Sun Ra Arkestra - Chicago 1981 part 1

[mkeenan1955]

Marshall Allen, solo? Yes Marshall plays alto but that is not an alto but John Gilmore's tenor, the single influence on tenor saxophone for all the greatest, Coltrane, Sanders, Shepp etc. Read Szwed's Sun Ra bio. on this.

[atouchofroots]

@mkeenan1955 Marshall Allen plays the first solo in this clip, on ALTO saxophone...

[mkeenan1955]

@atouchofroots You're right, sorry. I guess at the time I was thinking I just wanted to make that important point, which some people may not know because they don't have an appreciation of Sun Ra's arkestra, that Gilmore was an unsung avatar of the modern tenor saxophone.

[ndodro]

nothing is

[SunRa95]

Sun Ra was a really genius

[holzg01]

Yeah, I was at this concert too. Space is the Place.

[2intoxicated2rave]

My ears have been bleeding for four minutes. Terrific.

[drointhedrawer]

This sounds good it's some next level

[bearmenus]

I was at this show down front that night it changed my musical life.......

[jasvmusic]

Free jazz

[kosephdrums]

@jasvmusic "phre" jazz haha

[violetninja]

I don't get this...yet I can't dislike it.

[HousleyMike]

Wow! I lost my virginity to this song!

[fastborzoi]

What a joy to see this again, thank you!!

[ufosls3]

Saw this on PBS in 1981 it was awesome!

Carmen McRae and Herbie Hancock with Wynton Marsalis.

Tremendous!

[TrappedIn1968]

COOL !!! Wish I was there!

[jakbre]

stupid coons

[TheJazzydrummer]

@ Filidia, you're on da right track! I don't know who you are but I must! I'm the drummer with the red hat. Space is the place baby!!

[OrlyDudeGuy]

notice the double-Os on the names of the individuals with the highest rated comments. oOoOoOo

[hihats]

my cat freaked out @ 3:08

[mastalp01]

@hihats hahaha ;)

[needtashow]

i love Sun ra and the Arkestra

[TheSmith427]

Started laughing, ended laughing.

[kdwade]

is von freeman in this video? not sure if there's any video on youtube of him with sun ra.

awesome video btw.

[TheUnknowKING]

omg  wowwwwww what a ride haha

[danletras]

holy sh*t. marshall allen (alto) is OUT OF HIS MIND on this solo. thank you, marshall, for the conviction, the vision.

[saanzacs]

Free Jazz anyone?

[vv901vv901]

This is so beautiful I nearly cried.

If you feel it you feel it - if you don't it's likely that you're contributing to the downfall of this beautiful planet.

[techxdabruiser]

Fiidla, you're one lucky Bro to be in orbit with Sun Ra !! Nobody makes a sax squeal like Marshall Allen(alto), and John Gilmore(tenor) ! This must be what scorched earth sounds like !

[OlgaDubrovskaya]

свобода!!

[Fiiidla]

I was a child in the Arkestra..watching genius and staring in confusion and awe!These yrs of listening to Sunny and John,Marshal,Pat,Rollo.James,B­ruce,Mike,Buster,Bugalu and June.-gave me two life times of intervals,colors,and rhythms to figure out!For those who are trying to understand-You may have to practice 12 hr rehearsals -playing every tune in the universe for 10 years then strip away the common place and then go on the road for a few decades-to be able to reason it out-or use ur spirit

[sunra1973]

@Fiiidla .....a brother from another planet....nice to meet you

[JBrazosCole]

this is just silly

[TheArbiter74]

@JBrazosCole I certainly understand your stance! I sincerely thank you for the smile you brought to my face with your response. Sure, it's silly, along with brilliant, magical, captivating, transformational, cerebral, celestrial, and about 2000 other words that can't fully classify it. I will not argue with you. Silly it is, mate.

[theguyyousaw89]

I conceived my third child to this song.

[shodacs]

Wherever you go in Jazz Sun Ra has been there and left.

History is just "His" story.

[PsytranceMan777]

I LOVE that Sax solo in the beginning! XD

[Ceb773]

I almost fucking pissed at 0:28. Oh my god this is SO GOOD LOL

[OrmixSM]

LOL

[reverendbryan]

I remember this performance and still find it exhilarating. As to 100proofboogie & Irishguy13 - why waste your and our time making snarky remarks about things you don't like or understand? I dont waste my or Brittany Spears fans time crappin' on her videos. You obviously like a well ordered world where everything is like you think it should be. You leave Sonny alone and Ill let Larry Carlton be.

[SymphonicDelight]

@reverendbryan hahaha

best youtube comment ever read!

thanks for that :D

[Asymmatrix]

Quite Zappa-like. Or is it the other way around.

[irishguy13]

This tune is called "That SOB Ran Over My Puppy".

"'Avant Garde' is French for 'Bullsh*t'." -Yoko Ono

You're supposed to listen to this with your nervous system. You know its working if the body reacts with projectile vomit (which, BTW, was the name of their 5th album). They had to stop touring because the cost of facilities clean-up because prohibitive.

[100proofboogie]

Yoko Ono must be the Japanese word for bullsh*t

[pamyism]

magnifico!!!!!!!!!!!111

[sunhits]

Intense physical and noisy. I love it. i really like the way the man up front is commanding all of the improvisation, like the band is just an extension of him.

[baseballkid4lyfe]

2:27

[Theburrowingid]

The Buskers of Betelgeuse

[blefusku]

still wanna hear an ecm album????

[3transfat]

You can't deny that the sax soloist has talent. I just hate his style.

[andrecornal]

who cares what ya think?

[vcbcook]

Wow!This was our wedding song!!!

[6438paul]

@vcbcook nice one!

[pincpallin]

The great music of XX° century!

Stefano Bartoli

[larryalexand]

At about the 4 minute mark during the very squeaky solo. all I could think of was:

"The tea is ready". This made me laugh very hard.

[MrNytn2001]

me too.

i literally almost shit on myself from the initial burst of laughter.

it was from so deep within me.

this is some powerful shit.

[ibn1989]

this music is wild

[edcerc]

his band sounds tight but i cant really get into all the theatrics

[shivabala9]

John Gilmore was a great player and a very nice man. I will always cherish the times spent at Sun Ra's all day rehearsals and listening to Gilmore practicing the saxophone. Philadelphia was a great place for Jazz in the late 80's.

[SkinnyWhiteDoug]

Saw this concert in '81. I was registering for classes at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the bandshell was right out in front of the school doors. I'd never heard of Sun Ra before that.

It has lingered in my memory all these years as a WTF moment. Sun Ra and his Arkestra have got to be seen to be believed. I believe. They near teleported me to Saturn

with their cosmic waves.

[diamondstudd]

I can see why you'd say that but some of the Sun ra & (whatever the rest of the band were called at the time) stuff is great, if you can track it down....thts what im doing now lol :)

[myuhlz]

Is that Charles Gayle?

[voxhumbug]

"John Gilmore, John Gilmore, you motherfucker! You got it!  You got the concept!"

-John Coltrane

[Filibojko]

very sick...

[7Matahari7]

If only my parents woulda took me to see this instead... So what if I was 6.

[tonyfreejazz20]

Yeah...thanks for posting this. Loving it.