SUN RA — Reflections in Blue (review)

SUN RA — Reflections in Blue album cover Album · 1987 · Big Band Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
js
Very few artists span the entire history of jazz in quite the same way that Sun Ra has. Ra began his career as a bandleader and performer in the mid-30s, when big band swing was at its peak. He even worked for a while with Fletcher Henderson, the man who more or less invented the jazz big band in the 20s. Later in his career Ra went on to be one of the leading innovators in the avant-garde, introducing collective free improvisation, electronics and all manner of modern big band concepts. By the time the mid-80s rolled around you never knew what to expect from a Sun Ra concert, sometimes it could be very African, other times layers of sonic avant-garde sound, and other times bizarre trips to the past in which Ra and his band would fill the entire evening with classic swing and jump blues from a pre-TV era when jazz bands were some of the only known entertainment for dancers and revelers. If you ever witnessed one of these classic swing concerts you will know what a rare and valuable treat they were, a mood and atmosphere that no longer exists re-created without somberness by a crew that was mostly there the first time it all went down.

More than likely many fans of classic swing band jazz will be turned off by Ra’s far less than museum approach to this music. As usual, Ra’s sly humor and mischievous nature are in full effect and bizarre anachronisms exist such as the use of an ultra cheezy DX7 synthesizer on one cut, and guitar solos that sound more rooted in Chuck Berry than Charlie Christian also show that the band is not the least bit interested in some kind of musicological correctness, but instead are more interested in bringing back to life the sassy and casual cool attitude that this music had the first time around. The piano playing and arrangements are on the playfully dissonant side of things, and although the musicologist might say these dissonances are historically incorrect, I have a feeling that if you were actually at the drunken rowdy clubs, burlesque shows and whorehouses where this music originated, I bet you would have heard a lot more dissonance and random chaos than most polite retro big bands would lead us to believe in today’s antiseptic approach to jazz’s past.

This record is more fun than a drunk barrel of penguins from start to finish, jazz for partying, drinking and hell raising from a bygone era re-created by guys who were there dodging flying beer bottles back in the dens of sin of yesteryear.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Mikolaj Trzaska, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple vol.3 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mikolaj Trzaska, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple, Vol.1 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mikołaj Trzaska / Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / Paal Nilssen-Love : The Last Temple Vol.2 Avant-Garde Jazz
MIKOŁAJ TRZASKA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Sustain Avant-Garde Jazz
AALY TRIO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Sunset Park Post Bop
TOBIAS MEINHART
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

FASCINATING RHYTHM - The Amazing Keystone Big Band feat. Neima Naouri
THE AMAZING KEYSTONE BIG BAND
snobb· 1 day ago
Alicante
RENAUD GARCIA-FONS
js· 1 day ago
She's Forty with Me
WILTON CRAWLEY
js· 1 day ago
Tall Tillie's Too Tight
WILTON CRAWLEY
js· 1 day ago
Rhoda Scott Ladies and Gentlemen - special guest : David Linx
RHODA SCOTT
snobb· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed