Live at the Paradox Sun Ra Arkestra

• 1 Space Walk 12:37
• 2 Dicipline 27-B / I'll Wait for You 09:46
• 3 Dreams Come True 07:57
• 4 Velvet 07:21
• 5 You'll Find Me 07:44
• 6 Millennium 07:19
• 7 Take Off 03:47
• 8 Hocus Pocus 03:56
• 9 Space Idol 06:14
• Total Runtime 01:06:41

Info for Live at the Paradox

For 55 years, the Sun Ra Arkestra has imperturbably maintained the grand tradition of the legendary big bands of the Swing Era. But the star-studded cast of the fourteen-piece orchestra is also ready to blast off any time to any sphere of sound, true to their motto „space is the place“. The Sun Ra Arkestra?s steadfast spirit of freedom and creativity, its innovative strength and exuberant enthusiasm inspired about 3,000 listeners at the ZXZW festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands. As „Artists in Residence“, the Arkestra performed on five evenings at the Paradox Music Club from September 15th to 20th. Each of these concerts appeared to be a Big Bang. Live at the Paradox was recorded on the very last evening of this memorable concert series, combining jazz history and immortal myth. Founded in 1954 by piano genius, master composer, arranger and mystic visionary Sun Ra, the Sun Ra Arkestra continues to be an important stimulus and source of inspiration.

Sun Ra himself remains an unfathomable paradox. Still, at the end of the Forties, before he replaced history with mystery, before he created a biography in its own right and abandoned his earthly name, Herman Poole Blount, to turn into the living myth, Sun Ra, he appeared as pianist and arranger in Fletcher Henderson?s Band. No more of this world however is Sun Ra. He was not born, but came to planet Earth from planet Saturn in 1914, to provide the musical message of deeper understanding and cosmic harmony for the benefit of humanity. The incredible biography legitimises itself through Sun Ra?s phenomenal life work, which remains untouched by genres and vogues. In the late Sixties Sun Ra was the first jazz musician to use the Moog-synthesizer for the futuristic sound. Sun Ra?s compositions are polyphonic masterpieces. His concept culminates in collective improvisations of highest concentration, celestially beautiful and occasionally explosive, like a supernova. Musicians such as John Coltrane drew inspiration from the Sun Ra Arkestra in the 1950s. Rock bands such as Sonic Youth and the MC5, or more recently the Shibusashirazu Orchestra, Tokyo?s leading avant-garde jazz ensemble, have been inspired by the Arkestra?s creativity.

Even sixteen years after the legendary bandleader?s return to planet Saturn in 1993, his myth is alive and as vivid as ever. Since 1995 the 85-year-old master saxophonist and multi-instrument Marshall Allen has continued the musical mission. Before the baton was passed on to Marshall Allen, he had been conducting the Arkestra’s reed section for more than 30 years. His eruptive alto-saxophone is one of the most prominent voices in jazz and the signature of the cosmic sound. Whatever Sun Ra was capable of achieving on the Moog-synthesizer, Marshall Allen is ready to enhance with the E.V.I. - the Electronic valve instrument. Marshal Allen?s exceptionally gifted and amazingly energetic hand has not only consistently continued Sun Ra?s work with the Arkestra, but has also developed it with original compositions. Unparalleled, the Sun Ra Arkestra thereby has perpetuated a major element of Afro-American culture ? that is to hand on the musical legacy from musician to musician.

Live at the Paradox leads straight into this germ cell of musical evolution. The stunning repertoire goes from the roots of jazz to the apex of avant-garde. Long-standing members of the band, like tenor saxophonist Charles Davis, can be heard alongside the promising voices of the next generation, represented by Wayne Anthony Smith Jr. (dr) and Farid Barron (p), with whom the piano comes into its own for the first time ever since Sun Ra?s departure.

How does it sound, if one travels in this sound-time-ark from the future, and cracks the sound barrier of a bygone era, to debark in the middle of right now? Marshal Allen?s ?Space Walk? is the tableau on which the sound voyagers introduce themselves. Called up by the percussion instruments, their voices appear from out of space, in order to share episodes with each other and again to release. The timing of drums, bass and piano earmarks large sections of the music and sets up the breathtaking tempo of the musical encounters. Finally the Arkestra performs a precision landing, with all voices perfectly together. Sun Ra?s oeuvre is imbued with ?Discipline?. Quite a few serially numbered compositions can be tracked, which he entitled correspondingly. The early 1970?s version „Discipline 27-B“, which is presented to the audience here, sounds enthrallingly ardent. Trumpet, trombone, tenor saxophone and piano solos come thick and fast. The „27-B“ species shows ultimate discipline and flows into „I’ll Wait For You“, the hymn of the cosmic coup in the Paradox. „Dreams Come True“ sounds like the fulfilling of the promise, when Charles Davis, who was already Sun Ra’s companion in the Mid-Fifties, captivates with his solo. Tenderly and tastily, he recalls the Arkestra’s past in Chicago. A masterpiece of the Chicago period, first published in ?Jazz in Silhouette? in 1958, the lively ?Velvet? starts here from brilliantly free, tonal cadence piano movements into a vamp, which remains in motion over the entire Arkestra, and lets solos gush out. In Marshal Allen?s sentimental ballad „You'll Find Me“, Charles Davis again adopts the gentle tone, which Fred Adams (tp) and Farid Barron (p) emulate with their solos. As before in „Dreams Come True“, in Marshal Allen’s swinging „Millennium“, Cecil Brooks and Fred Adams do complement each other on the trumpet. But it is Marshal Allen, who points out all his strengths on the alto-saxophone here, velvety, energy-loaded and explosive. With „Take off“ he actually performs a masterly take off on the E.V.I., accompanied by those subversive piano movements and those breathtakingly dynamic drums. The composition explodes to collective uproar, able to tear down the walls of Jericho. After this cosmic Big Bang intermezzo, „Hocus Pocus“, Fletcher Henderson’s big band classic, appears with authentic casualness. Muted trumpets catapult it into the sound of the Roaring Twenties. Soon, the listener is guided back into the timeless world of the mythic musician Sun Ra by Farid Barron on the piano in „Space Idol“, and the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen blasts off on inter-planetary music’s speedway

„Sun Ra's Arkestra continued 15 years after the bandleader's death, led by his longtime alto saxophonist Marshall Allen and featuring a few other musicians who worked with Ra, including tenor saxophonist Charles Davis and surdo player Elson Nascimento, along with musicians who dug into Ra's alternately swinging, discordant, and at times bizarre music. But Allen doesn't lead a ghost band. He wrote four of the songs heard in this live performance, including the exploratory 'Space Walk'; the loopy, dissonant ballad 'You'll Find Me,' which purposely sounds like it has been played by musicians who have been playing all night and show signs of weariness; and the whimsical bop vehicle 'Millennium,' with rapid-fire shrieks on alto sax à la Eric Dolphy and a campy vocal. Ra's songs are well represented, with the swinging 'Dreams Come True' (highlighted by pianist Farid Barron), the strident post-bop 'Velvet' (which showcases Davis ' robust tenor), and the wild finale of 'Space Idol' (showcasing clashing brass and reeds battling it out over the steady rhythm section). The choice of Fletcher Henderson's 'Hocus Pocus,' played in a fairly straight-ahead manner, should be no surprise, as Ra worked for Henderson in the mid-'40s and enjoyed playing his compositions in his Arkestra concerts. Sun Ra fans will delight in the continuing saga of the Sun Ra Arkestra.“ (Ken Dryden, AMG)

Marshall Allen, director, alto saxophone, EVI, flute, clarinet, vocals
Charles Davis, tenor saxophone
Knoel Scott, alto saxophone, vocals
Yahya Abdul Majid, tenor saxophone
Danny Thompson, baritone saxophone, flute, percussion
Rey Scott, baritone saxophone, flute
Fred Adams, trumpet
Cecil Brooks, trumpet
Dave Davis, trumpet, tuba
Farid Baron, piano, organ
Dave Hotep, guitar
Juni Booth, bass
Wayne A. Smith Jr., drums
Elson Nascimento, surdo

Digitally remastered

Sun Ra
was a jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions, and performances. He was one of the most important figure in 60's avante garde jazz along with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler. "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," critic Scott Yanow said, due to Sun Ra's eclectic music and unorthodox lifestyle. Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism as he preached awareness and peace above all. He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun), and used several other names throughout his career, including Le Sony'r Ra and Sonny Lee. Sun Ra denied any connection with his birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed ... Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." From the mid-1950s to when he left the planet in 1993, Sun Ra led "The Arkestra" (a deliberate re-spelling of "orchestra"), an ensemble with an ever-changing lineup and name (it was also called "The Solar Myth Arkestra", the "Cosmo Discipline Arkestra", the "Blue Universe Arkestra", the "Jet Set Omniverse Arkestra", among many other permutations. Sun Ra asserted that the ever-changing name of his ensemble reflected the ever-changing nature of his music. Sun Ra's music ranged from keyboard solos to big bands of over 30 musicians. His music touched on virtually the entire history of jazz, from ragtime to swing music, from bebop to free jazz. He was also a pioneer of electronic music, space music, and free improvisation, and was one of the first musicians, regardless of genre, to make extensive use of electronic keyboards.

After Sun Ra left the planet, the Arkestra was led by tenor saxophonist John Gilmore. Following Gilmore's death in 1995, the group has performed under the direction of alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 86th birthday (or Arkestrally "Arrival Day") on stage during a Sun Ra Arkestra performances at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia on May 25, 2010. Marshall Allen has now given 52 years of uninterrupted dedicated service to the Sun Ra Arkestra. He continues to move the Arkestra forward not as a repertory band or a ghost band, but as a spirit band, maintaining the discipline centered on the study, research, and further development of Sun Ra's precepts. The spirit of Sun Ra is alive and well in the present day manifestation of the Sun Ra Arkestra with Marshall featuring a mix of classic Sun Ra compositions and arrangements alongside Marshall's own compositions and arrangements that are deeply rooted in the spirit of Sun Ra. Along with leading the Arkestra, Marshall plays the alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, oboe, kora, and EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument). He is internationally recognized as the premier avant-garde saxophonist on the planet.

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