Live At The Paradox

Opis

Live at the ParadoxOpis:Product Description Legendary pianist and bandleader Sun Ra departed from this Earth in 1993, but his cosmic legacy lives on via this excellent album by his Arkestra recorded at The Paradox Music Club in The Netherlands in 2008. Now led by 85 year old alto saxophonist / flautist Marshall Allen, this live set reflects the imperturbable spirit of freedom and creativity of a band which has existed for some 55 years. The organisations unique musical vision has influenced figures in the world of jazz such as John Coltrane and also inspired rock bands such as Sonic Youth and the MC5.

Also on board this particular astral journey is long standing tenor saxophonist Charles Davis, a veteran of the original Chicago based Arkestra, and newcomer Farid Barron, the first to occupy the pianists chair since Sun Ra's passing. As with all Arkestra performances the music is a beguiling mix of inter-planetary (free) flights of fancy and swing tunes such as the appropriately titled "Hocus Pocus" from the pen of Fletcher Henderson.

Review A self-proclaimed messenger from Saturn, Sun Ra graced our planet for 79 years, during which he applied his uniquely otherworldly touch to the full span of jazz music, leaving behind a vast and untrammelled discography wherein he reshaped swing, hard-bop, skronk and vocal jazz in his own peculiar, inimitable and stellar image. He couldn’t do this on his own, of course, enlisting the aid of his Arkestra, an ever-changing outfit of similarly ‘out’ musicians who continue Ra’s good work, touring the world and sharing his message 16 years after his death.

This 2008 show, recorded at Dutch club The Paradox, captures the Arkestra in full-flight under the direction of Marshall Allen, a saxophonist who worked alongside Ra since the 1950s, and who has been celebrating the Saturnian jazz-visionary’s legacy since Ra’s 1993 passing. Indeed, this release features as many Allen originals as Sun Ra tunes in its setlist, but while the smoky balladry of his You’ll Find Me sounds unusually earthbound material for the Arkestra, the sci-fi swing-skronk of his Millennium is as joyous and daffy as Ra at his most playful – Allen’s charismatic vocals, purring “come ride with us, on cosmic dust”, are very charming – while Take-Off, an ear-scouring fury of synth-bleep, horn-squawk and percussive bluster, could easily have fit on Sun Ra’s landmark 1973 album, Space is the Place.

From Sun Ra’s own compositions, the 14-piece Arkestra draw upon pieces he wrote for big bands. A 10-minute medley of Discipline 27-B (a track Ra often revisited) and I’ll Wait For You segues brilliantly from the former’s wild and free swing between melody and cacophony, to the latter’s giddy call-and-response tales of intergalactic Xanadus. Space Idol, meanwhile, finds the band chasing scurrying melodies and exchanging frenetic volleys of soloing, the atmosphere heady with improvisation, and impressively startling crescendos.

Those seeking an entry point into the often-baffling (and just as often dazzling) world of Sun Ra’s music are directed towards the aforementioned Space is the Place. But while the solidly-entertaining Live at the Paradox might be a not-entirely-necessary addition to an already-insanely-voluminous discography, it’s heart-warming to hear Ra’s music still thriving so vividly, so long after he left Earth. --Stevie ChickFind more music at the BBC This link will take you off in a new window Review (5 stars) Gloriously rumbustious...spontaneity-driven yet impossibly sophisticated...the highly atmospheric recording is technically impeccable. Absolutely essential. -- BBC Music Magazine, (Roger Thomas), December 2009Autor:Sun Ra Arkestra & Marshall AllenNośnik:Audio CDPłyt:Język: Data wydania: 2009Waga: 0.18 gramWysokość: 0.6 cmSzerokość: 5 cmDługość: 5.06 cmUWAGA: Kupując produkt na tej aukcji zgadzasz się na wydłużony termin realizacji wysyłki (10-14 dni roboczych). Podany towar pochodzi z zagranicznego magazynu, stąd wydłużony czas realizacji który podany jest obok.