Sun Ra - Nothing Is (1966)

Here's an album I've rather dreaded coming to. As we proceed through Sun Ra's catalog we're going to find a LOT of live albums. In general, the strength of the album is going to depend on the originality of the set, the line-up that night, quality of improvisation, and recording quality.

As these live albums start stacking up into a truly significant pile, we're going to have to start being truly critical. I say all this because Nothing Is (1966) is both historically important due to its early and wide distribution, and consequently, dearly loved by all.

Unfortunately that doesn't make it a really solid live album. For instance, I'm currently listening to another live album from 66, 'Outer Spaceways Incorperated' ('Spaceways' in the 'Calling Planet Earth' box) and can say that here at least we hear some material that really can't be heard elsewhere, essentially filling the void of another studio album. Nothing Is has about 20 minutes of original material (at least on my old ESP CD version), augmented by the fantastic Shadow World and lots of 2-3 minute long tracks (recaps of the arkestra favorites.) All of this is buried in a recording that lacks any semblance of dynamic range or separation.

Well let's get down to it. Nothing Is consists of three major tracks, of which Dancing Shadows and Exotic Forest can, to my knowledge, be heard nowhere else. I really dig Exotic Forest and it is worth the price of admission. For some reason, the more recent releases reversed Side A and B (at least, as it appears on my copy) and adds two tracks. My review here is based on the older version.

Dancing Shadows features some great playing by Ra; not far in it becomes a sort of swinging big band affair, but without much substance to chew. The low end percussion that so often defines Ra's music is either inaudible or not present. There's definitely some hard bop here as the piece winds up, but there's just not enough in this track to make it shine for me. The final harmonies/modality/whatever are pretty cool though.

Exotic Forest brings us back to Nubians. The melody is carried through the percussion (which is played by multiple musicians with various layers) while wind instruments improvise Egyptian melodies. Sun Ra doesn't appear on piano until the very end. Why no electronics?

When all is said and done, this recording just doesn't go far enough out for me. Is it in part because the album lacks any real dynamic range or is it because there's no sense of coherence. There's nothing wrong with Nothing Is, but there's also nothing that hasn't been done better elsewhere. Perhaps ESP saw value in a more conservative approach, not wanting to chase off new fans. It's so hard to say at this late date.

I suggest a radical view regarding one of Ra's most celebrated titles: Modern Sun Ra fans don't need it. In an age where something like 2/3rds or more of all the 'official' releases by Sun Ra are actually in print, Nothing Is makes little sense. Like other live albums, Nothing Is feels like 'just more' and not 'something new.' That doesn't mean there aren't great cuts and that Sun Ra fans should go without it, but rather that it its relative popularity among Ra's oeuvre feels unjustified. Save this one for later when you're looking to fill out your collection.

Sun Ra - Strange Strings

Although there is a lot to admire with Strange Strings, the album nicely exhibits (at least for me) the contrast between experimentalism with care and precision, and just experimentalism.

Recorded in 1966, no one need doubt that the first track (Worlds Approaching) is yet another monster cut from the same cloth as Heliocentric Worlds. Running at 10 minutes, it seems from an entirely different session as the rest of the material here, and should be heard by all Sun Ra fans.

It is with less enthusiasm that I address the remainder. Heard as something akin to AMM, it might, at least in parts seem significant. There are some great moments, but between those moments...

OK, so let's get down to what Strange Strings really is. Using amplified string instruments, the Arkestra commenced to improvise on said strings for 30 minutes. No one in the Arkestra had any sort real prior experience with stringed instruments. Again, there are parts I like--when it does work, it is mostly saved by its percussive nature and interesting use of various objects to produce all sorts of sound, but there doesn't seem to be much care taken with the overall product.

In very blunt terms, my general feeling is that I have probably spent more times combing over Strange Strings trying to think of a way to review it than the Arkestra spent making it. Instead, the recording seems all novelty. Yay! 30 minutes of improvised scraping. OK, I've spent a lot of my listening years listening to a lot worse, but regardless of reviews praising Strange Strings, I actually consider the whole thing as close to a 'fuck off' album as Sun Ra ever got. It took me a long time to review Magic City because the album DEMANDS careful attention. Careful and Strange Strings don't go together. Instead, 'novelty' and 'footnote' come to mind.

And then, there's Door Squeak (a bonus track on the Atavistic CD). 10 minutes of Sun Ra messing around with a squeaky door. The band does attempt to accompany it. I'd love to pass judgment, but of course music like this along with the two pieces which make up the 'Strange Strings' improvisation are the sort of art that might somewhere, possibly, be considered brilliant. Unfortunately I don't hear the brilliance myself. Maybe I've just been jaded by so many other people attempting similar things (*cough*even myself*cough*) and at this late date find it pretty dull, especially when set next to Ra's composed efforts or large scale 'constructed' improvisations.

So here's where I'd like to put Strange Strings aside. There's a lot of great material to come, and I feel like I've been stuck on this one album I don't really care for very much. Once again, fans of noise (not harsh noise), AMM and MEV might feel some kindred spirit here, but seriously, those bands are doing it far better than Sun Ra's afternoon-pretending-to-be-a-noise-artist.