Sun Ra: The Missing Link Between Duke Ellington and Public Enemy

Lately I've been listening to a lot of music. De La Soul, Gravediggaz, McCoy Tyner, Funkadelic, Django Reinhardt, Onra, and Dave Brubeck have entertained me for countless hours during the past 2 weeks. Fortunately I also made room to listen to some of my Sun Ra albums again and I don't regret it. Personally, I prefer Sun Ra's Chicago output and early New York years before he went entirely into free jazz in the mid-1960s, but I've listened to music from all three of his formative years/locations: Chicago's southside in the 1950s, New York in the 1960s, and Philadelphia until his death in the early 1990s. Ra's crazy beliefs, such as thinking he came from Saturn, and the cult-like characteristics of his Arkestra may drive some away from his music, but his Afrocentric stance on history and the future inflluenced later generations of African American musicians, including George Clinton of P-Funk fame and even contemporary Janelle Monae. Their afro-futurist themes and lyrics owe a lot of Ra's space chants, philosophy, and cosmic music titles. Moreover, Ra's innovative avant-garde big band sound and members of his Arkestra influenced other jazz musicians, such as John Coltrane, who changed his style after listening to Arkestra tenor John Gilmore. Ra also retained Ellington's colored tonality while experimenting with electric instruments, making him the first to use electric instruments in jazz. For example, he used electric bass for the 1950s Nubians of Plutonia album and incorporated electric keyboards and the prototype of the first synthesizer during his Chicago and early New York recording eras. He also explored modality, exotic/world music (mainly percussive African), and even made an excellent fusion album, Lanquidity.

Though not a big fan of free jazz, I still appreciate Ra's earlier stuff and some of his freer material from the 1960s, such as Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy. The title refers to a concert Ra's Arkestra did in a mental hospital. As you can imagine, the craziness of Ra and their costumes made getting gigs quite difficult. Anyway,  Cosmic Tones has one of Ra's funkiest songs. "Moon Dance," featuring a groovy bassline, random electric organ parts, and an amazing drum solo, is an unforgettable journey in sound. The rest of the album is a mixture of atonal and tonal solos, marking this period as a transitional phase for Ra's music. The fantastic Jazz in Silhouette, Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, and Nubians of Plutonia are probably my favorites because they're more conventional hard bop yet illustrate the forward-thinking composing skills of Ra. My favorites from these 3 albums include "Nubia" for its extended drum solo and frenetic electric organ solo, "Bassisim" for awesome flutes and bass, "Watusa" which became a standard for Arkestra concerts, "The Lady with Golden Stockings for interesting drumming and blues-tinged soloing, "Ancient Aeithiopia" for Egyptian/ancient sounds, and "Saturn" for some good swinging. I also love Ra's early ballads and contemplative works, including the spacey "Tapestry from an Asteroid," "Space Jazz Reverie," the funky fusion sound of "That's How I Feel," "Kingdom of Not" for hand claps, "El is a Sound of Joy" (a reference to Chicago), "Springtime in Chicago," and the devastating blues of "Space Loneliness."

Unfortunately Ra made some bad artistic choices in the 1980s. His later material is generally harder for the average listener because of free elements, collective improvisation and absurd material, such as a Disney tribute album. Sun Ra also became well-known despite never selling platinum records. He appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 1970s, released a movie, Space is the Place, and became legendary for his concerts. I am sure that is reputation for lunacy also spread his name around the world. It's also important to recognize the musicians in his band who played his difficult compositions and endured the rules of living with Ra. They lived together in a house in Philadelphia where Ra ruled supreme. He also forbade alcohol, sex, and forced his ideology on band members. Therefore John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, Julian Priester and the myriad of other Arkestra members deserve a shout out. By the way, Patrick's son, Deval, is currenly governor of Massachusetts. Gilmore was already renowned for his sax playing and probably could've made a larger name for himself in the 1960s avant-garde scene if he went solo. Furthermore Ra was also part of New York's Village avant-garde music scene during the 1960s. He housed other musicians, including Pharaoh Sanders and played at Slug's, a famous jazz club.

In order to complete your education, here are several youtube links to favorites of mine

Enlightenment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBzO-vferY

Saturn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_PswgsM3gE&feature=related

Plutonian Nights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLFh8St9Vwc&feature=related

Nubia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1_30n0qvOw&feature=related

Watusa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt3ZMC8OAj4&feature=related

That's How I Feel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQmc6_w2bTE&feature=related

Nuclear War (Ra thought this would be a hit so he tried to sell it as a single to Columbia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6qbSHKzcmI&feature=related

Tapestry from an Asteroid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AntrELq19X0&feature=related

Moon Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Oe2ZxahY7U
Solar Drums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC5oumNZZXo

Love in Outer Space
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGGeCxl7oM&feature=related

El is a Sound of Joy (bad video, sorry)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6ti03p5qg&playnext=1&list=PLFAD9C4BED984A045&index=29