Search - Sun Ra :: Solo Piano Recital: Teatro la Fenice Venizia

If only there had been more

Glenn Becker | Arlington, MA USA | 09/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sun Ra was often written off as a so-so keyboard player (probably by people who didn't listen to him much!). Fortunately, his enormous catalogue proves otherwise, and no recording does so more definitively than this Solo Piano Recital.



It is pure delight to hear Ra dig deeply into this program of his own compositions and jazz standards, pulling them apart with great joy and then rearranging the pieces into delightful tapestries of sound. Purists may not like what he does to "St. Louis Blues," but his great ability to _do it_ cannot be denied. You will hear echoes in his playing of the entire range of piano jazz from Jelly Roll Morton all the way up to Cecil Taylor.



Sun Ra recorded solo all too infrequently. Of the solo recordings I have heard I consider this the best, the fullest, the most delightful. It's a recording I will be able to use to convince those who doubt Sunny's celestial abilities. It's that good -- really."

Tickling The Tunefully Cosmic

Michael F. Hopkins | Buffalo, NY USA | 07/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a longtime listener of Sun Ra, this CD emerges as a

special treat. If you're unfamiliar with the legendary Myth

Realist, or have been shooed away from Ra by the current wave

of archival conservatives posing as Jazz classicists, then be

advised that SOLO PIANO RECITAL is a live concert recording

which makes the joyful truth ringingly clear.



Recorded in the late 1970s, this is Sun Ra alone at the piano,

spinning rhapsodic balladry which covers the whole spectrum of

Music, from the most beguiling Blues to the fiercest freeform,

marvelously structured and -always- wondrously soulful!

Try Ra's puckish take on Billy Strayhorn's epic "Take The 'A' Train",

or his wily ruminations on "St Louis Blues" for an

idea of how much of a master the Birmingham-born Cosmic Blues

Talker was of all the Music. Dare the intrepid swing of his

own "Friendly Galaxy" or "Spontaneous Simplicity", both

presented here as a snappy medley which charms and ignites

the ear and mind.



Even if you've enjoyed Ra's other collections of solo piano

music (released through Evidence and Improvising Artists), this

CD is a standout; a balanced presentation of a Jazz giant

holding gleeful court with great power and tremendous heart.

Listen well, and onward..."

Solo ra

T. Bekken | Austmarka Norway | 01/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not much to say, really - except that you are not likely to find another solo piano jazz record with such a stylistic scope, such humor, such swing, such depth, such beauty, such anger, such blues. The incredible Sun Ra and his vision really shines."