Recorded about a year after Sun Ra's arrival in New York City, the album Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow (released in 1965) features the Arkestra leader stretching out in all directions. Whether he was influenced by the city's surrounding musical atmosphere (which was about to explode into the free jazz phenomena) or simply feeling comfortable enough amidst the urban sprawl to finally present long-gestating avant-garde ideas, either way sessions recorded at Choreographer's Workshop during this period demonstrate a bold break from the "space bop" developed during the preceding Chicago years (although Side A of Angels and Demons at Play had certainly already started pushing boundaries).
The first 5 tracks were probably recorded in 1962 at Choreographer's
Workshop, NYC. Aside from a somber reading of "Ankh", these are made up
of "performance artifacts" showcasing Sun Ra's most experimental side
so far, and seem to reflect contemporaneous "cinematic" trends in European classical
music (Stockhausen, Kagel, Morricone) more than groove-oriented swing or
bebop. The last 3 tunes (including the 2014 bonus track "Chicago, Southside") were recorded during the 1961 sessions which produced Bad and Beautiful
and have more conventional structures and rhythms, but even these seem to be on the edge
of veering off into new astro-acoustic arenas during their fade-outs.
Irwin Chusid writes (on the Sun Ra Bandcamp release page):
"Cluster of Galaxies" and "Solar Drums" are modernistic percussion soundscapes, bracketing "Ankh #1," a swaggering R&B rework of a late '50s tune from the artist's Chicago years. "The Outer Heavens," sans rhythm section, echoes Third Stream chamber jazz, while "Infinity of the Universe" offsets a percussion battalion with thunderous low-register piano. "Lights on a Satellite" and "Kosmos in Blue," both recorded at an earlier Choreographer's session, ground the set on terra firma with some stylish hard bop. "Lights" remained a staple in Sunny's concert repertoire for the rest of his life.
Sun Ra: Piano, Sun Harp, Spiral Percussion Gong, Dragon Drum
John Gilmore: Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet, Percussion
Marshall Allen: Alto Sax, Bells, Percussion
Pat Patrick: Baritone Sax, Percussion, Clarinet, Thunder Drums
Ronnie Boykins: Basswith
Ali Hassan: Trombone on "Ankh"
Manny Smith: Trumpet on "The Outer Heavens"
Clifford Thornton: Trumpet on "Infinity of the Universe"
John Ore: Second Bass on "Kosmos in Blue", "Lights On A Satellite" and "Chicago, Southside"
C. Scoby Stroman: Drums on "Ankh" and "Solar Drums"
Clifford Jarvis: Drums on "Infinity of the Universe"
Tommy Hunter: Drums, Percussion on "Cluster of Galaxies", "Lights on a Satellite" and "Kosmos in Blue", Reverb Effects
1. "Cluster of Galaxies"
This piece comes across like an aural journey through outer space, as the listener encounters various forms of stellar phenomena. It opens with Sun Ra on plucked Sun Harp and ringing Spiral Percussion Gong summoning a wordless "mating call" of some sort. This texture is then enriched by high-pitched echo-feedback, courtesy of recordist/percussionist Tommy Hunter. Low, metallic percussion then dominates the eerie proceedings, punctuated by mysterious "thumpings". After a pulsing gong interlude (evoking Buddhist monastery imagery), the Sun Harp returns with a few brief arpeggios to usher in a final, ringing flourish. Aside from Hunter, Pat Patrick also plays Thunder Drum on this track.
2. "Ankh (#1)"
This is a septet arrangement of "Ankh" (also recorded earlier in 1956 for Sound of Joy and 1961 for Bad and Beautiful), featuring Sun Ra (p), Ali Hassan (tb), Marshall Allen (as), John Gilmore (ts), Pat Patrick (bars), Ronnie Boykins (b) and C. Scoby Stroman (d). Like the version on Bad and Beautiful, it omits the 1956 introductory section and quickly goes to the swinging "jam" riff featuring swaying, low register brass. Ali Hassan soon offers up a somewhat disconsolate trombone solo, followed by Pat Patrick in a more boisterous baritone sax lead. Ronnie Boykins' elastic bass takes the final spotlight. The tune ends in a fade out as Sun Ra injects a few final "rolled" piano figures.
3. "Solar Drums"
This tune features waves of percussion textures (courtesy of Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, C. Scoby Stroman and Sun Ra) processed with reverb effects applied by Tommy Hunter. Sun Ra and Ronnie Boykins eventually add scintillating piano and murky bass shapes, but Hunter's lurching application of the reverb effect makes the aural image go in and out of view.
4. "The Outer Heavens"
This drumless sextet (Sun Ra (p); Manny Smith (tp); Marshall Allen (as); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (clarinet!); Ronnie Boykins (b)) is structured around mischievous rising-falling figures from Boykins' bass and Sun Ra's piano, while the horns offer up free-spirited melodic lines over a nebulous harmony. At times the horns lock into sequences based on short repeated motifs, an idea which would be more fully explored many years later in Sun Ra's "Discipline" compositions. Solos from Marshall Allen and John Gilmore soon push the band into a free-jazz dynamic, after which Sun Ra's pounding piano is briefly spotlighted. The piece ends in a fade-out, possibly hinting at a much longer original performance.
5. "Infinity of the Universe"
This tune features a percussion ensemble made up of Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick and Clifford Jarvis (with Tommy Hunter providing subtle reverb effects). After an opening dominated by melodic percussion, menacing piano/bass riffs (Sun Ra and Ronnie Boykins) enter to evoke a more forbidding atmosphere. Sun Ra then begins hammering out dark, unrelenting piano accents, while members of the percussion ensemble approach and recede from the borders of the aural soundscape. A drum solo (Clifford Jarvis) is spotlighted in the middle section, after which a rhythmic "rave up" ensues, this time with the addition of Clifford Thornton's trumpet and a bit of John Gilmore's bass clarinet.
6. "Lights on a Satellite"
Sun Ra (p); John Gilmore (ts); Pat Patrick (bars); Ronnie Boykins (b); John Ore (b); Tommy Hunter (d)
Sun Ra (p); John Gilmore (ts); Ronnie Boykins (b); John Ore (b); Tommy Hunter (d)
Monk-like piano figures from Sun Ra are soon joined by limber bass lines from Ronnie Boykins and second bassist John Ore, leading the groove towards a light swing rhythm (although Ra's unusual comping keeps things a bit "edgey"). Tommy Hunter (on drums) soon initiates a series of exchanges with Ra's piano and Boykins' bass. Eventually, John Gilmore enters with a dry tenor sax solo (somewhat recalling his angular playing from Futuristic Sounds' "Jet Flight"), followed by a return to lead exchanges between Ra, Hunter and John Ore (replacing Boykins in this round). In the final stretch, Gilmore returns one more time to lay out a more formal theme melody before a slightly-ragged ending cadence.
Sun Ra (p); John Gilmore (ts); John Ore (b); Tommy Hunter (d)
This 2014 Bandcamp "bonus track" is also a bar-room blues number, but is markedly more frenetic than the previous tracks. Percussive piano accents from Sun Ra soon usher in another biting, hard-bop tenor lead from John Gilmore, this time backed by John Ore's tireless walking bass. Sun Ra soon offers up a syncopated "kosmo-blues" solo, after which Ore gets his own spotlight. Floating piano slams soon lead to a second solo from Sun Ra, still in "stellar" mode. The song fades out on a stuttering Gilmore tenor figure, offering a tantalizing hint of an original longer performance, cut off whilst in the midst of mutating into something again very different.
Links
2014 Bandcamp Release
Apple Music
Wiki Entry
Temple.net Entry
United Mutations Entry
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