Recorded in 61-62, Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow seems to be the first truly avant garde release with only about half of its numbers being recognizably jazz. Even then, the 'jazz' pieces are the wrecked and shattered fuselages of what has come before. The version of Ankh here, for instance, is the most destroyed version of that song to date, both sounding as though it was recorded underwater and with only some ancestral recognition of what the song originally sounded like.Another piece that seems to be jazz (The Outer Heavens) plays with tonal 'clusters' or clouds, experimenting with non-traditional melodic possibilities. There is significant parallel to 20th century classical and experimental music, which is a theme that runs through the whole album.
The new thing here seems to have been the discovery by 'Bugs' Hunter of an unintentional echo effect that turns the rhythmic numbers into impenetrable and bizarre pieces that only find parallel in experimental electronic works (Xenakis, Barron's Forbidden Planet soundtrack, etc.) They may sound somewhat goofy now, but it is hard to imagine how this would have sounded in context.
The album winds down with two pieces which seem closer to traditional fare (Lights on a Satellite, Kosmos in Blue), but there's a subdued unearthliness to both of them. As before, Ra focuses both on low end and stretching the limits of what qualifies as in-tune. These aren't mind bending songs, but they are good Sun Ra numbers. Lights on a Satellite in particular has a few unusual hooks for a seemingly mellowed-out number; I love seeing the arkestra work just a tiny bit of weirdness into nice, relatively pleasant tunes.
Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow is of course paired with the absolutely essential Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy, so there's no question about not purchasing it. Still, there's no way I could have cheated it out of some sort of review since it is the first of the NY albums that really begins to break away (or totally redefine) jazz.
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