Not P but John Cage and Sun Ra: Fing the InFable
Allan Balliett
allan.balliett at gmail.com
Tue Aug 22 17:36:39 CDT 2017
I only became aware of this concert and recording earlier today. I haven't
heard it yet but I thought there were members of this discussion who are
interested in the works of both of these individuals who would like to know
about this collaboration, if they don't already know of it.
It was recorded at Coney Island, which just may say all you need to know,
though.
-Allan in Shepherdstown, WV where you get used to the train whistles some
time within your first 24hrs here
Sorry, I don't know who to credit this album review to:
John Cage & Sun Ra – John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Concert (1987,
Reissue 2016)
On the subject of albums, he once remarked that “records ruin the
landscape.” Elsewhere, in a treatise collected in his 1961 book Silence,
the composer offered some opinions about jazz. The genre “derives from
serious music,” he wrote, “and when serious music derives from it, the
situation becomes rather silly.” Given those harsh judgments, it makes
sense to venture an opening question about Cage’s one-off appearance
alongside swing-and-improv icon Sun Ra. If Cage himself thought jazz
unsuited for “serious” contexts and recordings lame, why should this
document of their 1986 shared bill be anything other than a curiosity?
John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Concert has an answer for that
wariness — and the album gradually emerges as something greater than a
footnote. That’s not because the pairing results in an “avant super duo.”
As it happens, the two artists tend to trade off soloing, and only play
together audibly at one point during this hour-plus set, recorded at Coney
Island. Yet despite the arms-length embrace, the overall concert has a
surprisingly seamless quality.
The entire show, released here in full for the first time, shows how Cage’s
own performances and improvisations were capable of more supple surprise
than his most attention-grabbing pronouncements. The composer of 4’33”
talked a lot about his ideas—in particular his insight that there is “no
such thing as silence”—but the spare, tender nature of his wordless vocal
solos here creates a stronger impact than many theoretical explanations.
This newly complete representation of the show also draws strength from the
flexibility and invention of Ra’s playing.
Ra focuses on one synth here—the then-new Yamaha DX7. Though the
instrument’s timbral range is limited, Ra manages to whip up a wealth of
approaches during his portions of the show. “Untitled Keyboard Solo 1”
opens with some sci-fi movie tones; eventually, Ra accelerates into
sprightly figures, before steering into dense chords and drones. His third
untitled solo makes psychedelic use of the DX7’s effects, with chords
sounding sampled and spun in real time.
Ra’s solos can be sequenced into a compelling EP on their own. But it’s his
ability to meet Cage more than halfway that helps hold the entire gig
together. He provides the sparest wisps of accompaniment imaginable during
his one collaboration with Cage, on the track “Empty Words and Keyboard.”
And on tracks like “We Hold This Myth to Be Potential” and “The Damned
Air,” Ra provides poetry recitations to go with his playing. His voice is
off-mic—the physical editions of the album helpfully give his texts in
full—but the way this recording limitation can focus a listener’s attention
works perfectly next to Cage’s contemplative silences and delicate
mumblings. Likewise, a short duet with singer and frequent Ra collaborator
June Tyson is beset by amplification problems, though the noise-damaged
result works, in context.
John Cage Meets Sun Ra: The Complete Concert isn’t an ideal entry point
into either artist’s catalog. For Ra, you’d first want to explore early
albums such as Jazz in Silhouette and Angels and Demons at Play (as well as
gonzo triumphs like Other Planes of There). Cage’s key works have been
interpreted by elite classical performers like Joseph Kubera and Third
Coast Percussion. But this minor addition to both oeuvres has a quietly
mind-blowing feel—particularly since another meeting between Cage and a
jazz luminary, Joseph Jarman, was never documented. Instead of ruining the
landscape, a recording like this one contributes to it. By contradicting
one of Cage’s rhetorical excesses, the album gently improves our
understanding of the valid connection between divergent careers in American
experimental music.
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