Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sun Ra at the Village Vanguard...



It seemed "normal" enough (OK, a normal Sun Ra recording, what ever that means) when I first picked it up. His sextet playing live at the Village Vanguard; John Gilmore on bass and John Ore on drums and, of course, Sun Ra on synthesizer. So I read no further. So I put the disc in the player. So I started to listen... Huh? That sounds like a piano, not a synthesizer! And isn't that Monk's "Round Midnight"? So I look at the back cover of the CD a little more closely. No mention of a piano but they do interpret Monk's "Round Midnight" as well as Vernon Duke's "Autumn in New York" and the Gershwins' "S'Wonderful". Who de thunk it? Not me... Give it a listen... This recording is a lot like the game my daughter plays from time to time where "yes" means "no" and "no" means "yes". Only in this case "strange" means "normal" and "normal" means "strange" - if you know what I mean.


Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Wow--never saw this before. John Gilmore, and what a rhythm section!

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