In 1958, the Arkestra gained two of its most influential members, Marshall
Allen (primarily on flute during the early years, but later to be heard at much greater length on alto sax, oboe, etc) and Ronnie Boykins (bass). The
contributions of these two players helped Sun Ra solidify his Space Bop sound
and helped lay the ground for the more cosmic explorations of the following
years. Other new members making their first appearances during this period include Lucious Randolph (trumpet), Hobart Dotson (trumpet) and Nate Pryor (trombone).
During this time, Sun Ra and his Arkestra also recorded and released a relatively conventional single featuring the tracks "Hours After" and "Great Balls of Fire".
"Hours After" (Turner)
Sun Ra: piano
Everett (E. J.) Turner: Trumpet
Marshall Allen: Alto
sax
James Spaulding: Alto sax
John Gilmore: Tenor sax
Pat
Patrick: Baritone sax
Ronnie Boykins: Bass
William “Bugs” Cochran:
Drums
Alvin Fielder: Drums
This is a slinky swing number featuring its composer, trumpet player E.J.
Turner. After Turner's swaggering trumpet solo a brassy bridge section occurs, leading the tune
back to the main theme. Another version of this song appears on the LP Jazz In Silhouette.
"Great Balls of Fire"
Sun Ra: Wurlitzer electric piano
Lucious Randolph: Trumpet
John
Gilmore: Tenor sax
Pat Patrick: baritone sax
BeBop Sam Thomas:
Electric guitar
William “Bugs” Cochran: Drums
Alvin Fielder:
Drums
Jim Herndon: Tympani
Recorded in August or September of 1958, this simple "rhumba-blues" features
solos on Wurlitzer electric piano (Sun Ra), electric guitar (BeBop Sam Thomas), baritone
sax (Pat Patrick), trumpet (Lucious Randolph), and a brief second lead on
electric piano. After a restatement of the theme, Sun Ra adds some final high
register ornamentation at the very end.
Several tracks recorded in 1958/1959 eventually appeared years later on the album Lady With the Golden Stockings (1966), which was first reissued under the title The Nubians of Plutonia in 1969. To make things more confusing, this same record appeared initially in limited form as A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow.
John F. Szwed writes in his 1997 book Space Is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra:
With this record Sonny showed his response to the burst of interest in Latin rhythms set off by the mambo in the mid-1950s and the calypso craze of 1957–58. And like many big bands, the Arkestra’s take on these rhythms was less specifically Latin than a North American impression of these rhythms within dance-band conventions. The Arkestra was in effect reinventing these rhythms..()...The implication of these recordings is that a piece of music could be built out of the simplest of elements: a continuing string of drum rhythms and a series of melodies based on a chord or even a single note. Or nothing. On one hand it was a primitivist gesture, but it was also a stripping away of the previous generation’s obsession with harmonic complexity.
Another strong album, The Nubians of Plutonia, opens with “Plutonian Nights”: a bit of piano percussion, ensemble anchored by Patrick’s baritone sax, Gilmore, his tone heavier now and his lines deliberately fragmented, playing abstractions of R&B, Boykins’ bowed bass, horns spreading out to hit mysterious separated high notes in the ending. “The Lady with the Golden Stockings” dances with Spaulding’s alto and Ra’s electric piano over African percussion. Turn the album over and the percussion takes precedence: “Africa” and “Nubia” rumble, rattle and pulse, and Sun Ra’s delightful and all-too-brief presentation of West African high-life, “Watusa", also becomes a drum showcase.
Personnel:
Sun Ra: Piano, Electric Piano, Wurlitzer Organ, Bells
John Gilmore: Tenor Sax, Nigerian Bells, Percussion
Marshall Allen: Alto Sax, Flute
Pat Patrick: Baritone Sax, Percussion, Space Lute, Vocals (on "Africa")
Charles Davis: Baritone Sax
James Spaulding: Alto Sax, Flute
Lucious Randolph: Trumpet ("Plutonian Nights", "The Lady with the Golden Stockings", "Star Time", "Aiethopia")
William Fielder: Trumpet ("Watusa")
Hobart Dotson: Trumpet ("Ankhnaton")
E.J. Turner: Trumpet ("Black Sky and Blue Moon")
Nate Pryor: Trombone
Bo Bailey: Trombone ("Ankhnaton" only)
Ronnie Boykins: Bass
Jim Herndon: Tympani, Timbales, Conga
Robert Barry: Drums
All tracks recorded 1958/1959 and composed by Sun Ra except for "Watusa"
(André Pitts and Terri Vanne Sherrill).
A funky, low-register piano "dirge" (Sun Ra) introduces a slinky brass theme (based on a blues harmony and highlighted by baritone accents from Pat Patrick). This leads to a wailing tenor solo (John Gilmore), a jovial bowed bass solo (Ronnie Boykins), and then a return to the main theme, followed by a brief coda section (based on the main theme).
2. "The Lady with the Golden Stockings" ("The Golden Lady")
This bit of cowbell "exotica" is notable for a haunting melody featured in the
opening electric piano theme, based on a two-chord vamp. A confident tenor sax lead is
then featured (Gilmore), followed by solos on flute (Marshall Allen), alto sax (an acrobatic James
Spaulding), a second, more animated Allen flute solo (during which Robert Barry's drums indulge in some interesting cross-rhythms), a trumpet solo (Lucious Randolph), a
drum solo (Barry), and finally a mostly unaccompanied bass solo (Boykins). A version of the
main theme led by the brass/wind section (instead of electric piano) ends the
composition.
3. "Star Time"
This is a cheerful swing tune fortified by the baritone saxophones of Pat Patrick and Charles Davis. After an intricately-plotted
opening theme section, three soloists take choruses over a blues harmony: alto sax
(Spaulding), muted trombone (Nate Pryor) and tenor sax (Gilmore). A sudden
outburst of the winding opening theme finishes things off.
4. "Nubia"
In this oddly-structured swing number, Sun Ra's Wurlitzer electric
piano is first featured over Boykins' bass and Barry's drums. After a modulating piano introduction, a stable harmony eventually
congeals at the one-minute mark. This soon leads to exended drum/percussion solos (Jim Herndon, Barry, divided by a brief outburst from the electric piano), after which a breathless Boykins
walking bass erupts underneath John Gilmore's swaying Nigerian bells. A crescendo of
drums ends the tune.
5. "Africa"
Suspenseful processional drums, low brass accents and flute ornaments in the opening moments are soon joined by a crooning vocal section (led by Pat Patrick?). This is followed by a flute and trombone interchange (Allen/Pryor), a flute solo (Allen, with support from Boykins on bowed bass and Pat Patrick on "space lute"), and then another drum solo (Barry). Low brass and electric piano eventually reintroduce the vocal crooning, after which an accelerating drum groove appears. A brief low-register ensemble coda wraps things up.
6. "Watusa" ("Watusi", composed by André Pitts and Terri Vanne
Sherrill)
This tune (also highlighting Robert Barry on drums) has a catchy syncopated motif introduced by piano/drums which is then
joined by a rising counter-melody from a rousing brass section. A variation of the
opening theme then appears, carried by the bass, drums and piano. A brief drum break
introduces an even faster, more manic variation of the theme, which builds and
then returns to the opening version of the theme (which naturally accelerates
into a final rave up). In later years a concert staple, this tune is
frequently used as a showcase for the Arkestra's percussion section.
7. "Aiethopia"
Opening with bells (Pat Patrick) and exotic piano figures, this is a musical portrait similar to those heard in earlier "ethnic tone poems" like "India", "Tiny Pyramids", "Planet Earth" and "Overtones of China". A mysteriously-solemn brass fanfare soon erupts over processional drums, leading to a section where Marshall Allen's flute weaves its way through waves of metal and skin-based percussion textures. This is followed by a polyrhythmic drum solo (Barry) which itself transforms through a variety of tribal textures. The opening dirge-like brass fanfare soon returns to bring the piece to a dramatic climax. This song would later be recorded in a new arrangement for Jazz in Silhouette as "Ancient Aiethopia".
8. "Images in a Mirror"
This relatively "inside" swing tune features a nicely-accented opening theme with lush orchestration.
This leads to an alto solo (Spaulding?), a trumpet solo (?), and a tenor sax
solo (probably Gilmore), after which the main theme returns once more. An alternate version appears on
Jazz In Silhouette.
9. "Ankhnaton"
A loping piano figure introduces a lurching, baritone-heavy brass theme. A
lyrical flute solo (Allen) is followed by a baritone solo (Charles Davis), an
alto solo (Spaulding), a tenor solo (Gilmore), a trumpet solo (Hobart Dotson),
a bass solo (Boykins), a trombone solo (Bo Bailey) and finally a piano solo
(Ra). A brief restatement of the theme and a fanfare end the piece.
10. "Spontaneous Simplicity"
A relaxed electric piano theme gently sails over bells, drums and a pedal
bass pulse. Marshall Allen then takes a flute solo (probably his first
featured recording with the Arkestra), supported intermittently by scattered
electric piano accents. This tune would later be expanded in live form and featured on Pictures of Infinity.
11. "Black Sky and Blue Moon"
An exclamatory brass fanfare leads to a "doo-wop" vocal section (possibly the Cosmic Rays) backed by "exotica" drums. Brass elements gradually insinuate themselves back into the groove, leading to a flute solo (Allen) over Ra's scintillating piano ornaments. The vocals return for a bridge section (underlined by low brass accents) and then a restatement of the verse, with additional brass and wind figures adding texture.
Lady With the Golden Stockings/The Nubians of Plutonia features less of Sun Ra's "otherworldly" keyboards than some previous releases. However, it does highlight the wind (flute) and percussion forces just added to the Arkestra, tracing Ra's further movement away from traditional big band swing and blues forms and towards a more "world-music" sensibility.
Links
2014 Bandcamp Release
Apple Music
Wiki Entry
Temple.net Entry
United Mutations Entry
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