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Old 03-08-2011, 04:00 PM   #7 (permalink)
Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra
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Super-Sonic Jazz
1957



Tracks

1. India
2. Sunology
3. Advice to Medics
4. Super Blonde
5. Soft Talk
6. Sunology Part II
7. Kingdom of Not
8. Portrait of a Living Sky
9. Blues at Midnight
10. El Is the sound of Joy
11. Springtime for Chicago
12. Medicine for a Nightmare

Another mixed bag of a Sun Ra CD. Again, not that the straight jazz stuff is particularly bad, just not what you'd expect from a Sun Ra outing. A great example of a more traditional Jazz song done to perfection is Sunology Part II which is a beatifully laid back melodic epic.

One thing that really stands out though is Sun Ra's odd choices in percussion. Something that is present through the first few songs, disappears in the middle mysteriously, and returns later on. If I were to describe this album best it'd be in phases.

Phase I: Experimental/Trademark

India
Sunology
Advice Medics

Phase II: More traditional

Super Blonde
Soft Talk
Sunology Part II
Kingdom of Not
Portrait of a Living Sky
Blues at Midnight

Phase III: A mixture

El Is the sound of Joy
Springtime for Chicago
Medicine for a Nightmare

I'd say due to this dichotomy, however, a lot is taken away from the CD. Especially since the clear high point is the opening track 'India' Which is a masterpiece of "unflinchingly avant" jazz. Strange percussion, some classical operatic sensibilities, and too perfect of a mixture of everything Sun Ra is a genius at. Makes the rest of the album seem like a downward slide:



Albeit, not to discredit other high points of the album. A lot of the later songs are very abrasive, and 'heavy' particularly for later 50s jazz pieces. Advice to Medics is also another neat Avant-Garde piece, and, once again, Sunology II is over whelming. Springtime for Chicago and Medicine for a Nightmare are also high points of this album.

However, as a whole, seems sort of poorly arranged, and as if there were way too many songs pandering to a more traditional jazz sound in order to acquire some fanbase. Still, nothing on here is bad. Production, as often, isn't the best but I like the way Sun Ra produces(a lot of fuzzy recording, VERY loud drums), but for somebody more fidelity minded, this album ain't for you.

With that said, nothing on here is bad, and nothing I even would say ever dips below quality of well above most other people's best. So, my final rating:

7.5/10 - High moment in India which is a definite 10/10 song.
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