SUN RA FEATURING PHAROAH SANDERS & BLACK HAROLD
Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 05/01/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"One disc 71 minutes approximately. The sound,especially on the stereo tracks,is fresh and immediate. Every instrument can be heard cleanly,with the bass underlying everything else. Obviously the mono tracks have a slightly different,flatter sound,but are just fine. The notes are short and to the point-giving a bit of background about this concert.
This is a wonderful recording from 1964,presented by the Jazz Composer's Guild's "Four Days In December". The first five tracks are previously unreleased and are in stereo. The remaining six tracks were issued as EL SATURN and are in mono. The players are: Sun Ra-piano and celeste,Black Harold (Harold Murray)-flute and log drum,Al Evans-trumpet,Teddy Nance-trombone,Marshall Allen-alto sax,Pat Patrick-baritone sax,Alan Silva and Ronnie Boykins-bass,Cliff Jarvis and Jimmhi (yes that's correct spelling) Johnson-drums,and Art Jenkins-space voice.
One name which is conspicuous in it's absence is John Gilmore,Ra's veteran tenor sax player. Apparently Gilmore was not happy with his lack of recognition,and went off to play with others,including Art Blakey. Sanders was recruited to take Gilmore's place and his squealing (which I'm a fan of) style is readily apparent. Another musician who contributed heavily to this set is Harold Murray,who at times, sounds a bit like Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
This set has a number of the band playing many different types of instruments,along with the ones listed above.
The first track is very short and serves as a kind of opening statement/introduction to the night's concert. It has a very delicate feel,and sets the listener up for whats to come. Track two,the longest track (almost twenty minutes) THE OTHER WORLD is a free for all sounding collage,with everyone contributing sounds that together are almost overwhelming. It starts off quietly until the horns blast in. Then things quiet down for a sax solo,which is also in free jazz territory. Other musicians come in and play a few bars and then quietly disappear. Then the group as a whole starts weaving their sound together,which segues into a long drum solo. About three-quarters of the way through,other members of the band start to break in,using all manner of percussion (especially the log drum) in a finish that reminds one of African tribal music. Anyone familiar with Sun Ra and his players will know what I'm talking about. It's good to keep in mind that this is a live concert,with all the good and sometimes bad (personally I'm not a fan of drum solos) that entails. However,this is an exciting set that listeners of Ra's,especially in his earlier period will like a great deal. If you're new to this type of music-are you in for a wild ride. If melody and traditional soloing are your thing,watch out-this isn't it. The third track begins immediately with vocalizations and then the horns break in together with the drums,weaving in and out with the drums bringing this track to a close. The fourth track begins very softly with piano and flute,and is very refreshing after the previous bombardment of sound. The other horns come in,sounding almost middle-eastern,while the piano and flute have disappeared. This track is played very quietly and sounds very methodical,especially the bass solo. It's always interesting how Ra can take his musicians and put them in unlikely situations,and then sits back and lets them go almost where they wish. On this track Ra plays some very aggressive piano (atonally of course) and begins to take this tune somewhere else. It finishes with the flute and baritone sax playing in unison,and then ends very quietly.
The fifth track,DISCIPLINE 9,is the second longest tune here (over eleven minutes) and is very moody with Ra's piano and several horns playing in unison. There is the usual vocals about traveling the spaceways. This is a relatively quiet tune for Ra,which is very effective. Track six is a combination of all the instruments,which then quiets down for a bass solo. Track seven has Ra once again out front on piano,all alone until the horns and drums come in and almost brush him aside. On this track Pharoah Sanders can be heard to great effect. His high pitched squealing and lower register skronking can be easily identified. This track also makes use of various percussion instruments and very effectively reminds the listener where a lot of this music had it's origins. The tinkling sound of Ra's celeste can be heard underneath the other instruments briefly,then this segues into track eight. Again,Sanders tenor is both out front and weaving in and out of the other players. This is a good example of free jazz playing if someone were to wonder what it's all about. No sooner does this track start to move in a certain direction,when it segues into track nine. Murray's flute playing here is in the Roland Kirk style,complete with vocalizations through the mouthpiece. The sound ebbs and flows,sometimes almost disappearing altogether,only to pop up again. The title of this piece,THE VOICE OF PAN is very apt.
Track ten begins with Ra's celeste and several horns playing against each other,with the horns quietly stating the "melody". Ra comes in playing some beautiful piano,reminding everyone that he had a liking for big band music,which he combines with his penchant for dissonance. This is one of the most powerful tracks on this set,due to Ra's lower note playing on the piano. This track gives way to a delicate flute sound with African sounding percussion as accompaniment.
This set,while good in and of itself,must have been much ,much better in person. Can you imagine what it would be like to sit in close proximity to this group of people while they were playing this powerful music? With this release you come fairly close."
A new gun in town
Heavy Theta | Lorton, Va United States | 09/29/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Happy to report that the disc ain't near as scarifying as piero seems to think. Sanders takes to the Arkestra like a fish to bicycle, and considering the prior Ra-Gilmore-Trane connection probably ingested and transported a hefty dose of cosmic vibe that helped empower those Impulse albums from Ascension on.
The music here is energetic, even celebratory with no horn left unassailed. It's as if Ra's ny ensemble was reaching an uncharted post-bop climax just before it ran off the rails into the classic sessions that followed.
I'm thrilled that this disc has found it's way to release. It seems that just a few years ago there were any number of legendary records of Ra that were catalogued and discussed, but never got distributed beyond the original saturn pressing that were hawked at shows decades passed. This stuff is so fresh and alive and waiting for the next generation of star gazers to beam up."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1