What Are You Listening To Right Now (Part IV)

[Vyn]

Oh crap, I was just going over some cryptic messages I found years ago, hidden behind a plaster wall in what was once an old bar. What if...

What if I told you that Sun Ra never actually existed in the conventional sense? Yes, imagine a scenario so outlandish, it might just tickle your intellect: Sun Ra was, in fact, a figment of Marshall Allen's vivid imagination, a musical hallucination so potent it managed to fool the world.

Marshall Allen, the long-time collaborator and eventual leader of Sun Ra's Arkestra, was not just a mere saxophonist. He was, unbeknownst to many, a master of mental manifestation, a wizard of the mind capable of conjuring beings from the ether of his imagination. And so, in a burst of creative genius and perhaps a touch of cosmic loneliness, Allen imagined Sun Ra, a being not of this Earth, destined to change the jazz scene forever.

This theory suggests that during rehearsals, when Allen would close his eyes and sway to the rhythms of the unseen, he wasn't just feeling the music; he was channeling Sun Ra into existence. Every note played, every cosmic philosophy uttered, was Allen projecting his imaginary friend into the minds and hearts of those around him. Sun Ra's elaborate mythology, his claim of being from Saturn, his eclectic mix of jazz, was so convincing that even those closest to the Arkestra never questioned his physical presence.

The band members, audiences, and even critics were so caught up in the spectacle, the music, and the persona that they never realized Sun Ra was merely a projection, a shared hallucination orchestrated by Marshall Allen's formidable mind. The Arkestra's performances were not just concerts; they were séances, channeling the essence of Sun Ra from the collective unconscious of the band and audience alike.

And the greatest trick of all? Even after Allen would supposedly 'summon' Sun Ra to the stage, nobody questioned the tangibility of his existence. They saw him play, they heard him speak, but were they witnessing reality, or were they under the spell of Allen's extraordinary psychic talents?

[Zzzptm]

I think it was a collaboration. Sun Ra was getting Allen to channel him so he could eventually go back to Saturn.

But before Sun Ra was Sun Ra and before he was sure he'd been to Saturn, he played an amazing piano solo on Wynonie Harris' 1946 tune, "Dig This Boogie".

No question in my mind of the cat's talent. That recording is Sun Ra's first recorded piano solo, and it's a gem.

[Vyn]

A little Youtoobin' this evening. Randy Holden in Population II by way of Blue Cheer - proto-doom metal from back in the day.

[Zzzptm]

Yep. That be some doom, right there.

[Vyn]

Yep. That be some doom, right there.

Same song on Blue Cheer's 3rd LP - when Randy was a member of Blue Cheer, but I like Population II's rendition a lot better. I've got the Blue Cheer release, do not have Population II. In fact, have never even held it in my hand, although did see one for sale at a record show decades ago - up on a wall for $500.

Here's BC:

[Charger]

Type O Negative - Dead Again

[Zzzptm]

Back to Bruch today - Violin Concerto No. 1 and Scottish Fantasy. I might delve into French composers later on, we'll see...

[Vyn]

The times, they be ripe for some old thrash.

[Zzzptm]

Wound up going with more Bruch after Amazon showed me a collection of his symphonies and Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. 2 piano studies thrown in on top of all that for good measure.

[Charger]

Burning Witches - Holy Diver

[Zzzptm]

Australian punk rock from The Unknowns.

[Vyn]

And it's...Warfare on the turntable today!

[Zzzptm]

I was going through old Barry White... My rap is now that much stronger.

[Zzzptm]

It's a funk album with Jerry Garcia playing lead guitar. Cooks along nicely.

[Vyn]

Fucking AI has the robots playing their own tunes now.

The take-over is beginning!