Customer Reviews

Secrets Of The Sun (1962)

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I'll be brief here. Much has been made about Ra's move from Chicago to New York. The music changed from arranged, quirky, large band bebop to something entirely original and sometimes close to "free". Regarding free as another word for inaccessible, this album truly fills the gap. The music is accessible, but at the same time a long way away from the "Chicago" sound. If you're interested in Ra at all, this is a must have. The music's just interesting and intruiging, but doesn't leave you wondering. It makes a clear statement. I have actually come to appreciate transitional periods a lot--look at Miles, they show a lot of where the artist is, but wants to go. Ideas are fresh, and music is played with much conviction. That's what you'll find on this recording. Having already invested considerably in Ra's legacy, this CD is shooting right to the top!

A rare and essential LP from the 1960s is reissued in a splendor worthy of its significance.

Recorded after Sun Ra relocated to New York, it has a conventional jazz platform, but drenched in the blues and tight rhythms. The lineup consists of Sun Ra (piano and percussion), John Gilmore (bass clarinet and tenor), Marshall Allen (alto sax), Eddie Gale (trumpet), Pat Patrick (flute), Calvin Newborn (guitar) and Art Jenkins ("space voice").

Several of the songs - Friendly Galaxy, Space Aura, Love In Outer Space - became mainstays in live performances, but it's the previously unreleased Flight To Mars, which is 17 minutes of free jazz exploration, that makes the CD simply incredible.

A classic album is given a new launching pad that truly shows the artistic genius of Sun Ra and the musicians which drove his soundscape vision to astonishing heights.

This disc took me a few spins to warm up to. It's not surprising that it lacks the the aural fireworks that would come later in the decade, but the compositions and direction initially seem rather tame, even compared to such pre-cursers to the classic period as When Angels Speak of Love. It is only with ears free of the overt revolution to follow does one hear the boldness and innovation that is being unleashed here. Just as Cezanne was just beginning to fragment structure to allow the cubists who followed, Mr. Mystery is tearing things apart from within, while pushing his musicians to begin thinking about their performance with innovation that is breaking free of tradition. He's giving us a portrait of the House of Usher just before the whole place tumbles. It is this edginess before the storm that gives the recording its understated, but undeniable power. Highly recommended without reservation.

Released in obscurity by Saturn in the early 60's, planned for an Evidence release in the early 90's but never put out due to sound issues, here it is. It's a strange collection of chamber jazz pieces, tone poems long on mood and ambience and strange vibe. Cross "Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow" with "Strange Strings". The tracks are all rather abstract. My favorite is probably "Solar Symbols", a spacey experiment with recorded sound.

The album is a short one; thankfully Atavistic found and added the extra track "Flight to Mars" which is (I believe) from this same era. It's great - it could easily have been a side of another Saturn release of the time. It's a long (17-minute) jam at once more straightforward and more spacey than the album which precedes it. It swings hard and is an unearthed treasure.