Sun Ra - And The Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra - The Complete Detroit Jazz Center Residency December 26-January 1 1981 (Transparency 2008)

The Sun Ra Discography

Ok, so this Sun Ra obsession is getting out of hand. When I first came across this release I thought why would any one want that. 28 CDs of live recording from a week long residency at The Detroit Jazz Center(he says, repeating the obvious from the picture above).

Twenty eight CDs, the biggest, most expensive and probably the most limited box set I own. I am quite excited to now have this, it even cost me an extra $140 to get it through customs, bugger it.

So is it worth it? The recordings were all taken from the sound board and although they are more than listenable, I would say they are almost slightly inferior to the recordings from the last Sun Ra set I reviewed, but the fidelity is certainly acceptable enough for my usually fussy palette and it is Sun Ra after all, many of whose recording were decidedly Lo-fi. 

Looking through the track list of 28 CDs, and there is a vast repertoire of music on offer from several standards, plenty of Ra originals from throughout his career and a bunch of improvised and untitled tracks covering most aspects of Ra's output. Wow!

Can't Rate this yet as still only heard a couple of discs but it sounds pretty good so far and these concerts from this period are a bit easier to absorb with the Jazz standards and other Ra composed tracks of a more melodic bent keeping things less chaotic than the relentless Free improv of some of his early 70's concert recordings. I look forward to becoming more familiar with the overwhelming contents of this mammoth release.

Sun Ra All Stars - Milan, Zurich, West Berlin, Paris (Transparency 2008)

The Sun Ra Discography.

And so it begins, Uncle Roddus has had a rather large binge on the internet and managed to acquire a substantial number of the Sun Ra releases on Transparency Records and its time to start wading through them over the next few months. The first one randomly grabbed off the shelf is this 5 disc set of 4 dates recorded in late '83. After nearly 30 years of playing with the Arkestra, Ra finally gets to play with some heavyweights of Jazz. After some gigs in london earlier in the month, Ra hooks up with the All stars and does a mini tour of Germany and France. Teatro Ciak, Milan was the second concert they did and according to Campbell and Trent(The Earthly Recordings Of Sun Ra,2nd addition)was preserved on a 90 minute audience tape. I assume that this CD was mastered from that tape. If so then it was an impressively recorded concert for an audience tape and although there is quite a hiss to the recording and some conversations from the audience audible, the music sound quality is quite remarkable, well above bootleg quality. CD1 presents the first 45 odd minutes of that gig and starts off with 3(although Campbell and Trent only list 2) extended Ra like free improvisations that are as impressive as the band lineup suggests they should be. I some times struggle with some of the live extended improvs but these three are quite captivating and powerful. They are followed by a couple of standards, with "King Porter Stomp" completing the first disc with a bang. The CD track listing says that "King Porter Stomp" is split on the end of CD one and the start of CD2 but this is not the case, the whole song concludes disc one. Disc Two seems to have even more hiss and noise to remind one of the source of these recordings but that is soon forgotten on a rollercoaster bassline that props up the utterly fabulous "What's New" with is't cool brass and Bass solos and interesting drum highlight. There is a lot more melody on the rest of this set than many of the other live recording I have heard, making for a memorable set. Definitely one of the stand out sets I have heard and even quite impressed with the sound. Rating for Milan, 4/5.

For the next concert on the following day, The All Stars hot footed it 1000KM to Zurich and played the Zurich Jazz Festival. The recording on disc 3 apparently comes from  a radio broadcast and the sound quality is slightly better than the previous days recording with much less hiss and rumble and the music is sonically better as well, so this is a great plus for our listening pleasure. The unidentified track that starts off the CD is similar to the opening track from the night before but slightly shorter and I like the trumpet solo better, the Ra solo piano track is longer than the previous one and is just as impressive although fades out in the middle of some thunderous pounding which was disappointing as I really enjoy that part of his playing.
The next Unidentified Blues swings along nicely and gets the toe tapping along and is quite normal, as is the following Ra composed "Lights On A Satellite", Great recordings of cool songs. According to the CD listing "What's New" lasts for only 4 minutes but the actual track plays much longer as they stretch it out for some great Bebop, although last night's version was better. The recording finishes with a 15 minute track called "Poinciana" and is a fabulous piece of jazz and as about as normal sounding as Sun Ra gets. A great concert and an impressive recording and totally worth having in your Sun Ra collection, unlike some of the other Transparency recordings. Rating 4.5/5.

The Next night on this little whirlwind tour sees the group in West Berlin and the recording of nearly 80 minutes on disc four comes from a West German TV broadcast of the concert, so although there is plenty of tape hiss, the music sound quality is again well above bootleg quality and most acceptable. The band is hot again and the disc kicks off with an excellent piece of chaos with some awesome solo sax and interesting atmospherics. One of the beauties of this series of concerts is that although there are some tracks repeated on consecutive nights, they are always played differently so this makes for an interesting and diverse listen. This concert keeps up the quality of the previous nights makeing this entire 5 disc set essential for Ra fanatics, although the less dedicated might struggle to stay with the entire concert, especially the 22 minute "Shadow World" with a long drum solo. This Concert 4/5.

The last disc contains 74 minutes recorded on an audience tape from a concert in Paris on November 1.I was apprehensive as to the potential for bad sound quality from an Audience tape but this recording is surprisingly listenable. The quality of the concert is consistent with the previous 3 nights and will not disappoint Ra fans. A very worthwhile acquisition to my Ra collection, with this last concert rating 4/5 also.

Swans - Children Of God (USA 1987)

Another recent CD arrival

Wow! What a powerful listening experience. Had this on the headphones a couple of times this week and this is a vastly heavy and amazing aural experience. Had this on vinyl back when it first came out, ponderously slow but sonically intense and beyond description for this scribe. This incredible set was actually mellower than earlier releases and is quite beautiful even at it's darkest. So glad I finally reintroduced it to my ears. Not for the faint of heart. Rating 5/5.

Black Sabbath - 13 (UK 2013)

New CD arrival.

What an amazing surprise this is. Sabbath's first studio album since like 1995 and the first with Ozzy since they kicked him out of the band some time back in the late 70's. The only person Missing from the original lineup for this set is the amazing Bill Ward, Oh what bliss if he was on this too.

So listening to this album now and it sounds stylistically just like so many contemporary metal albums, except it fucken blows most of those pretenders of the fucken planet. These guys invented this music and even now this bunch of over 60's can bludgeon our ears better than 99% of those who worshipped the riffs of before.

I really dig the feel of Heavy Metal, the riffs, the heavyness, the sound, but many many highly rated groups and albums disappointed me and so my metal collection is very small. Sabbath are the quintessential Metal Band both back in the early 70's and again now with this latest release. I have goose bumps listening to this.

The riffing is sublime, Ozzy sounds as fresh as he was on the first Black Sabbath album and the long tunes never lose focus. The band is tight. This is classic Sabbath and will not disappoint. 

Is it as good as the early albums? No, of course not, it could never be, they were a sublime peak thast can never be matched, but this comes damned close, confirming Sabbath to be my all time favourite rock band.

Rating 5/5.

ZZ Top - Tres Hombres (USA 1973)

New CD arrival

With long long working hours comes lotsa more money and with spare cash comes lotsa CDs, so many so that they kinda derailed my reviewing schedule somewhat.

Anyhow, this is one that I had on record or cassette sometime back and I have finally replaced it on CD.

It is one that was very hip with my crowd back in the days and it still impresses today.

Some records just ooze "Cool", it seeps from every note, every beat, every vocal inflection, total attitude, we're talking Fonzi cool here. One of the "Coolest" songs ever was Bowie's "Suffragette City" and one of the "Coolest" albums ever is this early beauty from the legendary ZZ Top.

Awesome Texas boogie blues rock with some of the "Coolest" vibes ever committed to tape. I still dig this album totally. Rating 5/5