JohnS Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 (edited) This album was my introduction to the music of Sun Ra. Was it really forty years ago? There wasn't much else available by Sun Ra at the time, at least in the UK which made the music here even more astonishing. It certainly lived up to ESP Disk's line 'You Never Heard Such Souns In Your Life' The most striking thing is the emphasis on lower range instruments, bass trombone, bass clarinet, bass marimba, tympani, often used at the same time as piccolo and flute. The emphasis is on the ensemble as much as on solo work but the solos are all excellent, often growing out of the ensembles organically. Listening to the album today it is just as stunning as it was forty years ago. There is so much here that it's an easy choice for taking to the imaginary desert island. Original lp and current cd cover below Edited May 13, 2006 by JohnS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 My first Sun Ra too! I feel pretty much the same way, the extreme high and low pitches are striking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 This is an excellent choice. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 Fun but moody, lyrical, and dark. Not the typical Ra session, but definitely a keeper. It ranks among my favorites, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 Not the typical Ra session, but definitely a keeper. Yeah, but I don't know if there's such a thing as a typical Ra session! -- Yes, this is a great album. Any thoughts on vols 2 & (more recently) 3? I only have the 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 Not the typical Ra session, but definitely a keeper. Yeah, but I don't know if there's such a thing as a typical Ra session! -- Yes, this is a great album. Any thoughts on vols 2 & (more recently) 3? I only have the 1st. #2 has a similar MO but the pieces are longer. Think of a spectrum leading from The Magic City to #1 -- #2 is in the middle. Definitely worth hearing. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted May 13, 2006 Report Share Posted May 13, 2006 (edited) This was the first Sun Ra album I ever heard, bought it back around 1966. I think it may have been one of the first to get national distribution. It's still one of my favorites. Some Ra albums get a little too cacophonous for me, but this one is really exotic and beautiful. I have always been taken by the bass marimba on this one. And that last track, "Dancing In the Sun", where they go into a swing groove - great! (edited for typo) Edited May 14, 2006 by Stereojack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted May 14, 2006 Report Share Posted May 14, 2006 (edited) Is this currently available on CD? I always thought I should have that one, and the description of the instrumentation makes me even more curious. Edited May 14, 2006 by mikeweil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swinger Posted May 14, 2006 Report Share Posted May 14, 2006 It seems to be available at www.espdisk.com Great music! It's currently my only Sun Ra cd and I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted May 14, 2006 Report Share Posted May 14, 2006 Not the typical Ra session, but definitely a keeper. Yeah, but I don't know if there's such a thing as a typical Ra session! -- Yes, this is a great album. Any thoughts on vols 2 & (more recently) 3? I only have the 1st. You got me (and in Sun Ra's name, I'll have to agree...)-- -on Vol. 3--wasn't there a bootleg masquerading as a third volume some time before the recent ESP album? I'd be interested if anyone has heard this--just for edification (I haven't, by the way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 (edited) Vol 2 has one of the most hilarious album covers I've ever seen... Copernicus, Pythagoras, SUN RA! Ronnie Boykins is spectacular during this period. I'm listening to his opening solo on "The Sun Myth" (vol 2) -- wow. These guys really are playing like the fate of the universe is at stake. Guy Edited May 15, 2006 by Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 I just got copies of Lanquidity and The Magic City--stunning, the both of them. There's a lyrical, elegaic side to the Sun Ra spaciness that just gets me really deep. Somewhat tangentially--Marshall Allen: one of the most underrated reedmen in modern improv, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest akanalog Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 yeah sun ra does this rolling rhythmic sort of low piano sound when he accompanies the other players during the freer stuff. as opposed to someone to my ears like cecil taylor who it seems like he was always battling with the other players, vying for attention, sun ra lays down this nice foundation for the other players to play off of. another album where ra does this is "when angels speak of love". which is not to say i like these albums so much. the horns get a little free for me-i think gilmore and allen mostly. they go for a lot of those really high sqwaky noises. at least on "when angels..." and "heliocentric vol. 3". i sold my copies of 1 and 2 a long time ago. maybe i would like them more now. "magic city" too, i know it is good, but it was a bit too free for me. for some reason, "other planes of there", which is slightly earlier, is more pleasing to me. i think it is a more gentle freedom on that one. and i like the sound of the trombones. would it be crazy of me to say i like "the solar myth approach vol. 1 and 2" more than "heliocentric worlds vol. 1 and 2"? though i suspect if i listened to "solar myth" intently and comprehensively i would find it has a lot less depth to it than the earlier "heliocentric". ronnie boykins is awesome on all of the freer ra albums. the beginning of "the magic city" with him and sun ra on that weird keyboard is so cool sounding. does anyone like boykins ESP album? i think it has a very ra-esque spirit and is surprisingly good. i see on the favored bittorrent site someone is seeding some sun ra from '83 with players like archie shepp and philly joe jones! i bet it isn't as good as it looks on paper, but i will find out for myself hopefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted May 17, 2006 Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 would it be crazy of me to say i like "the solar myth approach vol. 1 and 2" more than "heliocentric worlds vol. 1 and 2"? though i suspect if i listened to "solar myth" intently and comprehensively i would find it has a lot less depth to it than the earlier "heliocentric". Sometimes I feel the same way. 'Helocentric Worlds' was a pretty startling listen for me first time through--somewhat less self-consciously 'futuristic' than a lot of the Sun Ra oeuvre (hewing to the acousting side of things), but spacy in a languid, esoteric sort of way. I still think that 'Helocentric,' in its somewhat less affected approach to Ra's futurisms, is supremely successful in engaging the listener with the emotional 'mood' of 'interstellar space.' 'Solar Myth' is, I feel, midways between 'Heliocentric' and the 'The Magic City'-feel Sun Ra; it superimposes the electric, hotwired freedom of the large group sides over a number of fairly minimal contexts. In this way, too--invoking a lot of space--'Solar Myth' does a fine job of representing the more programmatic aspects of Sun Ra's style... in straddling 'feels,' it may be one of his more engaging efforts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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