Sunday, January 16, 2011

SUN RA ARKESTRA - EAST AND WEST BERLIN


  • sun ra arkestra: east and west berlin
    (2005, dvd, usa, tranparency)

In 2005, the Transparency label released a number of DVDs with Sun Ra recordings with high historical value.
I mentioned these before, but here are some more details.
Volume two in the series presented fragments from French tv from 1970, the complete 1986 tv broadcast of the East Berlin concert, and the incredible 1983 West Berlin concert by the Sun Ra All Stars.

The overall quality of these recordings isn't too good. The French TV part is out of sync, and the 1986 concert is from a nth grade video tape, and even the All Stars concert isn't top video quality, but as I said earlier: these recordings have hight historical value.

As far as I know, these are the best-known recordings of these performances, and if you're into Sun Ra, you really need to see this.

The 50-minute plus recording of the 1983 West Berlin concert alone, will make this worth your while: Lester Bowie, Don Cherry, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Archie Shepp, ...
This is what music is about...

And while we're at it, might as well add another Lester Bowie gem: The Art Ensemble Of Chicago with 'No Woman No Cry'.

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