Sun Ra: Media Dreams (Saturn/Art Yard 2CD)
Sun Ra: Sound Mirror (Side B) (Saturn LP>CDR)
Obviously pleased with the Horo Voice Studio recordings, Sun Ra lined up
some live gigs for the quartet, touring Italy until at least January 23, 1978,
where they performed at Teatro Cilak in Milan and recorded Disco
3000 (Saturn CMIJ 78). There were other concerts during the intervening
weeks, as documented on two other Saturn LPs, Media Dream (Saturn
1978) and Side B of Sound Mirror (Saturn 19782) but the actual
dates and locations for these recordings are unknown (see Campbell
& Trent pp.247-249). Originally issued in miniscule numbers, these
three albums are some of the rarest and most desirable El Saturn LPs in
existence. Thankfully, the intrepid Art Yard label came to the rescue. In 2007,
they released The Complete Disco 3000 Concert (CD 001) on two CDs
(with the original LP edit reissued as CD 101). Then, in 2008, they put out
another two-disc set entitled Media Dreams (CD 002), which
presents the original Media Dream album on one CD and a 50-minute
concert fragment on another. Taken together, these Art Yard reissues present an
almost-complete picture of this highly unusual (and haphazardly documented)
tour of Italy. In his liner notes for Media Dreams, Trent points
out that while the discovery of some (but not all) of the original tapes from
this 1978 sojourn “clarifies some questions, establishing long suspected links
between various Saturn albums,” it also “raises as many questions as it
answers.” Aside from the Teatro Cilak concert, actual dates and locations
remain a mystery. And so it goes with Mr. Ra...
In fact, most of the tracks on original Media Dream are
not to be found on the concert recording contained in the Art Yard reissue and
those tracks were significantly edited for the official release. Was it all
taken from the same concert? Judging from the overall ambience, it could be—or
it could be from more than one—but the sound quality on the second disc is
significantly degraded, making a direct comparison impossible. According to
Trent: “This particular tape is no longer in audiophile condition. It does
appear to be the original master, rather than a copy, but is now in a poor
state. Art Yard have rescued it in the nick of time and have gone to
considerable lengths to improve its quality.” They did the best with what they
had and while it sounds pretty good, the tape has dearly suffered the ravages
of time.
What is most notable about these live quartet recordings is how they
transferred the Horo studio experiments to the stage. While he has been
provided with decent pianos at these gigs, Sonny spends the bulk of his time
with a variety of electronic keyboards, including a Moog synthesizer and a
Crumar Mainmain organ. Media Dream opens up with “Saturn
Research,” a three-minute blast of ominous, dissonant organ and synth,
accompanied by dramatic drums and percussion—and Sonny is only just getting
started. On “Constellation” (confusingly not the same composition found on Other Voices, Other Blues), Ra
switches on the Mainman’s crude rhythm box, which plays a slowed-down cha-cha
beat supplemented with a simple, synthesized bass line. Now, in anyone else’s
hands, this would be unforgivably cheesy—yet Sonny somehow makes it work and
the primitive Mainman organ gives these recordings a uniquely retro-futuristic
feel. After a scribbly “Yera of the Sun” (whose Morse Code rhythms vaguely
recall “Quest”), the Mainman gets another workout on “Media Dreams,” a thirteen
minute tour de force. Starting out as a weirdly beautiful ballad form,
with twittering organ, legato synth chords and all sorts of electronica
effects, Michael Ray takes a long, warm-toned solo on trumpet, ably following
Ra’s harmonic twists and turns. Then it devolves into Ra's wild, mad scientist
display. At the ten-minute mark, John Gilmore comes in with a folk-like melody
on tenor saxophone but just as Ra starts to heat things up again, the track
quickly fades out. It sounds to me like this could have gone on forever.
Only the last two tracks on Media Dream are
taken from the concert recording found on disc two of Art Yard’s reissue and
they both feature Ra on acoustic piano. The curiously (mis)titled “Twigs at
Twilight” is actually “Images,” but brutally edited, picking up about half-way
through and beginning with Gilmore’s tenor solo. Although Gilmore takes many
liberties with the tune, in retrospect, it is immediately recognizable as
“Images.” Anyway, this is definitely another one of the all-time great Gilmore
solos, not overly extended but still sublime. After a brief piano excursion and
drum break, the track fades out before the return of the head, further
obscuring its origins. Finally, “An Unbeknowneth Love” begins with rhapsodic
piano and boom-chick trap-drumming from Luqman Ali – but someone (Gilmore?) is
playing tympani, adding slippery and dramatic percussion effects: BOING! BOING!
Ra gets into an aggressively dissonant, avant-garde mode before the drum solo,
which fades out to end the album. Very interesting.
The second disc contains seven pieces, picking up with “Friendly
Galaxy,” which is quite different from the version found on The Complete
Disco 3000 Concert, where it was combined with “Third Planet.” Ra
starts out on piano but quickly moves to organ, eventually getting the
Mainman’s drumbox/bassline thing happening. Unfortunately, Ali drops in and
out, unable to find the groove. Ra is going crazy with his ragbag arsenal of
electronic keyboards but this is not a wholly satisfying group performance. “An
Unbeknowneth Love” follows, with the drum solo leading immediately into “Of
Other Tomorrows Never Known.” This track appeared in slightly edited form on
the Sound Mirror LP and it is another virtuoso performance from
Sonny. Woozy string ensemble chords and bubbly bass synthesizer seem to outline
a basic structure from which Ra builds his quirkily original electronic music,
full of astonishingly variegated textures and intertwined melodic lines.
Meanwhile, light-handed drums scrape and murmur in the background. About six
minutes in, you can hear Ra barking out instructions—though you can’t quite
make out what he says. Soon thereafter, Gilmore plays an extended cadenza as Ra
hints at the chord changes to “Images.”
Despite Ra's commands and a fluid introduction, the horn players fluff
their entrance—and while Ray and Ra solo admirably, it really isn’t until
Gilmore comes in that things really take off. No wonder this version of
"Images" was edited (and retitled) for official release! Next up is
one of the earliest known performances of “The Truth About Planet Earth” (a/k/a
“Bad Truth”), one of Sun Ra’s patently hectoring space chants. When he
accompanies himself with a soulfully swinging piano vamp, this has an
almost-commercial pop-song feel—but Ra eventually abandons the instrument and
everyone takes turns at the microphone, a spacey echo effect added to the
voices at the soundboard. At nearly seven minutes, it goes on a bit too long
for casual listening (although I'm sure it was thoroughly entertaining live). A
brief rendition of “Space is the Place” offers an intriguing rearrangement of
this concert staple, with new lyrics and alternative countermelodies, which
immediately segues into “The Shadow World.” Don’t get too excited, though! It
cuts off after only a couple of minutes.
That leaves the humorously titled “Jazzisticology” as the remaining
track from Sound Mirror that was recorded on this Italian tour
but is not found on either Media Dreams or The Complete
Disco 3000 Concert. It is impossible tell if it belongs with its
companion, “Of Other Tomorrows Never Known,” or if it is from a different
concert altogether. The sound of Gilmore’s microphone sounds more gritty and
immediate than elsewhere but it doesn't help matters that my
"needledrop" of Sound Mirror is a crackly mess. In any
event, “Jazzisticology” is another improvised post-bop number similar to what
was done in the Horo Voice Studio, with Sonny cueing the arrangement and
telepathically communicating the chord changes to Gilmore with his sparse piano
comping. Then Ray solos over Ali's drums before the sax and piano return
rubato, only to fade out too soon. An inconsequential track, perhaps, but there
are other reasons to seek out Sound Mirror (which we’ll get to
anon).
Needless to say, Art Yard's Media Dreams is an
essential, if still discographically mysterious, release. The Complete Disco
3000 Concert may be even better—we’ll take a listen to that one next
time on Sun Ra Sunday.
