Sun Ra When Angels Speak of Love

This recording catches Sun Ra in 1963, when he and the key personnel of his Arkestra were well settled in New York and in their most creative period. It's unusual in illustrating just how elements of the city's free jazz were entering the Arkestra's music, just as they were influencing it. Sun Ra's piano is far more animated than usual, at times resembling the dense percussive playing of early Cecil Taylor, while "The Ecstasy of Being" suggests the direct influence of Ornette Coleman and his drummer Ed Blackwell on Danny Davis and Clifford Jarvis. Several short tracks feature a single reed player along with trumpeter Walter Miller and the rhythm section. Marshall Allen's oboe is suitably exotic on "Celestial Fantasy," while Pat Patrick's baritone brings a rugged beauty to the ballad "When Angels Speak of Love." "The Idea of It All" is an intense, twisting line that inspires a coiling, kinetic solo from tenor saxophonist John Gilmore. The whole reed section is present in all its brilliance on "Next Stop Mars," chanting "We'll take a trip to space/The next stop Mars" before Sun Ra's piano leads them into a diverse, extended journey where saxophone multiphonics and mechanical reverb are just part of the scenery. Originally released on Sun Ra's Saturn label in 1966, this has been one of the rarest of his LPs. --Stuart Broomer