Suoni Review: ((((((SUN RA ARKESTRA))))))

Photo courtesy of www.plexifilm.com

SPACE IS THE PLACE!

These are the words of the mighty Sun Ra (aka Sonny Ray, Sonny Lee, Le Sonra & Herman Poole Blount), legendary jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher. He left this planet back in 1993 to journey into the cosmos (which he already knew so well) but left us with his Arkestra so that we might sense the vibrations of his being as it travels through outer space and beyond, to map out the journey that all souls will eventually take.

The Sun Ra Arkestra, under the brilliant direction of Marshall Allen, continues to uphold the legacy of their leader. They continue to travel the world, from France to Mongolia, Switzerland to Canada, and just so happened to make a stop upon the little island of Montreal this past weekend.

I had the opportunity to meet with these gentle cosmic travelers at a workshop they were holding the day before their big show on Saturday night at the Sala Rossa for the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival. As I approached the tent where they were patiently preparing to begin the cosmic jam session, I mistook them for a group of younger men who couldn’t possibly have been playing bigband jazz music since the 1950’s. I felt slightly awkward, as though I had approached the wrong group of musicans, until they eventually made their way to the stage and started to play. The workshop was a great opportunity to hang out with these legends up close and experience the magic, the energy and the vibes that make them a part of this greater cosmic project.

Photo by Marilis Cardinal

Marshall Allen, the last remaining original member, is 84 years old and has been playing as an integral member of the Arkestra for 50 years. It is because of him that the Arkestra survives today. He has kept the energy and magic of Sun Ra’s work alive and well and Saturday’s show at Sala Rossa was living proof of this. We were in the midst of the original Tone Scientists.

Until this weekend, I had never heard jazz music being played the way that these musicians played it; big band compositions that have a timelessness often heard in a Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington piece, but with even more genuine feeling than you would find in the scratchy recordings of the former composers. This was happening NOW!! Live, in your face, in the moment, right now in this very time and space-age we’re living in. The classic style of original jazz music created by players with mountains of experience (note: players in the Arkestra have performed with John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Albert Ayler, McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Patti LaBelle, Kool & the Gang, Sonic Youth, Medeski Martin & Wood, etc, etc… the list goes on), yet they are making it completely accessible and current to all - even those who haven’t immersed themselves in jazz music. A rare opportunity if ever there was one still existing today.

However, this kind of thing doesn’t just happen by chance. The dedication of a leader such as Marshall Allen, who has clearly taken the teachings of Sun Ra to heart, mind and soul, becomes quite obvious while watching him work with his group as they follow each and every movement he conducts, and is the glue holding the band together. As an instrumentalist, Allen’s technique, tone and skills are beyond your average player. He has a superior command over each instrument he plays (Allen plays the alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, oboe, kora, and Electronic Valve Instrument) and hits each note with a force that translates into his entire physical make up. You start to realize why this 84 year old man looks as if he were in his early fifties; they way he plays music is synonymous to working out - a sort of “musical weight lifting” if you will…

It all comes together with the vibe of the music. Playing many of Sun Ra’s original compositions, the band dwells in the world of his music and his message. The lyrics in many of the songs reflect the ideals that Mr. Blount developed from an early age, playing jazz music in swing clubs, to the later years after the Sun Ra moniker became more than just a name. It became the Arkestra and the music; and with it came a message reminding you to “be in tune, free your mind, be yourself and watch the sunshine”. Good words to keep us going until our time comes to join the ranks in the cosmic order…