I must admit right off the bat that I'm not a big Ra fan, and even after reading his biography I'm mystified. Some of his music really grabs me — "Strange Strings" and "Pictures Of Infinity" still find their way to my stereo occasionally — but on the whole I don't reach for his records very often. Something about the mix of weird loungy bits, spoken word manifestos and admittedly great free playing just doesn't always sit right with me, and the word "corny" pops up quite often when I try to describe his stuff to newbies. Still, I'll give any of his stuff at least one spin, which brings me to The Antique Blacks, a re-issue of a live radio recording from 1974, when RA and his men were residents of Philadelphia. It's a stripped-down version of the Arkestra; five horns, percussion and guitar (!) alongside Sunny's rocksichord, moog and voice. The sound quality is a bit rough and slightly distorted in spots, with a lopsided mix that sometimes buries the rhythm section.
The opener, "Song No.1" begins with a bit of the lounge sound I spoke of, with a breezy chord sequence on rocksichord that gradually starts to fray as horn solos dance around on top of it. The whole thing seems on the verge of collapse, but they make it through intact. On "There Is Change in the Air" we get some of Sun Ra's recitation, which, quite frankly I have trouble following because my ear and mind are drawn to the music. His voice is underpowered alongside the spidery rocksichord runs, as we wait for the great out guitar solo that kicks up about three minutes in. A chunky waltz under a spitting alto sax statement points us to the finish line before more stop-start and recitation. "This Song Is Dedicated to Nature's God" features the whole band singing the title repeatedly before settling into tinkling grooving with more nice guitar work. The recording swings between pillars of Ra-dom, more a poetry recitation with accompaniment than anything else, but there's a lot of great playing. Incidentally, the guitar player is a mystery, listed only as "Sly" in the notes; I could find no info about him or his tenure with RA anywhere.
It did occur to me as I was listening to this disc for the third or fourth time, that perhaps what strikes me as corny may be just that, and by design. Who's to say what a "band from outer space" would sound like, what aesthetics are encountered on Saturn. Wouldn't aliens have a sense of humor?
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