Jazz avant-garde: «Other Worlds» y «The Cosmos» [ESP/ENG]

In 1952 Sun Ra formed the group Space Trio and legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra in order to proclaim his cosmic origin. He later formed with Alton Abraham an independent record label called El Saturn Records with which he recorded several albums and founded the Sun Ra Arkestra, which normally had ten to thirty members. At the beginning they played bebop, but in the late 1950s, Ra became receptive to the influences of other cultures using early electric keyboards and playing free music long before free jazz appeared. They also started to wear the eccentric clothing related to Egyptian civilization and science fiction for which they made themselves known. In 1961, Ra went with his group to New York, where they all lived together in the same building as a religious community in which creative freedom was linked to an iron discipline. That’s where they recorded that same year The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra and in 1965 The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One and Volume Two. These last two albums are entirely improvised, but there is an awesome sense of structure. There is a dichotomy between the freedom Sun Ra gives to his musicians and his ability to determine the style and spirit of each track. Like pianist and big band leader Duke Ellington, he was able to get the results he wanted with just a glance or a nod.

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The Sun Ra Arkestra’s live performances included percussive whirlpools, frightening electronic effects, unrelated echoes of rhythm and blues, elements of Asian and African music, dissonances and atonality. Starting in March 1966, and for a year and a half, the group played every Monday night at Slug’s Saloon jazz club, which increased their fans among the beatniks, early psychedelia followers and musical critics. Although there were opposed opinions about his music, he was praised by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and pianist Thelonious Monk. In 1968 the building they rented went on sale and they left for Philadelphia. There Sun Ra bought a house that became the band’s home until his death. That same year the Sun Ra Arkestra made their first tour of the west coast of the United States, showing their elaborated interpretations to hippies and Deadheads. In 1969, Ra appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, which increased his popularity. In 1970, the group toured the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and continued to play in Europe for many years.

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The composition begins with Ra playing the piano in a disordered and chaotic manner representing the violence that exists in the world. Then the rest of the band arises wrapped in a whirlwind of cacophonous sounds without rules or limitations. After that, Ra is left alone again hitting the keys of the piano without hesitation. Next the group returns in a frenetic and delirious way until they end abruptly.

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Translated with the help of DeepL

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Ra plays a note with the electric celeste and then Boykins makes an anguished and anxious solo with the double bass with bow until Ra and Allen join him. Next, Allen plays a passage that begins being to be melodious, but ends up unstructured. Afterwards, the three of them stop and Johnson enters using various percussion instruments. Then it’s Ra’s turn with the electric celeste performing an original and inventive speech, although something strange. Later Boykins returns, still as nervous as before, accompanied by Patrick with the timpani. All of a sudden the whole group enters with Ra playing the piano and fades out to leave Johnson alone for a while, but later returns with renewed strength. Then Ra is left alone again, but this time with the piano delivering a complex and accelerated melodic line. At the end, the group comes back as unbridled as ever to conclude the composition.

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℗ ESP-Disk