*2025 stock, Japanese reissue!* This is the golden jazz collection held by Delmark, the headquarters of Chicago blues since the 1950s. This second volume is a diverse and sumptuous collection of works from the golden age of modern jazz, from Wynton Kelly to Donald Byrd, Sun Ra's early masterpieces and Apollo's treasured classic recordings!
The first song on side A, Brainville, is such a great start, a walk down a busy street full of fascinating people all going somewhere. Everyone's in a good mood. You are among an intelligent group of people with senses of humor. They like to laugh at situations they find themselves in, and at themselves, sometimes. What a great introduction. You want to stay among these people, keep listening to them, keep watching them.
The second song, Call For All Demons, has a catchy main phrase going through it, with nice discordant piano chords in the background and quixotic solos that Sun Ra and his people can do gracefully, including one on tympani by Jim Heardon. Transition chugs along hard and takes you with, and the solos here are intricate. Sun Ra has a solo on piano at the end, and the song stops on a dime, but smooth and sure. Possession: time to sit back and dream. Lots of John Gilmore on the tenor sax, sleepy and a little yearning. At least he's not alone; the others support him. Everyone is nostalgic, romantic, but they perk up at the end and there's a ray of hope. This is a great way to wrap it up.
The Arkestra is not composed of types to lull for long. Plus they've got Street Named Hell next. This is the last song on side A. Angular, energetic, and ready to showcase a dueling match between Jim Heardon on the tympani and Bob Barry on drums. Lovely little transition on piano and the song goes creeping and crawling like a spider for a while, then dissipates. Wow. That's just side A.
And the songs continue to mesmerize on side B. If you don't have this album, you better get a copy. This is Sun Ra and his Arkestra on fire. Lucky me, I saw them live once. But I wish I'd seen them about a thousand times more.
