Search - Sun Ra :: Nothing Is

"Sun Ra and His Band From Outer Space will entertain you!"

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 08/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1966, Sun Ra took his Arkestra on the road touring New York state colleges. The shows were recorded by ESP-Disk for release, eventually being issued as "Nothing Is...". Sun Ra's music, already rather advanced, had incorporated much of the free jazz sounds he was hearing in New York, and this set captures the band at in all its glory.



One of the things that makes this record so fantastic is its inherently contradictory nature-- much of it is given over to Sun Ra's piano explorations, but his playing is tame, almost loungey (albeit brilliant). Typically chants are intoned by the Arkestra over his playing and the pieces blow open into loosely structured improvs for which only Archie Shepp's term "Fire Music" can readily apply. Moments of particular note include Sun Ra's lovely playing on "Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space", a brilliant inside-out tenor solo courtesy of John Gilmore on "Dancing Shadows" (wherein Gilmore makes his case for being the unsung hero of the tenor sax) and a simply lovely oboe solo by (I think) Marshall Allen on Middle Eastern tinged "Exotic Forest".



The 2005 ESP-Disk reissue, like the other albums in this recent set of reissues, is augmented by about 25 minutes of additional material, all of which is quite as good as the originally issued work, features crisp, clean sound, although the recording itself is a bit quiet and includes a brief uncredited essay and some poetry from Sun Ra in the liner notes.



For Sun Ra fans, this is a critical and essential release, for those new to Ra or the curious, if you approach with a free jazz background, this is probably as good a place to start as any, highly recommended."

It Is Something

Mr. Richard D. Coreno | Berea, Ohio USA | 09/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Placing this brilliant collection of free jazz, avant-garde performances in the context of the original album release in 1966 simply enhances the genius of Sun Ra.



The horn section is particularly impressive on Dancing Shadows, with the CD reissue including the bonus tracks Velvet, Outer Nothingness and We Travel the Spaceways.



There is something here and it transcends Sun Ra. It is an essential CD for those who truly believe in the potential of music as holistic art.





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