Sun Ra
Lights On A Satellite: Live At The Left Bank
Resonance Records
Lights On A Satellite is the latest find from the Jazz Detective, Zev Feldman. This double-CD set features a performance by Sun Ra and his Myth Science Cosmo Swing Arkestra at Baltimore’s The Left Bank in 1978. This was the same performance captured on film by Robert Mugge for Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise. Feldman co-produced the set with Sun Ra archivist Michael D. Anderson (who also played drums on the ’78 concert).
Lights On A Satellite is a comprehensive look at what the Sun Ra experience could be. The set opens with a jam from the rings of Saturn, “Thunder of Drums.” The percussionists pound out tribal rhythms while Sun Ra plays abstract sounds on his electronic keyboards. It’s a trippy way to start the concert, and I’m sure it left some in the audience wondering what they’d got themselves into. We come into earth’s orbit when June Tyson croons “Tapestry From A Satellite.” The song has a standard swing structure, but June is singing about felling vibrations from an asteroid. From there we enter the earth’s atmosphere with a slamming rendition of “Over the Rainbow.”
Once we’ve gone over the rainbow, the sounds get more terrestrial. Ra plays some swinging piano on “A Pleasant Place in Space” and “Space Traveling Blues.” The Arkestra comes in for a landing with tunes by Fletcher Henderson, Todd Dameron, and Miles Davis, proving that they can swing as well as any big band out there.
The second disc begins with a piano solo version of “Cocktails for Two.” “Watusi” follows with some more thunderous drumming which then goes into a psychedelic phantasm on “They Plan To Leave.” “They Plan to Leave” has a sing-song sway, while the band sings about nonbelievers being left behind. Blues for the Rapture?
“We Travel the Spaceways” ends the show with the band parading through the audience, chanting. In person, this is great fun, but on record, without visuals and audience participation, it is rather boring.
There are two bonus tracks that were recorded for the Robert Mugge film: “Left Bank Blues” and the Thelonious Monk tune “Round Midnight.” Both of these songs are Sun Ra at his most accessible.
Lights On A Satellite is a fun recording that showcases the range of Sun Ra and the Arkestra. It is a welcome addition to the Sun Ra discography.
