The Second Stop Is Jupiter by Sun Ra

2009 (16 tracks, 38:08)

rock

 Interplanetary Melodies by Sun Ra

2009 (15 tracks, 38:50)

rock

I’m really enjoying it!

For an album about relationships and inner monologue and only a few (okay fine several) completely fantastic scenarios, this sounds like it was recorded in space. Space, the way space looked in a B movie inspired by 2001 but made by fans of Sun Ra. Really! Just think about it for a minute, I know you’ll agree.

The layered synthetic sounds in this album put a cold glittering sheen on what is otherwise almost flawless pop song writing. The structures are simple: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus repeats and then fades, over and over again. The lyrics are often minimal, a spare approach mirrored in Haines’ vocal technique, where her volume ranges from “quiet” to “not quite as quiet” with only a few notable exceptions.

Haines’ vocals add a stoic layer to songs otherwise made epic and grandiose with all the tricks written for dance music since disco. Looping riffs, vertical key changes, double-time thrumming basslines, it all combines into songs that are viciously catchy and itchably danceable. I can confirm this because I listened to this album quite a bit in the car, and was accused of tapping the pedals in time to the music, thus making my passenger somewhat carsick. The price of good songwriting, I say.

However, as you find yourself singing along to the lyrics, you start to notice how subtle, dark and witty Haines gets. There’s a mix of self deprecation and immensely sarcastic self-empowerment floating through her music, perfect for the world-weary twenty-something gir- I mean, woman, who likes looking good and telling people off and being lonely about it afterwards.

So, where and when would I put on this album? Well, any of the upbeat songs are great additions to your favourite dance mix. I can see “Sick Muse”  helping amp up the ante while you predrink, and “Satellite Mind”, with its NES bassline, might take a few bars to get heavy but you wouldn’t be able to resist it if it came on while you were sulking at the edge of the dancefloor. “Stadium Love” is the song for when you’re too tired to be dancing but too high on endorphins to stop just yet. I’d save “Twilight Galaxy” for the quiet car ride home after a passionately futile night out with your distant lover, though. It’s the beautiful mood killer of the evening/album.

In summary, let me recommend this album to anyone who wants to pretend they are partying in the future and it is even lonelier than the 80s in space, and catchier.

The edges of the empire; Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry: on fish and outer space ; Wrocklawbsters; a haunted backstage; The Congos; Dellé; saved by Big Blue.

The River Oder in Poland.

Switzerland is one of the first places I played outside California. That was with the Bay Area Wind Symphony, which was comprised of about one hundred and twenty teenagers, including nineteen trumpets (!), plus their braces and hair products, way back in 1984, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, before the Internet. Our unwieldy, hormone-saturated ensemble played seven classical concerts or so in Germany and Switzerland. It was my first taste of touring, and I had no idea I’d be coming back more than twenty years later, and that so much change would have occurred. I had hoped we’d have flying cars by now, but still…

Lausanne, Switzerland is scrunched between Lake Geneva and the unreal bulk of the Alps, in the beating heart of Western Europe. These vast glaciers spawn the two greatest rivers of the European continent: The Rhine, flowing north through Germany, and the Danube flowing east through Austria and Hungary and finally into the Black Sea. These rivers were once the boundaries of the Roman Empire, the boundaries between civilization and barbarity.

In the fourth century, Germany and Silesia (though they weren’t called by those names back then) were the barbarians, until one winter the impossible happened: the Rhine froze solid, and the barbarians walked right in the front door, goodbye Rome, hello Dark Ages.  Everyone was barbarians for a long time.

Colonialism and war brought huge changes to European demographics in their wake, and Europe has had to learn to cope with both the troubles and the benefits that come with diversity. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, who shared the bill with Groundation and the Congos at this year’s Metropop Festival is an example of someone from far Jamaica who’s made his home in this mountain paradise in smack in the middle of Europe.  You’d have to ask his neighbors, but I’ll bet he brings a bit of trouble with his gifts…

Lee 'Scratch' Perry; reggae legend, former fish.

In the late sixties and seventies America produced a number of unusual performers like Mr. Perry: outlandish costumes; quirky songs, sometimes with a childlike quality; eccentricities galore. Parliment/Funkadelic/P-Funk frontman George Clinton comes to mind. His claims to have come to this planet in a funky mothership is probably one of the least unusual things about him. At a typical performance, jazz pianist and composer Sun Ra, who claimed to hail from the planet Saturn, draped his considerable bulk in a muumuu and led his eighteen-piece ‘Arkestra’ through three hours worth of music from Disney movies. To cook up a rich culture we need not only people from the different races and religions, we need people from different planets as well. Back in America’s troubled 70’s, a jazz pianist from Saturn may have been just what the world needed. He sure gave the jazz critics something to talk about. And why not different species’ as well? ‘Scratch’ Perry, doesn’t claim to be from the planet Saturn, but he said at the concert that he was a fish before he became a man, so again, let diversity be the rule…

Straight after the show, we drove all night to the One Love Festival in Wrocklaw, Poland in the old kingdom of Silesia, once the very heart of the barbarian threat which gave the Romans nightmares. It’s the doorstep of The East, once a land of warriors and a land of war. It’s also fiercely independent, stubborn even. It was fatally wedged between aggressive powers during the twentieth century and nearly eradicated, but despite being carved up and stomped on, the Polish people rose up and made Poland one of the first nations of the former Eastern Bloc to stand up against Soviet imperialism and for social justice in their own country.

Centennial Hall, named for the anniversay of Napoleon's defeat in Silesia, 1813.

I like to blab about how this place or that has ‘history’. I suppose the place we played in Wrocklaw had almost too much of it. When it was built in 1913, Centennial Hall was a word-famous miracle of design and construction: the largest steel and reinforced concrete dome in the world. It’s awe-inspiring even today, perhaps more impressive than beautiful, with interior buttresses flying fifty meters overhead. A place built for drama and spectacle, in the 1930’s the Hall hosted not only Marlene Dietrich, but also a certain ruthless and powerful nutcase from the neighborhood. You see, Silesia was then under the influence of neighboring Nazi Germany.

Learning that fact gave me a genuine chill.  Though the time had come to play music and call on those generous spirits, I could hear the spectre of Adolph Hitler’s raging voice echoing through the curving, labyrinthine corridors. There were ghosts in those hallways threatening to drag me down. There I was, just before showtime, wandering through the cold, empty rooms we’d been given for a backstage, imagining Der Fuhrer sitting there, going over his notes for his latest speech, intent on inciting hatred and murder. Perhaps these rooms had been occupied by some troop of naïve young fascists in their matching uniforms, brainwashed and betrayed by the emotional momentum of patriotic hatred, getting ready to stand on stage behind their leader, hold the big red, white and black flags and look as Aryan as they could for the cameras.

Those things were long ago, but they may still haunt us, until new days dawn and they are forgotten. I’m a rational positivist, but I felt some spiritual cleansing were needed, and in fact there was an exorcism on the way, and it came from a very unexpected source: a suitcase called Big Blue. 

Big Blue backstage.

Big Blue is the giant diamond-encrusted suitcase Kim Pommel has wheeled along (or had someone wheel along for her) on tour almost since I first met her years ago. In the minutes before our show in Wrocklaw I was listening to my footsteps echoing down the concrete hallways, thinking about how Hitler wasn’t really dead. But then I saw that glorious suitcase, literally overflowing with colorful clothes, curlers and make up, scarves, beads and electronics. In a few words it was a big, beautiful bloom of life and color: everything that makes a mess of Hitler’s dreams of sterility and order.

 I could see Mr. Hitler sitting there, trying to enjoy his lemon tea before his speech, and here comes Ms. Pommel and Big Blue: ‘Oh, pardon. Do you mind if I put this here? You wouldn’t believe how heavy it is. Whew! It’s hot in here, mind if I open a window? Now, where’s my scarf? What’s your name? I’m Kim. I’m from Jamaica.’ Gott im Himmel!

The Congos.

And fleeing that dressing room poor Adolph might have stumbled upon The Congos, meditating or drinking tea themselves perhaps, a proud band of foreigners invited by the Polish people, the descendants of Prussians and Bohemians, to spread their musical messages of peace and spiritual wisdom. Hitler would have hated them and everything they stand for, I’m happy to say. Poor fellow. But it gets worse, because the thing that would have really pissed off the indisputed all-powerful ruler of Wolkencuckcucksheim was the band Delle, because Delle is a German band, an interracial band, and one dedicated to a musical style not only foreign, but African in origin, music that doesn’t exalt war or nationhood, but that weaves a spell of pleasure and love extending between nations who once warred and working to put the past in the past where it belongs.  That’s a mighty tough act to follower, Mr. Hitler, it looks like the barbarians are here to stay.

 “Diesel” Dave Chachere

Groundation

Centennial Hall: UNESCO World Heritage Site

PS. Centennial Hall in Wrocklaw is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The United Nations provides funds to preserve cultural treasures around the world, and its roster includes The Statue of Liberty, and Ruwenzori National Park in Rwanda where the mountain gorillas live. So then let the building stand, to be explored by architects, athletes, lovers of music, and seekers of ghosts.

Słucham Sun Ra i odlatuję. Zamykam oczy, opieram się o szafkę i mogę spać. Nic, że kant wgryza się w szyję, nic, że pozycja siedzę na krzesełku, w uszach mam słuchawki, a na oczach oczki. Noc, muzyka & zmęczenie.

Nie wiem, kiedy uda mi się wyspać. W Lublinie myślałem, że jak pojadę do domu, to się wyśpię. Nic z tego, przepisywałem opowiadanie z kartek na komputer. Przepisałem w niedzielę koło pierwszej w nocy i poszedłem spać. Potem myślałem, że wyśpię się po powrocie do lubelskiego. Także pudło. To już drugi tydzień, kiedy o 22 dopiero zaczynam żyć. Wstaję różnie, zależy jak muszę. We wtorek mam akurat na 12;30, więc jest całkiem dobrze, czuję, że rano będę się czuć sobą. Dzisiaj czułem się osobą bardzo senną, niedospaną w znacznym stopniu. Iść na wykłady i spać w miękkich fotelach. Kawa nie działa, szczypać się cały czas nie będę, bo męczące, a utrzymać świadomość samą siłą woli zdaje się być czymś niemożliwym. Zamykam oczy, otwieram oczy  i obiecuję sobie, że dzisiaj położę się wcześniej. Dupa, nie ma tak dobrze, życie zaczyna się po 22.

Ale dzisiaj jestem usprawiedliwiony. Czuję się tak. Jaki się czuję, taki jestem, człowiek jest miarą wszechrzeczy. Zabrałem się w końcu za długo odkładaną poprawę z rosyjskiego. Siedzienie i myślenie nad zdaniami. Pod koniec myliły mi się litery w razgowarywać, więc dokończyłem jeden punkt i odpuściłem sobie, żeby nie porobić oszybek i w poprawie. Brak słownika boli. Mam otwarte na necie trzy różne słowniki czy tlumacze on-line, żeby trafić na to, co potrzebuję.

Z rosyjskim jest w ogóle dziwna sprawa. Ten język mnie odrzuca. Zapewne to wina traumatycznych przeżyć z gimnazjum i liceum, fobia, z której nie zdołałem się jeszcze uwolnić. Gdy mam wziąć się za pracę i zrobić coś na rosyjski zawsze jest zastój. Zawsze coś blokuje, przeszkadza i odrywa. Od rozpoczęcia. Wszystko jest w psychice, tak sądzę. Angielski wydaje się być piękny, łatwy i przyjemny, rosyjski trudny i dziwny. Zazwyczaj gdy już się przemogę i zacznę pisać, rosyjski okazuje się nie być taki zły, pokazuje swoje jasne strony i po pewnym czasie staje się przyjemny. Tylko ta ciągle nie rozwalona ściana starej edukacji odstrasza mnie od robienia czegoś.

Ha.

Po wysłuchaniu The Magic City Sun Ra nie dziwię się już, że znalazłem tego artystę w szufladce oznaczonej jako “awangarda”.

Pociągi są cholernie inspirujące. W ogóle czas, kiedy się siedzi i wiele poza siedzeniem nie można zrobić, jest inspirujący. Bo się myśli.

Mam pliczek pomysłów w głowie, ale kiedy większy wiatr powieje mogą się wszystkie rozsypać. Bywa.

co mnie tak we wtorki koło pierwszej bierze na pisanie?

A couple of weeks ago i found this mix on the  Diggers With Gratitude forum, done by RCHECKA. I’m no expert on SUN RA but i think this could be a great introduction to his work. This is what  RCHECKA kindly wrote about this mix:

All of the interludes are from various Sun Ra DVDs.  I included them really more for educational purposes, I wanted yall to hear his voice, hear his strange philosophies, hear from his band members, and I wanted you to get an idea of the man behind the music. He is SUCH and interesting person, I could have gone on and on with even more audio snippets, but I wanted to keep the music the main theme obviously.

I thought that 2 CDs were necessary because his songs are so long.

I realize that this type of music is a “culture shock” type of mix, I expect many to “not like” some of the more dissident crazy jazz songs, but at the same time, I couldn’t leave that darker side of his work out of this compilation justifiably.  Actually, each track I chose for that compilation is (IMO) the easiest to listen to most palatable jazz track of each individual album I used. I chose the LEAST loud, LEAST crazy, LEAST dark songs, so if you can imagine, his work is even more dissident then that as a whole!  Every track came from a different album, so its a good taste of a variety of his more laid back work.

I hope everyone enjoys it too for what it is worth, I realize its not a “Mixtape” per say, it is what it is, a  tribute to an amazing man whose music touched my heart.

Rchecka

Listen to Disc 1

1. (intro) meaning of the sun ra – adventures of bugs hunter
2. they’ll come back
3. (interlude) a joyful noise
4. a strange celestial road
5. that’s how I feel
6. (interlude) a call from ra
7. disco 3000 side a (third planet – friendly galaxy – dance of the cosmo aliens)
8. (interlude) not a man
9. on jupitor
10. (interlude) a word from john gilmore
11. twigs at twilight
12. (interlude) jazz is the triumph
13. spontaneous simplicity
14. (outro) jazz is dead

Listen to Disc 2

1. (intro) the clarification of death
2. pyramids
3. cogitation
4. (interlude) the myth
5. india
6. romance on a satalite
7. sleeping beauty
8. (interlude) humor
9. batman and robin theme
10. (interlude) music represents
11. the star gazers – shadow worlds
12. (outro) history

Mad props to Rchecka for this!

I feel tragic like I’m Marlon Brando. China Girl – David Bowie. The gates to the century has closed. Pray to your gods. The ice doors are closing in on you. Burn the chocolate twigs. Gather enough tic tacs. Yes, ladies and gentleman. The 21st century is here. Burger King doesn’t have enough meet for your drooling mouths and your cringing bellies. Cannabis is now legalized in Portland. Who are repainting the murals of Che Guevara.

Logistics have no boundaries. Sex with animals being tolerated. I don’t disagree with them. Why not? A mad cat in Brooklyn I had once known in the burg. That bar, Subway I think. He had to say. My name is Tony. When its spelt backwards Why not? Why not?

They had to kill the elephants in India. The triggers were too large for little boys fingers in Rio. So they devised toys and video games that spit blood in your periphery when you fuck up. Thousands of leaves fall into the garden of Eden. Work up enough courage to drink from the Ganges. What is now considered tremendous feats? Remaining silent when spoken to. Crash your car for no reason and don’t claim insurance. Talk to your cat, dogs, and whatever domesticated animals you have raised — and don’t feel weird about it. Marry your pelican if you have to. Feel free to throw a middle finger to the driver next to you and smile about it because you know it makes you feel better. Confuse the cashier at your local supermarket for no reason so you will be the last person she would think about before going to sleep.

Walk barefoot. Scream LIFE IS FUCKING GLORIOUS like you’re really mad and feel positive about it. Burn your local newspaper in the middle of the biggest highway or the longest street in your neighborhood. Wait there to be arrested. Get your parents to open a new account for bail. And transfer all your life savings to that account….then devote yourself to being an ascetic. “Like Kane in Kung Fu.” Godbless David Caradine. Get a pet monkey and name him the great PROPHET. Build a black rock so she could ascend to heaven.

Try to make Turkish Delights. Leave them in the refrigerator for fungus to feast upon. If that ever happens. I wouldn’t know. Dial up every commercial phone number and tell the operator that they are loved and give them a big wet kiss. Wear your underwear on your head, walk downtown and read the best poetry you have ever written through a loudspeaker. Dress up as the midnight cowboy and walk through the streets of Kuala Lumpur like every motherfucking day is Halloween. Concoct this list for your own personal use. Try not to be a hybrid. Be fake like fakers do and destroy yourself like you were a secret message in Mission Impossible. Try your best to die young, or live long enough to wrap your soul around the world like it was cling wrap and store it away forever in the ice box of your heart.

In some far off place
Many light years in space
I’ll build a world of abstract dreams
And wait for you
(Sun Ra)

Sun Ras Space is the place als Theaterstück in Berlin, mit Eugene „U-gin“ Boateng:

Aus der Pressemeldung: Der afroamerikanische Musiker Sun Ra gehört zu den schillerndsten Musikerpersönlichkeiten des vergangenen Jahrhunderts. Aufgewachsenen in Birmingham, Alabama entschied er sich dafür seine Herkunft neu zu erfinden: so behauptete er vom Planeten Saturn zu stammen und nur Gast auf dieser für ihn nicht akzeptablen Welt zu sein. Er erschuf sich darauf hin sein eigenes Universum aus Theosophie, Ägyptologie, Afro-Futurismus und natürlich Jazzmusik.

Das Stück nimmt Sun Ras künstlerische Strategien zum Anlass um Fragen nach dem Verhältnis von Gegenwart und Zukunft neu zu stellen. Wollen wir weiter der Attitüde des Post anhängen, die sich zwar von der Vergangenheit absetzt, aber dennoch von ihr verzaubert bleibt oder entscheiden wir uns für die „proteische Geste“ (M. Epstein) und begreifen uns nicht mehr als Ende, sondern als Beginn von Prozessen, die in die ferne Zukunft hineinreichen? Space is the place – heute mehr denn je!

Konzept: Christoph Winkler
Von & mit: Eugene „U-gin“ Boateng, Sarah Grether, Martin Hansen, Anna-Luise Recke, Christine Joy Ritter, Jörg Schiebe
Training: Peter Trabner
Dramaturgie & Produktionsleitung: ehrliche arbeit – freies Kulturbüro

Termine

Premiere 19.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
20.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
21.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
22.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
25.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
26.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
27.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele
28.11.2009 20:00 Uhr – Sophiensaele

Aufführungen
November 19)(20)(21)(22)(25)(26*)(27)(28
20 Uhr

Ort
Festsaal

Karten
13 und 8 Euro

Kontakt:
Sophiensaele
Sophienstr. 18
10178 Berlin

info@sophiensaele.com
http://www.sophiensaele.com

Pressemeldung
Telefon: 030/2789 00 30
Tickets: 030/28 35 266
Fax: 030/283 52 67

“The Jewel in the Lotus”

If you have payed your dues-and your on the Tibetans side of things-then Mantra will take care of your worries and purify your thoughts. The term Mantra is used in Buddhism and is derived by two particular roots; to think; and the enlightened mind. It allows you to deepen your thoughts or imagination with positive and true ideas so that only positive vibrations will follow you in your course. 

It is thought that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this one prayer, and that the recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. Speaking the prayer aloud, writing it, or viewing the written form are all said to benefit ones karma, by invoking the peaceful & benevolent blessings of Chenrezig,the embodiment of compassion.

So now that you are blessed with that random post, there is hope.

Everybody Someday

A cool gallery shot by ITO

(http://www.projectartschool.com/everybodysomeday/)

I’m sitting on the couch with this pack of zig zags in my hand. Everyday I’m getting more amped up about Summer, being reunited with the boyz, catching some festivals, chasing the sun with a cold beer in hand. It will be good to kick back with no stress, free from all the grips of reality. 

Now, I speak from here, the same place, but somewhere else.

Sun Ra !!!!! the poet, the philosopher, the jazz composer, the synthesize player, the voice and the mystery. You are in my thoughts this week, while your musics bangs in my ear drums. Your visions are real, and your music echoes in this foreign land.

Mr. Coleman (photo credit: Karlheinz Klüter)

…

living the dream

Cheers to memorable days followed by memorable nights. On my way to Mr. Baraka’s reading, I passed the Davies Symphony Hall, where I saw Ornette Coleman was slated to play that night! I almost did a backflip. I couldn’t believe it. For whatever reason, I never imagined that I’d get to see Coleman do his thing, switching between sax and trumpet and violin and conducting his aural magic.

The show was down-tempo, and it made my year to hear him play live. His 1975 album To Whom Who Keeps a Record is one of my all-time favorites. A classic of the free jazz movement that I have played no less than a trillion times. If you like the early 1960’s avant-garde Jazz of Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Sun Ra or Cecil Taylor, you’ll dig this.

Turn the lights low, put your dark glasses on, light some candles, fill the room with smoke, pour something to sip on and please enjoy the Pulitzer-winning, Miles Davis Award-recieving, Jazz Hall-of-Famer and all-around baddass: Mr. Ornette Coleman.

video is cell-quality, but the music is what’s pretty.

Motto: “Humor vergessen”

Anwesende: Thomas

Heute habe ich meinen sorgfältig vorbereiteten Humor vergessen. Macht nix, weil ich ein selten gutes VIDEO im Anschluss für euch habe!

DOWNLOAD

Musik von: Chet Baker + Art Pepper, Sonny Clark, Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, James Hunter, Yusef lateef, Chet Baker & Crew, Elder Richard Byrant’s Sanctified Singers, Prince Lasha

Und hier ein selten cooles Video von JAMES HUNTER: Carina!

Bis Bald! Viel Spaß!

Retrocedamos en el tiempo. Estamos en 1959, en una minúscula habitación de Chicago, en la que se desarrolla una discusión entre unos afroamericanos concienciados y unos chicos blancos. Estos últimos no están de acuerdo con la siguiente afirmación: “Para que la América negra viva, el jazz debe morir”, ya que es la manifestación del sufrimiento y la rebeldía del pueblo negro en los Estados Unidos. Los chicos blancos consideran que el jazz sólo es un estilo musical, y que los músicos blancos pueden tocarlo igual de bien que los negros.

En esencia, ésta es la base argumental de la película de Edward O. Bland, The Cry of Jazz (1959), un cortometraje poco conocido puesto que permaneció prácticamente inédito hasta su edición en DVD en el año 2004. La película propone la existencia de un vínculo indisoluble entre el pueblo afroamericano y el jazz. Durante escasos 35 minutos, el film incorpora imágenes de la Sun Ra & His Arkestra, quienes a su vez sirven de resonante banda sonora a ritmo de swing interplanetario, junto a disertaciones sobre el jazz y la historia de los afroamericanos en los EE.UU. Resulta, en fin, una visión sociológica de la música jazz más interesante que la serie documental de Ken Burns entera.

Sun Ra – Space Is the Place (Space Is the Place, 1972)

Vineshoot

the psychedelic jazz mucisian from saturn, sun ra.

Sun Ra Arkestra, Setúbal – Arrábida World Music Festival, 3 de Julho de 2009

Infrequent Use of My Space
Current mood:  accomplished
Category: Blogging

Because of my use of other social media venues, Myspace has almost been none. I happen to be here this morning because of some thoughts I was having on freedom and that something our greatest freedom may be to choose freedom from freedom, which lead me to Googleing “freedom from freedom.” One of the results was Freedom From Freedom – SUN RA’ MySpace Blog….which really got my attention since know enough about Sun Ra to know that he died in the early nineties — the Myspace blog shows his age as 95, which would be the case if he were still alive. But then, from what I know about Sun Ra, he’s probably still alive, only not here on earth.

So here I am, completely distracted from my original thought by the freedom the Internet allows, which actually does get me back to my original thought on freedom from freedom. What better example of our greatest freedom being that of choosing freedom from freedom than that of choosing to resist the temptation to seek a deeper knowledge through the freedom network, the Internet. My resistance is weak, like those of you who may read this posting. An image comes to mind in the form of a question: Will we become a sea of corpses at the feet of the Sirens in Ulysses? Get the picture of people bowing, others dead at the feet of social media icons — cause of death, “data overload.”

kenne

(Sun Ra photo source: allaboutjazz.com

Ce vendredi soir, je serai à la Fondation Cartier avec Blutch : je jouerai une sélection de disques de Sun Ra, qui devrait durer un peu plus de 2 heures, tandis que Blutch dessinera en direct en écoutant la musique. Le mix sera sans doute sensiblement différent de celui que j’avais fait en avril dernier pour la Ferme du Buisson et abordera peut-être d’autres aspects de l’oeuvre de Sun Ra. Il commencera à Chicago et se terminera dans les étoiles, si tout va bien. Le même soir, dans une autre salle de la Fondation Cartier, il y aura une performance de Shoboshobo, Hendrik Hegray, Denis Tyfus, Kerozen et Jonas Delaborde qui dessineront une large fresque tout en mettant de la musique. La veille, le même lieu accueille un concert de  Rodolphe Burger  avec Dupuy-Berberian. Si vous lisez ce blog et que vous venez nous voir vendredi soir, n’hésitez pas à dire “coucou” avant ou après le set.

Terry Teachout’s Wall Street Journal article “Can Jazz Be Saved?” diagnoses jazz with a case of “terminal prestige.”  In other words, Teachout asserts that America’s great art form has become so esteemed that it no longer captivates audiences.  Admittedly, this prognosis is, at best, demonstrative of a phenomenon pertaining to a single sub-genre within a burgeoning musical family. More than anything else, Teachout’s analysis reveals to us our failure to reassess the manner in which we understand jazz music. Jazz has become an endangered musical species only because we have chosen to reify it as a static art resistant to evolutionary processes. In reality, jazz is as subject to alteration and transformation as any other musical genre.

With more artists attempting to cross-fertilize musical forms, the modern musical landscape has continued to saturate with the sounds of jazz.  For example, hybridizations coalescing jazz and hip-hop have become increasingly more common.  On their album Uninvisible, jazz trio Medeski, Martin & Wood infuse their sound with elements of the hip-hop tradition.  In particular, the track “Pappy Check” features the work of turntable virtuoso DJ P Love.

Medeski, Martin & Wood - Pappy Check

As bizarre as the resulting union may seem, even the much-maligned metal genre has embraced jazz practices.  Slightly over two minutes into “The Garden’s All Nighters,” The Number Twelve Looks Like You guitarist Alexis Pareja delivers a jazzy solo only to transition back into the band’s otherwise frantic, mathcore sound seconds later. As these examples demonstrate, the issue is not the vitality of jazz but the obsolescence of our discourse concerning it. In the words of renowned pianist-composer Sun Ra, “Jazz is not dead.  Jazz will never die.  It’s the musicians who are dead… they’ve been dead for the last ten years.”

“The Garden’s All Nighters” by The Number Twelve Looks Like You – The Garden’s All Nighters

Andrew Ciampa

Thema: “Wippi, widi wippi wippi wippi etc.”

Anwesende und Anwesendinnen: Doris, die gute Fee & Thomas

Ja, diese Biene, die ich meine, die heisst: Hey Hey Wickie, trallali, trallala, tralla hoppsassa, die macht was ihr gefällt….. Machen wir auch.

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La Musica: Quincy Jones, The Bad Plus, Tete Montoliu, Phil Woods & Red Garland, Art Blakey & Thelonious Monk, Sun Ra, Rev. D. C. Rice and his sanctified congregation, Willie Bobo

I’m not very well versed in older music, especially in comparison to Brad or Johnny Disaster. So, I’ve decided to find rad album covers and select a track from that album to share. Here’s Sun Ra’s “Image” from the record “Space is the Place.”

:::  DOWNLOAD > Sun Ra – “Image”  :::

Sun Ra made a movie, apparently:

Sun Ra – Rocket Number Nine

Meanwhile, on Earth…

Broadcasting on 28/9/09 (next Monday):

1. The Smiths – Sheila Take a Bow

2. Lambchop – Ohio

3. Television Personalities – Part Time Punks

4. Field Music – 17

5. Tom Waits – 16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought-Six

6. Times New Viking – Those Days

7. Frank Black – Los Angeles

8. The xx – Crystalised

9. Jimi Hendrix – Crosstown Traffic

10. Jack Lewis and Friends – Polar Bear

11. Jurassic 5 – Lesson 6: The Lecture

12. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth

13. Vashti Bunyan – 17 Pink Sugar Elephants

14. The Specials – Too Much Too Young

15. Japanther – Um Like Your Smile is Totally Ruling Me

16. The Clash – Rudie Can’t Fail

17. Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange

18. Atlas Sound – Quarantined

19. Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah

20. Cocteau Twins – Sugar Hiccup

21. Indian Jewelry – Bird is Broke (Won’t Sing)