Sun Ra: Viscosity And Thermonuclear Breakdown...

No, I haven't gone soft, but I have grown a bit older. And with increasing age comes a certain mellowness that settles into your sentient soul after having traveled the cosmic byways (and in some cases, low-ways) for several consecutive decades. You've done a lot of living, experiencing a lifetime of war and peace, pain and pleasure, heartache and joy. After so much, you've hopefully come to know, understand, and appreciate your place in the vast scheme of the cosmos. Out there before you, the massive void of space that once invited you on wild adventure to intergalactic discovery no longer seems to pulse quite so strongly as it once did before. You've already traversed the astral jet streams with thrusters full throttle, intent on being the first in line for exploration into the realms of unknown worlds. So today, there's no more need for afterburners. You've seen a good portion of what the world has to offer and accomplished most of what you were placed here on Planet Earth to do, and now your bones are beginning to grow somewhat weary. It's time to slow down a bit and reflect on past endeavors in order to contemplate your spiritual evolution into the next plane of living.
When I first heard the universal truth of Sun Ra's message, I was a very young man in attendance at the Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival, an interplanetary landing strip where the Sun Ra Mythic Science Arkestra touched down late one night to became a frequent and welcomed return visitor. I myself was a reluctant product of the times, but I nevertheless became enthralled with the far reaching tones that emanated from the stage --- sounds and circumstances that seemingly originated from somewhere far away in another galaxy. I also enjoyed the rush and surprise of untold stories from deepest space. But as my jazz education continued to flourish, my focus then began to shift more towards Sun Ra's earlier (and dare I say, more conventional) dispatches that reflected his admiration for the Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson big bands that once roamed the hiways of this planet. Obviously before his arrival from Saturn, Ra had studied our ways and our musical pioneers in preparation for sharing his own knowledge and sounds with us earthly beings who happen to occupy this third stone from the sun. It was then that I became convinced that the Ra and his Arkestra were among the finest (and most swinging) of dance bands in the entire solar system...

 Continue reading and download mixes

HERE

While you are there at this wonderful blog do also check out the 'Jazzoetry' mixes here, here and here.

The Last Poets - Jazzoetry