Other Worlds

Danny Davis (alto sax, flute), Marshall Allen (alto sax, piccolo, bells, spiral cymbal), John Gilmore (tenor sax, timpani), Pat Patrick (baritone sax, timpani), Chris Capers (trumpet), Teddy Nance (trombone), Bernard Pettaway (bass trombone), Robert Cummings (bass clarinet, woodblocks), Sun Ra (piano, bass marimba, electric celeste, timpani), Ronnie Boykins (bass) and Jimhmi Johnson (drums, percussion, timpani). From the album The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One (1965).

In 1952 Sun Ra formed the group Space Trio and legally changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra in order to proclaim his cosmic origin. He later formed with Alton Abraham an independent record label called El Saturn Records with which he recorded several albums and founded the Sun Ra Arkestra, which normally had 10 to 30 members. At the beginning they played bebop, but in the late 1950s, Ra became receptive to the influences of other cultures using early electric keyboards and playing free music long before free jazz appeared. They also started to wear the eccentric clothing related to Egyptian civilization and science fiction for which they made themselves known.

In 1961, Ra went with his group to New York, where they all lived together in the same building as a religious community in which creative freedom was linked to an iron discipline. That’s where they recorded that same year The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra and in 1965 The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One and Volume Two. These last two albums are entirely improvised, but there is an awesome sense of structure. There is a dichotomy between the freedom Sun Ra gives to his musicians and his ability to determine the style and spirit of each track. Like Ellington, he was able to get the results he wanted with just a glance or a nod.

The composition begins with Ra playing the piano in a disordered and chaotic manner representing the violence that exists in the world. Then the rest of the band arises wrapped in a whirlwind of cacophonous sounds without rules or limitations. After that, Ra is left alone again hitting the keys of the piano without hesitation. Next the group returns in a frenetic and delirious way until they end abruptly.