It has now been thirty-two years since Sun Ra left this physical world to presumably return to Saturn. Since then, his Arkestra has been holding down the fort and carrying the torch for his brand of afrofuturist big band jazz; and although the Arkestra has become somewhat of a Ship of Theseus with the passage of time, the essence of Ra’s music is, in my estimation, still living on and reaching appreciative audiences through the band’s efforts.
During their sixty minute set, we heard bombastic fanfare, mean swing feel, some “free” moments, and lots of fun overall. Cartwheels from a sixty-eight year old Knoel Scott, swing dancing, marching around the stage as though playing in a parade were all seen; as were moments of controlled chaos juxtaposed by much more “straight ahead” sections. Indeed, the skill of all the horns, rhythm section, vocalists, percussionists, and dancers were on full display. The highlight for me was the band’s performance of “Enlightenment” which they played as a shuffle. It is probably one of my favourite melodies in the Sun Ra repertoire.
I can remember a while back a drummer once said to me, “For the last thirty years the Rolling Stones have been a Rolling Stones cover band.” This, of course, is the danger in continuing a good thing for too long. I would not say the Sun Ra Arkestra has fallen into this trap, however. The music itself is still being performed at too high a level for that. Although it’s true that the Arkestra can never be the same as it was, (the loss of Sun Ra himself, John Gilmore, and the retirement of Marshall Allen being simply too huge), the institution that is the Arkestra continues to engage skilled musicians that care about the rep. Likely that will be enough to sustain this good thing for a good while longer.
Photo Emmanuel Novak Bélanger
