
51:36  synth intro >
52:07  Theme of the Stargazers >
56:56  vocals (john gilmore)
57:55  group and closing vocals
58:43  applause and announcements >
59:36  synth intro >
60:14  We Travel the Spaceways (with vocals)
67:46  applause and announcements

length = 68:13

Sun Ra - Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard (1991)

This recording presents the spiritual and musical explorations of the late Sun Ra in a rare (and relatively quiet and pensive) small group setting; the lone horn player is longtime Ra associate John Gilmore, on tenor sax; and the bassist is John Ore, whose career also included early stints with Cecil Taylor and Thelonious Monk. Recorded live at the Village Vanguard in November of 1991, Sun Ra’s playful synthesizer lines explore standards and originals including extensive versions of “Round Midnight” and “Sun Ra Blues.”

from rounder

The Sun Ra Sextet At the Village Vanguard is an important, if flawed, CD. Recorded in 1991--a mere two years prior to Ra's death--it documents some of Ra's first public appearances after a stroke that seriously limited his ability to play the keyboards, so much so that Chris Anderson was drafted to fill Ra's customary piano chair (succeeding quite nicely) here while Ra adds a sort of commentary on synthesizers atop the rest of the group. The actual gigs were booked under the name of Ra's legendarily underrated tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and, for obvious reasons, the date showcases his playing and reflects his leadership more so than Ra's.

The music captured here is for the most part not that of the freewheeling Ra Arkestra of the sixties and early seventies. Even before the stroke Ra began to include more songs from the standard repertoire alongside his own unique originals in his performances (though his and his band's interpretations were never exactly 'standard'), but this set goes even further, consisting of three standards and two original Sun Ra compositions, the latter including the relatively conventional "Sun Ra Blues." I love the earlier far-out Ra albums, but there's something to be said for this, too--Ra & Gilmore have their detractors who say they are too wild and not grounded in the jazz tradition, but Ra's perfect synth harmonies on "Autumn in New York," and the swinging contributions from the Arkestra's regular bassist John Ore and Gilmore's sumptuous playing on "'Round Midnight" and "'S Wonderful" put the lie to that kind of narrow minded thinking, while guitarist Bruce Edwards adds tasty solos, especially on "'Round Midnight" and "'S Wonderful".

'S Wonderful

I suppose a Sun Ra collection is incomplete without this recording from near the end of his life, but it is the excellent performance under the spotlight by John Gilmore who recorded sparingly outside of Ra's orbit that makes this an essential CD. Gilmore was simply one of the great saxophonists and this album gives his lyrical side a more extensive hearing than the typical Ra release. Ultimately how you feel about this CD will have a lot to do with how you aproach it. If you make allowances for Ra's physical condition, you will be surprised and touched by how much he can do in his compromised state. If you go into it expecting to hear prime Sun Ra, you may find his playing erratic and tired sounding, especially on "'Round Midnight." But just when you've counted him down if not out, he comes back on the set closing "Theme of the Stargazers" with some cosmic sounds that only he could've conjured while Gilmore recites some of his cosmic poetry for your edification.  

from epinionsdotcom

John Gilmore was slated to be the leader for a small band gig at the Village Vanguard in November, as Sonny thought Gilmore had earned it, but at the last second he turned it back to Sun Ra, and they appeared without costumes under the name of Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions (Buster Smith, Bruce Edwards, John Ore, Jun Ra on synthesizers, and Chris Anderson, a blind pianist Sonny had known in Chicago).  It was a strange and slightly melancholy event.

John F. Szwed  Space Is The Place p. 375

727. [471]  Sun Ra and his All-Star Inventions [Sun Ra Sextet]

At the Village Vanguard

Sun Ra (Yamaha SY22 syn; Yamaha SY77 syn); John Gilmore (ts, voc, announcement); Chris Anderson (p.); Bruce Edwards (eg); John Ore (b); Buster Smith (d, announcement).

 The Village Vanguard, NYC,

 November 14, 1991

Rounder 3124, At the Village Vanguard, was released on CD in 1993.  There is also a German release on Zensor (ZS 135).  The group is really the All-Star Inventions; the "Sun Ra Sextet" designation is misleading.  The first edition of this discography gave the incorrect date of November 13 for this live recording.  Blass says that much of the material recorded by producer John Snyder suffered from poor sonics and wasn't suitable for release.

It is possible, though a good deal less likely, that some of the material on the Rounder CD was recorded on November 17.
from Campbell / Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

This album was also released on CD in Germany in 1999 on the Jazz Door (JD 12125) label.

Sun Ra Sextet at the Village Vanguard (1991)
Rounder CD 3124

1. 'Round Midnight   21:04
2. Sun Ra Blues   16:11
3. Autumn In New York   11:01
4. 'S Wonderful   10:58
5. Theme Of The Stargazers   5:32

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