With a brief look at some notables along the road, Chang Terhune’s Music Mondays aims to shed light on both new and old(er) music over a wide spectrum of sound (and vision). This week: Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Idris Muhammad.
Slip off into the infinite
Jazz was something that eluded me until I was an adult—and to be fair, middle-aged. It’s fascinating to delve into it with a little more appreciation for it now that I’ve dug into the classics and proceeded from there. You may or may not know I long considered my musical taste pedestrian until I realized it wasn’t. I won’t try to impress with the depth of my musical preferences and how it makes me so cool—I don’t get Jandek and I can’t stand Smashing Pumpkins for instance—suffice it to say, I like a lot of different styles and blend them freely. Which is what jazz can do as well. So let’s begin:
Sun Ra :: “Love In Outer Space” — The first Sun Ra track I ever heard and my favorite. One day almost 30 years ago I walked into the legendary Stereo Jack’s in their original store in Cambridge, MA. Long-known as a music heads record shop, the staff were mostly scruffy, aging hippies who were free with their opinions of what you bought. I went in and said “Sun Ra. What’s a good place to start?” The fella behind the counter sauntered out from behind it, down an aisle, and clacked through a row of CDs. He pulled out a Blast First compilation of Sun Ra tracks and said, “This one came in and is a good place to start.” Then he said “Oh wait I haven’t heard half of these.” Before he could take it for himself, I grabbed it, paid, and left. The music inside was wild, exuberant and seemingly free of rules and structures I thought jazz was. Thankfully, Sun Ra proved me wrong. “Love In Outer Space” might be one of his more accessible tracks, but it’s still pure Sun Ra.
Alice Coltrane :: “Journey Into Satchidananda” — My dad loved John Coltrane, blaring him often before and after dinner when I was younger. As I got older and learned more about him, I realized he was on to something very deep in his study of music. Elsewhere I stumbled upon a packet of samples including one strange saxophone wailing snippet. I used this in a track of mine, thinking it was unique and thought no one would notice (many of you artists think this way, so don’t be shocked). Then I heard “Journey Into Satchidananda” and realized where my little sample came from. Oh well! It’s now a favorite song to play in mixes and lazy Sunday nights. Alice Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders produced some powerful magic here with sitar, tambourra, harp, saxophone and more. Be prepared to slip off into the infinite more than once.
Pharaoh Sanders :: “Love Will Find A Way” — Lately I’ve been digging into Pharaoh Sanders work and my god do I regret sleeping on his music! There’s obviously an incredible musical mind at work here but at the same time he has a friendly, playful style to his work as well. His tracks vary from deeply spiritual to light, airy and freeing. Famous for working with many artists over the years which always bears fascinating fruit. He recently teamed up with Floating Points for XXX which bears close and repeated listenings. For today I’ve chosen “Love Will Find A Way” from his Pharaoh album which was just reissued. The first time I heard it I played it on repeat for an hour or so.
Idris Muhammad :: “Piece of Mind” — I tend to find a lot of new music by the “radio” feature most streamers have. If it’s good you can tune it to your preference for lots of new music or none at all. This is how I found this album which is a stunner. Idris Muhammad was a drummer who played with Pharaoh Sanders among other. This album and track immediately brings to mind 1970s California in the movies, specifically Robert Altman’s “The Long Goodbye.” The album evokes that sultry, slouching groove of golden hour sunsets, impossible alcohol tolerance and slim beauties in polyester and the mood for fooling around. No doubt not what the composer intended but that’s the image my mind conjures up. As I listen more of his music I find it’s all deep, dope stuff.
