Artist: Sun Ra
Track: “India”
Album: Supersonic Jazz

http://youtu.be/Wrvwge0-nOM

Rdio recently added a bunch of Sun Ra’s early records. He’s an artist I’ve been trying to find a way into for the longest time, and have always appreciated his earliest stuff more readily than the later, more difficult work that I’d heard from him (though I’m hoping to wade into that territory soon). Chose the “Supersonic Jazz” lp at random - I think I’ve listened to it five or six times in so many days. So good. So so so good. Might have even bumped “Black Messiah” out of the playlist once or twice.

“India” is the lp’s opening track. It feels absolutely timeless, bordering on otherworldly. Recorded in 1956, it features a bouncing-yet-flowing synthesizer (Wurlitzer?) riff against asymmetrical rhythmic patterns, with horn solos that never feel like horn solos. The keys and horns are seductive, but they act almost as distractions (although Sun Ra gets down on the keys around 3:30, leading into a blistering, off-kilter run of eighth-notes that feels like something from a late ‘80s/early ‘90s video game score). The real star is the percussion, which runs true for much of the album, though that takes nothing away from any of the instrumentalists’ performances. Total effect is a sense of suspension: the music occupies its own space, its own time. If it seems somewhat chaotic on first listen, it quickly snaps into place after one or two more spins.

All of Supersonic Jazz can be heard here: http://youtu.be/0e67IqMoz4M.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~