The Sun Ra Arkestra Under The Direction — Lights On A Satellite

I may or may not be the best person to review this: I have never properly listened to Sun Ra’s music. Of course, I have heard bits and pieces, but I’ve never listened to an album or listened to anything repeatedly; after this, I’m going to have to add another huge discography to my listening pile… Sun Ra passed away in 1993, and the Arkestra here is led by Marshall Allen, a longstanding saxophonist with the group. Allen is 101 years old (100 on this recording), and directs the ensemble through ten pieces which - if I have understood correctly - are a mix of compositions discovered in Sun Ra’s papers after his death, pieces built from similar notes, and old Arkestra works.

The ensemble itself is huge, with twenty-four musicians; these cover the usual jazz bases, but also add violin, viola, French horn, and synthesiser into the mix. The CD arrives in a foldout cardboard wallet, with glossy pictures of all the musicians, and a booklet detailing the album. The tracks vary in length from around the four-minute mark to the longest at just over thirteen minutes.

The opener, ‘Lights On A Satellite’, is a lovely stately introduction, fusing a repeating ensemble motif with more wayward skronk from other instruments; it reminds me from the off that big band ensembles have that potential to have lots of instruments playing in unison but slightly off in terms of pitch or timing, and whilst more straight forward groupings might aim for a sterile precision, there’s a more organic and vibrant looseness here. This is not to suggest that the performances are imprecise or undisciplined, but rather they’re led by feel rather than notes on a page. This is why I will be delving through the Sun Ra archives. After that strong start, ‘Dorothy's Dance’ and ’Big John's Special’ did little for me, truth be told, sailing much closer to straight jazz and thus away from my tastes; that said, I enjoyed tracking the stealthy, excellent guitar work though the latter piece. ‘Images’ has a effective snaking ensemble riff, but it’s the next track that touches what I imagine when I think of  Sun Ra; ‘Friendly Galaxy’ is a spacey, almost krautrock (minus the rock) workout that commences with gongs and echoing sounds, before slipping into a mesmeric percussive groove - it perfectly combines metronomic propulsion with wandering exploration. ‘Baby Won't You Please Be Mine’ is the world premier of a 1955 Sun Ra tune, and, as the booklet notes point out, it sounds like something written for Billie Holiday, but the instrumental sections, though rooted in trad playing, lean towards more free playing giving it a more complex feel. ‘Holiday For Strings’ is really nice; as the title might suggest it’s jazz but with easy-listening and 1950’s instrumental exotica vibes. Throughout the track, and behind the vocals, saxes flail and squeal, and it’s possibly the perfect track to annoy folks committed to either end of the jazz ‘free-ness’ spectrum.

The next piece, ‘Tapestry From An Asteroid’ begins with some great synth poots that sound really out of place - and that’s perhaps a theme of this recording: the juxtaposition and co-existence of sounds not normally combined. Those synth sounds crop up throughout and give the track an odd, drunken feel. These electro burbles reappear in ’Reflects Motion’, probably the best work here; it gives a sense of simultaneous phasing patterns running alongside each other, and again it combines repeated motifs from sections of the ensemble with free playing from other members. ‘Reflects Motion’ is a world in itself, and precisely what I hoped to hear on the album. After this maelstrom, Lights On A Satellite ends on a more trad note, with ‘Way Down Yonder In New Orleans’.

The album swings between those last two tracks in tone, and often combines their approaches; truth be told it often leans too far towards ‘Way Down Yonder In New Orleans’ for me. However, even during these moments, there is a palpable sense of joy and reverence of Sun Ra - and jazz itself - and the playing is accomplished throughout. The freer, less trad, more expansive pieces like ‘Reflects Motion’ and ‘Friendly Galaxy’ are great, with the former in particular presenting so many colours and shifts; it’s the centrepiece of the album for me. All the tracks have free elements, but these are best combined with more traditional fare on ‘Holiday For Strings’ which is a wonderful curiosity, in the best way.

I’m not sure that this is the best introduction to Sun Ra’s music, but it has nevertheless grabbed my interest, and I’ll be delving into the history.