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Sun Ra, Accompanist


Rabshakeh

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Currently listening to A Tribute To Stuff Smith by Billy Bang, which has Sun Ra playing second to Bang's fiddle. 

I don't normally associate Mr. Ra with other people's records (well, at least not post-Swing era). Nor does Wikipedia apparently: it doesn't even have a "sideman" section for his discography. 

Can anyone think of any other examples of Sun Ra playing in an accompaniest's role on another musician's record? 

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and Wynonie Harris:

http://campber.people.clemson.edu/sunra.html

Sun1. Wynonie (Mr. Blues) Harris / Wynonie (Mr. Blues) Harris with Jimmie Jackson and His Orchestra*

Wynonie Harris (voc, d); Jackie Allen (tp except -1); Jimmie Jackson (as except -1); Herman “Sonny” Blount (p).

WSM Studio B, Nashville, March 1946

  Dig This Boogie (Harris) -1   Bullet 251A, Krazy Kat KK783, Classics 1013 [CD], Bear Family [Ger] BCD 15864 HL
  Lightnin' Struck the Poor House* (Harris)   Bullet 251-B, Krazy Kat KK783, Classics 1013 [CD], Bear Family [Ger] BCD 15864 HL
  My Baby's Barrel House (Harris)   Bullet 252-A, Route 66 KIX 20, Classics 1013 [CD], Bear Family [Ger] BCD 15864 HL
  Drinkin' by Myself (Harris)   Bullet 252-B, Route 66 KIX 3, Route 66 RBD 3 [CD], Classics 1013 [CD], Bear Family [Ger] BCD 15864 HL

Bullet 251 and 252 were 78 rpm singles, both released on April 14, 1946 (thanks to Sam Byrd for the exact release date). They were the second and third releases on the label, immediately following Bullet 250 ("Nashville Jumps" b/w "Loose as a Goose") by R and B pianist Cecil Gant, who at the time was also managed by Harold Oxley. For Bullet 252, we follow the A and B designations on the labels. In the trailoff shellac, "Barrel House" shows 252-B and "Drinkin'" shows 252-A.


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  • 2 weeks later...

Long time ago, I bought a CD called "The Hawk Returns" by Coleman Hawkins.  Very obscure and personnel except Hawk was not listed at all (well, one "Body Smith" was credited, I guess it actually was a Chicago drummer Buddy Smith). I kinda loved it but forgot about it soon.

Now I realized that this CD contains music by two legendary figures -- the first half by Les Strand (Jimmy Smith once called him "Art Tatum of the Organ"), and the latter by Sun Ra.  I thought the mysterious pianist was Junior Mance or someone like him...

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3 hours ago, mhatta said:

Long time ago, I bought a CD called "The Hawk Returns" by Coleman Hawkins.  Very obscure and personnel except Hawk was not listed at all (well, one "Body Smith" was credited, I guess it actually was a Chicago drummer Buddy Smith). I kinda loved it but forgot about it soon.

Now I realized that this CD contains music by two legendary figures -- the first half by Les Strand (Jimmy Smith once called him "Art Tatum of the Organ"), and the latter by Sun Ra.  I thought the mysterious pianist was Junior Mance or someone like him...

Was he playing on the album or is it his compositions? 

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14 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:

Was he playing on the album or is it his compositions? 

 

http://campber.people.clemson.edu/sunra.html  See the entry "Sun31. Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra". It claims that the pianist is Ra...not in his usual outer-space style, but very boppish piano.  Sounds like young Junior Mance (I still have some doubt that it was actually Mance).  Also, I think the bassist sounds like Wilber Ware.  And the arrangements for both sessions might be done by him  (some weird vocal choruses reminds me of his early doo-wop works).  Except the standards, there are two original tunes: "Flight Eleven" (blues) and "Modern Fantasy".  The credits are  given to one A.M. Brunner, but looks like this is an alias for Herman Lubinsky, the owner of Savoy Records.  So they might be written by Hawk or Ra.

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