Originally issued as
Jazz By Sun Ra
in 1956,
Sun Song
was the first long-player to feature the enigmatic bandleader. However, his various bands -- or "Arkestras" as
Ra
proclaimed them -- had been issuing 78 and 45 rpms since the mid '50s. This recording initiated a much larger audience to the multifarious and otherwise logical
post-bop
rhythms of one of
jazz
's most notorious and equally respected figures. The sides which comprise
were recorded on July 12, 1956 by
Tom Wilson
, who would go on to produce such
rock
luminaries as
Frank Zappa
,
Simon and Garfunkel
Bob Dylan
, and the
Velvet Underground
, among others.
Wilson
's use of Chicago's premier
Universal Recording Studio
accounts for the amazing crispness and attention to nuance omnipresent throughout the disc.
's highly arithmetical approach to
bop
was initially discounted by noted
critic
Nat Hentoff
as "repetitious" with phrases which were "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 compositions, such as the up-tempo
"Brainville"
and
"Transition,"
are advanced time signatures coupled with harmonic scales based on
's mathematical equations. The intricate harmonies and complicated arrangements on
"Possession"
"Sun Song"
are inspiring in their deceptive simplicity. Text originally featured in a booklet accompanying
is reproduced in the CD liner notes booklet. This is noteworthy as one of the rare occasions upon which he sought to explain not only his influences, but his methods of composition and modes of execution as well. This may well be the most accessible work in
Sun Ra
's massive catalogue. It is likewise one of the most beautiful. ~ Lindsay Planer