Anon La Ply
Diamond Member
This is a follow-up from the jazz cats thread.
I've been catching up on great old jazz acts of late. Sun Ra is my favourite so far. What an amazing character - he created his own universe and took others with him (and still does via the web).
In many ways he reminds me of Frank Zappa ...
- stellar talent
- musically fearless
- music doesn't fit any category
- composed, arranged and conducted for ever-changing big bands
- wrote and performed obsessively (eg. 16 hrs a day, daily)
- massive recorded output that included a lot of shoestring budget productions
- strict drug-free regimens for band members ... while playing the trippiest music imaginable
- personality traits that in others would be considered madness but they made it work through force of conviction and sense of fun (ditto Beefheart here)
- great and distinctive drum parts.
- way ahead of their time
- both seemed to be laughably obsessed with being right and telling others that they were wrong.
Some Sun tunes I've enjoyed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLeZPnPqMHxVdigM8gkNRpiQ
This one was still contemporary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFeBdQfBMk0
I especially love this tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyUjgYuYR0c
Just thought I'd give some props to a musician who doesn't always seem to be given his dues.
I've been catching up on great old jazz acts of late. Sun Ra is my favourite so far. What an amazing character - he created his own universe and took others with him (and still does via the web).
In many ways he reminds me of Frank Zappa ...
- stellar talent
- musically fearless
- music doesn't fit any category
- composed, arranged and conducted for ever-changing big bands
- wrote and performed obsessively (eg. 16 hrs a day, daily)
- massive recorded output that included a lot of shoestring budget productions
- strict drug-free regimens for band members ... while playing the trippiest music imaginable
- personality traits that in others would be considered madness but they made it work through force of conviction and sense of fun (ditto Beefheart here)
- great and distinctive drum parts.
- way ahead of their time
- both seemed to be laughably obsessed with being right and telling others that they were wrong.
Some Sun tunes I've enjoyed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLeZPnPqMHxVdigM8gkNRpiQ
This one was still contemporary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFeBdQfBMk0
I especially love this tune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyUjgYuYR0c
Just thought I'd give some props to a musician who doesn't always seem to be given his dues.