Accessible and wonderful
5
By Doppler E. Fect
For those who only know Ra from his later big band free jazz, crazed keyboard workouts or space chants, this is gonna be illuminating. This is Ra in a more traditional big band setting that both shows his soloists in good light and Ra's active imagination. There are definitely some indications of the more exotica laden work he did before fully launching into outer space in the early sixties. But most of this swinging big band jazz is much closer to Charles Mingus than Cecil Taylor, and very little like Ra's output a few years hence. Jazz by Sun Ra is one of his most accessible and successful albums. It's a must have for Ra aficionados and a really good place to start for newbies.