Search & Destroy: Sun Ra

And of course, back up to the rooftop gardens/stations: Live At The Wonder Inn, Chicago 1960.

xpost -- Roxor. I caught that, I was more posting confirmation (and ergo, search YouTube...)

Aha, got it.

Mr.Ra providing most cogent replies to astute, erudite interviewer Phil Schaap right now (from 1980s, I think.)

The interview continues, but every now and then he pulls out something like this excursion with Wilber Ware, times the Ra core combo ( the sometimes vibes-like keys reminding me to hope that the marathon or Sunday's slight return will incl. tracks from Visions, with Vic Dickerson). This Ware shot is tip-toe through the trigger warnings, keep on keeping on.

He's also brought along an edit of the overture from nine-volume Manhattan Undertones, reminding me of the star of that movie Q The Winged Serpent, with a nest in the top of the Chrysler Building--but really, going by the tone of the preceding comments, it's tough love from the tone scientist, as he calls himself now (also a restored outtake from the Space is The Place documentary: refreshing ballad, headed upstream)

Overnight, the next five hours or so, anyway: concerts, starting well in Helsinki.

Like I said, I was wondering if some of these were the iTunes remasters--obviously some weren't, judging by occasional surface noise, tape hiss, distance, distorion (barely noticed the first two, liked the effects of the d. and d.). Well, this morning, we got a bunch of remasters announced as such, by the series co-producers, Irwin Chusid and Michael D. Anderson (keeper of the Ra-mandated sub-archive of masters, incl. material still being released for the first time). The xpost Wonder Inn tracks were brought forward a bit, closer to our table, without (any of the tracks played) losing any of their pungency. Digital has come a lonngg way.
So, they're offering samplers, as well as original albums, with prev. unreleased bonus tracks on some sets in both series. The samplers are theme-y, but even the Exotica tracks sounded fine, for the most part: the flute on one started out as watery as expected, but got a lot better, and whatever the subgenre etc,Ra always likes lots of bass (frequently arco) and percussion (frequently tympani, also timbales and whatever's handy).
Chusid said he's also working with Sun Ra LLC (in the Schaap interview, Ra said he set that up early on), "to find out where the money's going," and get some of it for Ra's heirs, like those very early members of the Arkestra still touring, and maybe not always entirely by choice.

I only have cosmic tones, magic city, Atlantis and (forgot the title) but it's p tempting to rebuy them if the sound is really refreshed.

Now: Monorails and Satellites Volume Two-- so far, more suspenseful than Volume One,, which was just played all the way through, as this will be, I assume. More about the reissues:
http://jazztimes.com/sections/news/articles/130149-sun-ra-music-archive-reissues-21-albums-exclusively-for-itunes

Solo Piano, Volume One, from 1977, produced by Paul Bley, and now Solo Piano Recital, which so far sports shorter pieces, aimed at live audience: the former (a studio set) occasionally too reliant on spaces between notes (dramatic pauses; encouraged by the usually excellent Bley's more ECM-ish influences? Surely Ra's not susceptible, so no excuse), but more often with varied ways of playing the same note, outbursts like a self=starting player piano, undertow-defying/shading waves though "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child"--overall, both albums have me thinking of Mondrian's "Broadway Boogie Woogie" and weather.

(The live album's not as deep, maybe, but carries me along like a live album should.)

Actual title: Solo Piano Recital: Teatro la Fenice Venizia.

Same album, in the home stretch with "Free Improvisation"("I want to invite you to a party on Jupiter"). He'll be back Sunday afternoon. Also: five tracks, supposedly essential (reasons provided):http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/05/22/314363815/act-like-you-know-sun-ra

Oops well like it says upthread, Sunday goes like this: with an in-depth look at some of Ra's earlier controversial, avant-garde work on the early morning "Jazz 'til Dawn" (1-6am) and a focus on notable Arkestra members with significant distinct careers on the afternoon "Jazz Profiles" (2-7pm).

Back for the Ra edition of "Jazz til Dawn," leading off with Of Mythic Worlds(1979) which is a space swing sandwich of "Over The Rainbow and "Inside The Blues," between the suave exotica of "Mayan Temples" (invitation to a beheading, perhaps) and the relative outness of "Intrinsic Energies" and the somewhat further out/crisply frictional title track. Good stuff, though I'm more into the more combustible cohesion and momentum of Life Is Splendid, from the 1972 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, with six drummers and plenty of strong male and female voices, rolling though light and dark: "If this is the Planet of Life, why are people dying? You dare call this life! Ha ha ha ha!" Horns laugh too, mountains ripple. "Why don't you come on to Outer Space with me? Every day down here is the same old thing. Come with me, to the Imm-measurablllle--Endless! Immeasurable!"
1. Enlightenment 2. Love In Outer Space 3. Space Is The Place 4. Disciple 27-11/What Planet Is This?/Life Is Splendid/Immeasurable 5. Watusi
6. Outer Spaceways Incorporated

Sorry, the medley starts with "Discipline (not Disciple) 27-11."

This afternoon's "Jazz Profiles": spotlight on Marshall Allen (90th birthday is today, I think; maybe they'll get around to his centennial too). Started with him and James Moody, in 1949, and later on Paul Bley Quintet's Barrage(ESP, '64), but mostly with Ra. Think I'll try to make more of my notes for other wheres of else, but here's news on Allen's new album Two Stars In The Universe,, with current Arkestra collegue Kash Kallion, who plays, cello, sarangi, and kabong (MA plays Casio as well as sax and flute, whole thing reportedly mellower than expected, but with some "freaky" too). Ltd, ed, get it while you can:http://www.thewire.co.uk/news/30281/new-marshall-allen-album-to-be-released-by-swiss-sun-ra-collector

Mark Sinker's interview with Ra: http://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/loving-the-alien_black-science-fiction

One last: "If we came from nowhere here, why can't we go somewhere There." Not as much a question, as strong suggestion!

Will Friedwald, with a good overview of Ra, and exploring the iTunes reissues:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/sun-ra-still-out-of-this-world-1401313219

"Space is the Place" at Fenway!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8vhu36B9U

!!!

AMAZING

http://www.wnyc.org/story/happy-100-sun-ra-its-been-23-years-live-concert-has-been-heard/

Was anyone else kind of. . . I don't know. . . *annoyed* by this piece on Pitchfork?

http://pitchfork.com/features/starter/9447-sun-ra-10-essential-tracks/

To me, the picks feel a little obscure for obscurity's sake.

Thanks so much for that show, Daphnis!

uh imo those aren't exactly obscure albums austin

any list with "Strange Strings" on it is ok by me

Not the albums, but the tracks are what bugged me.

I don't know. I still have a hard time accepting pfork writing outside of their "box." Don't mind me; snobbiness and whathaveyou.

**shrug**

I guess if it gets more people listening to Sun Ra, then all's well that ends well.

I know what you're saying though - even the idea of "10 sun ra songs you must hear" offends me ... why not 50? or 100 would be more like it!

Can someone help me identify a live Sun Ra track please? I used to have as an mp3, pretty sure it's somewhere between 10-20 mins long, sounds a bit like "V.I.P." by Fela Kuti - kind of repetitive horn riff that builds up, if that helps.

lol

um what's the instrumentation

and the era (take a guess)

Haha, It's worth a try!

Ok, At a guess I'd say 70's at the earliest, maybe 80's. It was quite a clear, professional sounding live recording. The stand out thing of the track is the riff that gets repeated by the horn section (mainly trumpets, if I remember) and builds up, it's fairly slow tempo.

Is that any help?

Space is the Place?

first thing that came to mind was 'that's how i feel'

Tracks I have from that era that are between 10-20 minutes long:

"There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)" - Lanquidity
"Dark Lights in a White Forest" - Omniverse
"Intensity" - Lost Tones
"Somewhere There" - Outer Spaceways Incorporated
"Omnisonicism" - Lost Tones
"A Fireside Chat With Lucifer" - A Fireside Chat With Lucifer
"Space is the Place" - Space is the Place
"Life is Splendid" - Life is Splendid
"Sleeping Beauty" - Sleeping Beauty
"Say" - Strange Celestial Road
"I'll Wait For You" - Strange Celestial Road

A bunch of these are slower, ballad-type pieces and don't bear much similarity to "VIP".

There's also a bunch of longer live tracks on the Live at the Ann Arbor Jazz Festival albums, but I have those at home. "Strange Celestial Road", "On Jupiter", and "Disco 3000" all have some p long tracks iirc but I don't have them here either.

listening to Secrets of the Sun - forgot Calvin Newborn was on this, so weird to hear that thick, nimble R&B/jazz guitar on a Sun Ra record

Wow, thanks a lot for going through the trouble, appreciate it. After going through a box of about 100 unlabelled mp3 cd's I've found it - 'Adventures Outer Space' from 'Calling Planet Earth'.

Basically it's nothing like how I described it apart from sounding a bit like that Fela Track - It's only about 7mins, not a great recording and from the 60's - sorry about that.

Could have sworn it was longer, maybe anyone knows if there's another longer version out there, under a different name possibly?

lol I don't even know that one at all

ILX alumnus Andy Beta on Marshall Allen-selected Sun Ra and His Arkestra's enticing double-album overview, In The Orbit of Ra:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19736-sun-ra-and-his-arkestra-in-the-orbit-of-ra/

the first disc of the comp is really amazingly well put-together

nice review

does not sound like the kind of thing I need to own tho lol

Roartorio Records is releasing an unreleased Sun Ra album from 1972 next month

In 1972, Sun Ra inked a high-profile deal with ABC / Impulse, bringing his recorded work to the widest audience he’d had to date. A slew of Saturn back catalog titles and two newly-recorded albums (Astro Black, Pathways To Unknown Worlds) were issued before ABC cancelled the contract, dumped the records into the cut-out bins, and left the unreleased albums to languish. Now, over four decades later, Roaratorio is proud to offer one of the lost Impulse recordings for the first time. Sign Of The Myth hails from the same studio session as Pathways, and shares its emphasis on guided improvisations. With a constantly shifting palette of Moog textures, Ra tosses off a dazzling array of ideas throughout, supported by the usual Arkestra stalwarts; in particular, bassist Ronnie Boykins and drummer Clifford Jarvis are in shining form here, giving shape and solidity to these pieces. Sign Of The Myth is a welcome augmentation to an especially fertile period from Sun Ra’s time on Earth. Download coupon included.

https://soundcloud.com/roaratoriorecs/sun-ra-his-astro-infinity-arkestra-the-truth-of-maat

Cool! The Other Strange Worlds record Roaratorio put out is pretty great (though it isn't quite the "Strange Strings part 2!" the sticker claims).

ooh yeah that sounds good

I have never heard Astro Black :(

i don't know, i have more than 50 sun ra albums and i found the first disc of the comp surprising and engaging

Me neither! I used to see it used all the time, but never picked it up because I assumed it was a repackaging of a Saturn thing I already had.

xp

I saw it only once, on the wall at Dusty Groove in Chicago and it was $75