SUN RA — Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra : My Brother The Wind, Vol II (review)

SUN RA — Sun Ra And His Astro Infinity Arkestra : My Brother The Wind, Vol II album cover Album · 1971 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
js
“My Brother the Wind Volume II” may not be one of Sun Ra’s best discs, but it still has enough good material to make it a worthwhile purchase for his fans. If you dig through the Sun Ra discography you will find that many of his records provide unique takes on his musical vision that do not show up on any other of his records. Such is the case with this one where Sun Ra seems to be getting with the late 60s style of hip hard bop based grooves that were popular with Les McCann, Pharoh Sanders and others. Furthering this connection to late 60s trends, Sun Ra plays organ on this one, instead of piano, which ties him in with other cosmic soul groove organ players of the time such as Larry Young and Lonnie Liston Smith. Ra may be using the sound of hard bop/cosmic soul jazz as a jumping off point here, but don’t expect Groove Holmes, to most listeners this album probably sounds more like the usual Ra affair, not a groovy 60s soul jazz combo. As usual, Ra’s take on this music is quirky and idiosyncratic with plenty of characteristic looseness in phrasing and intonation. Likewise, the organ tone Ra uses is totally devoid of any vibrato or Leslie, eschewing the suave cool 60s organ sound for something much more earthy and quirky.

Overall this album features more of Sun Ra’s lounge/exotica tendencies than his avant-garde/free tendencies. What you get on here are seven numbers in a twisted hardbop/soul jazz style that almost function as pop tunes compared to some of the lengthier numbers found on other Ra albums. Three of these tunes feature the vocals of June Tyson which may be an acquired taste for some. After these seven come four more short cuts that feature Sun Ra solo on the Moog synthesizer. Anyone who has worked with old analog synths can tell you that what Ra is doing on these numbers is not too complicated. Sometimes he just manipulates one knob like a petulant and mischievious kid let loose in a music store. These synth numbers make for a curious listen a few times, and are almost humorous in places, but they probably don’t hold up well to repeat listens.

This probably isn’t a good place to start for someone who is new to Sun Ra, but for the fan looking for another style in the vast Sun Ra catalog, these weird takes on the organ led 60s hard bop combo are good clean fun.
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