Some Blues But Not The Kind That's Blue

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Total Tracks: 9   Total Length: 71:51

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Dylan Hicks

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
It may have ten players, but this feels more like an after-hours jam than a big-band circus.
2008 | Label: Atavistic / The Orchard

Sun Ra drew his audience as much from fringe rockers as from jazzers, partly because his brother-from-another-planet shtick made Ziggy Stardust look like Bart Starr, mostly because his carnivalesque blend of blues, swing, bop and free improvisation so often was, as the title of an early album boasted, the sound of joy. He made most of those joyful noises with the Sun Ra Arkestra, which could swell to 30 members, but his similarly bulky catalog has some intimate sessions, too, such as Some Blues.

Six of the nine tracks on this expanded reissue were recorded in 1977 and issued the following year by the leader's Saturn label. Ten players appear on the date, but the feel is more after-hours jam than big-band circus. Ra, on acoustic piano, is joined by longtime sax compatriots John Gilmore and Marshall Allen, along with lesser-known sidemen. They run through a set of standards and blues, predicting the sort of repertoire Ra would work magic on in the '80s. A few of the performances are rough around the edges, but the band shines on an exotic "Nature Boy" and a ten-minute reading of "My Favorite Things," on which tenorman Gilmore, one of Coltrane's influences,… read more »

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Straight Forward

toryandrew

This may be a little more straight forward than some but its a great listen

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They Say All Media Guide

Fantastic. Another rare Saturn release makes its way into the digital realm. This time, it’s Some Blues But Not the Kind That’s Blue, a nice 1977 date that’s heavy on standards. Aside from the two Sun Ra tunes (one of which had been unreleased prior to this), this is a pretty inside date with some major statements from Ra on piano and John Gilmore on tenor. Everyone gets a bit of solo room, and the flutes and bass clarinet add some really nice colors, especially on “My Favorite Things,” a song so closely identified with the John Coltrane Quartet that this version is almost startling in its contrast to Coltrane’s myriad versions. Aside from the title track and the two earlier bonus takes of “I’ll Get By,” there is no bass player present, the low end falling mostly to Ra’s piano. Luqman Ali’s drumming, as always, is remarkable in its tasty understatement. The bonus tracks are a wonderful addition. “Untitled” was recorded at the same 1977 sessions but didn’t make the album cut. The other tracks are rehearsals, presumably from the Ra house on Morton St. in Philadelphia. They’re two takes on “I’ll Get By” with Ra on organ and the great Ronnie Boykins on a particularly well-recorded bass with Akh Tal Ebah on trumpet on one take and John Gilmore on tenor on the other. It’s interesting to hear these rehearsals in relation to the same song’s arrangement from a few years later. Although recorded about a decade apart, Some Blues But Not the Kind That’s Blue is of a piece with Blue Delight: mostly standards albums that really put the spotlight on Sun Ra’s piano playing and the tenor artistry of John Gilmore. Although the Arkestra is notorious for its outside playing and cacophonous tendencies, this album shows they could play it straight as well as anyone in the game. Wonderful stuff. – Sean Westergaard

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