The Adventure-Equation Sun Ra Quartet Visit to Italy continues with the outstanding and very listenable double album, Other Voices, Other Blues.
Other Voices, Other Blues is one of several albums done with this basic lineup in January of 1978. This album is billed to the Sun Ra Quartet, but it sounds like there's a bass player present on at least some of the cuts (it could be Ra, but he'd need three hands). As the title implies, this album shows listeners the many sides of the blues and demonstrates what some highly individual players can do with the blues. "Bridge on the Ninth Dimension" starts as a slow, spooky synth blues that morphs into an up-tempo freak-out session about halfway through. This is really the only truly "out" portion of the album, although the blues get decidedly weird on "Rebellion." Sun Ra plays piano on "One Day in Rome," "Along the Tiber," and "Sun, Sky and Wind" and synthesizer on the others. This is really a great setting to hear what these guys can do as soloists, with the easy-to-follow changes of the blues and stripped-down ensemble. Luqman Ali's drumming is the anchor, and everyone gets plenty of solo space. Fans of John Gilmore should surely seek this out, but Michael Ray and Sun Ra are also simply fantastic. As with other Horo releases, this will be hard to find, but well worth it.
AMG Review by Sean Westergaard
Sun Ra Quartet: Other Voices, Other Blues (Horos HDP 23-24)
By avantfront
This is certainly an odd date. Billed as the “Sun Ra Quartet”, we hear Ra on piano and Crumar Mainman-keyboard, John Gilmore on tenor and percussion, Michael Ray on trumpet, and Luqman Ali on drums recorded in Rome in January of 1978. It seems Ra recorded a few albums for the label Horos with this group at this time. This record presents us with Ra on piano occasionally, but mostly keyboard, providing a background for us to experience two of his horn players in a more focused setting. At times, the music is missing the grandeur of the Arkestra, but it’s still a lot of cosmic fun.
The opening “Springtime and Summer Idyll” is a blues with a down home RnB feel. We hear Ray’s fanfare-like trumpet herald the good times in this fairly traditional romp. Ra plays an organ patch, but switches to blips for a brief solo. The blips highlight and foreshadow the intergalactic fun to come. “One Day in Rome” is a straight 12 bar blues, but is somehow infused with a little off-kilter feel. Something akin to what a tourist would feel in Rome, viewing the sites, while a man in a space suit wanders around the coliseum. Perhaps this comes from Ra’s use of the piano here. Certainly not a pristine example of the instrument, he seems to enjoy playing the notes that don’t quite sound right or in tune. Perhaps this is why he felt the need to give it such a temporal title next to all the space jams to come.
The piece on the album which comes closest to a space freak-out is “Bridge on the Ninth Dimension”. It starts with a cymbal marking time, while a pianissimo synth lurks behind. Something odd is certainly coming to those unprepared by the relatively straightforward A-side of this disk. At two minutes the horns weave in and the journey begins. The players take turns soloing with this putty like piece. It is fluid enough to let the particular player bend the composition to his liking, and Ra is ready to take it where the horn wishes. Gilmore is particularly fun to hear. He has ideas and the commitment to follow them until they become a cohesive statement. It is not the constant inspiration of an “energy” solo, but a peacefulness to take ideas that come and work with them. His solo beginning at 5:45 builds to the piece’s climax, and by the 9:00 mark, everyone is in a different dimension. “Along the Tiber” gives us a chance to hear the bop chops of the players. Ray is particularly well suited to the challenge and provides a flurry of notes on his tear.
On the ballad “Sun, Sky, and Wind” we are treated to Ra’s piano work. He visits this ballad with odd abruptly-ending rolls, and even sounds like Cecil Taylor on some of the trails he follows in the latter half of the piece. “Rebellion” is a swirled and flanged keyboard trip which goes out in a very out way. On “Constellation”, Ray plays the role of the herald and Ali’s plays a very strange rhythm and the album finishes with an outer space ceremony entitled “The Mystery of Being”.
This is not Ra’s best album. The sound is spotty at best, and it doesn’t feature the whole Arkestra, but I feel it does two things remarkably well. It gives a taste of the many styles that Ra composed in and allows us to hear some personal statements from the players. Because of the reduced palette, we get to hear Gilmore with less restraint and Ra take center stage on his instruments instead of his arrangements.
Review By avantfront
Sun Ra (Crumar Mainman, keyb, p); Michael Ray (tp); John Gilmore (ts, timb, voc); Luqman Ali (d).
Horo Voice Studio, Roma,
January 8 and 13, 1978
Horo HDP 23-24, a 2-LP set titled Other Voices, Other Blues, was issued in 1978. All information from the album jacket.
The Horo albums were recorded in such haste because Sun Ra was about to leave Italy. But after they were completed, Sunny changed his mind and extended his stay for another two weeks (Gualberto).
from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.
A1 Springtime And Summer Idyll
A2 One Day In Rome
B1 Bridge On The Ninth Dimension
B2 Along The Tiber
C1 Sun, Sky, And Wind
C2 Rebellion
D1 Constellation
D2 The Mystery Of Being
