This essential title is also available under the moniker of
Sun Song (1956). Regardless of name, this long-player contains some of
Sun Ra's most complex, yet accessible efforts.
Ra had been an active performer since the late 1940s, recording with his various combos or "Arkestra(s)" as
Ra dubbed them. Since this was the first widely distributed platter that the artist cut, it is often erroneously referred to as his debut. The tracks were documented by then-unknown
Tom Wilson. If the name rings a bell, it may be because
Wilson would go on to produce such rock luminaries as
Frank Zappa,
Simon and Garfunkel,
Bob Dylan, and
the Velvet Underground, among others.
Ra's highly arithmetical approach to bop was initially discounted by noted jazz critic
Nat Hentoff as "repetitious," with phrases "built merely on riffs with little development." In retrospect, however, it is obvious there is much more going on here. Among the musical innovations woven into the up-tempo "Brainville" and "Transition," are advanced time signatures coupled with harmonic scales based on
Ra's mathematical equations. Not to be missed is the lush elegance within the delicate, if not intricate arrangements heard on "Possession," as well as the equally involved "Sun Song" -- both of which take on an air of sophistication in their deceptive simplicity.
Ra's original LP jacket comments can be found within the liner notes of the
Sun Song compact disc. This is noteworthy as one of the rare occasions that
Sun Ra sought to explain not only his influences, but his methods of composition and modes of execution as well. As referred to above,
Jazz by Sun Ra is arguably the most accessible work in the
Sun Ra catalog, as well as one of the most thoroughly and repeatedly listenable.