1060 - Mojo 53. Sun Ra - The Magic City (1965)

Track Listing

1. Magic City
2. Shadow World
3. Abstract Eye
4. Abstract 'I'


Review

Well this was an interesting experience. Again free jazz proves that it is not my favourite musical genre. Which doesn't mean I can't admire it... unlike my wife who complained about it being "noise".

Well, she has a point, it is noisy, but hardly noise, there is a definite thought behind the sounds which appear here even if it might be hard for the listener to discern that process. It does not make for a pleasant sound, that's for certain.

But the music is interesting, the use of electronic keyboards is prescient and all that... but it is really not enjoyable. I actually like Sun Ra more in theory than practice... look up the wikipedia entry on his life and you'll understand why, he was a fascinating guy with a fascinating life... but the music is not something you want to listen to for fun or enjoyment. Trout Mask Replica is child's play next to this.

Track Highlights

1. Magic City

Final Grade

6/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It is notable especially for the title track, on which "the Arkestra's range of feelings and sound is expressed in a design that's simply unprecedented in jazz". While it begins with use of tape echo recalling the experiments on Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow, the key features quickly emerge: Ra's simultaneous piano and clavioline intertwining with Boykins' bass as the underpinning for new long-forms of group music-making which draw on varying sub-ensembles from the Arkestra through the course of the piece.

'The boundaries of Sun Ra's self-proclaimed "space jazz" underwent a transformation in the mid-'60s. The Magic City is an aural snapshot of that metamorphic process. Many enthusiasts and scholars consider this to be among Ra's most definitive studio recordings.' Lindsay Planer


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