Sun Ra and Les Baxter

I've been a huge Sun Ra fan for many years , especially of his 50's / early 60's stuff . From the book SPACE IS THE PLACE : The Life and Times of Sun Ra ...

" The big postwar jazz bands held little interest for Sonny , as most were either recycling past successes or shoving singers to the front , or else attempting to paste the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie onto older formulas . Sonny was now listening to the Hollywood-inspired music being made by people like David Rose , whose lush massed string writing could be heard as theme songs on several popular radio programs ; or Walter Schumann , who brought classical choral methods to pop songs ; OR to the exotica of people like Martin Denny , who recorded in Honolulu under Henry Kaiser's Aluminum Dome accompanied by animal noises , natural accoustic delay , and reverberation ; and ESPECIALLY to the arrangements of LES BAXTER , the premier figure in what was being called mood music .

Baxter was a big band saxophonist and singer who developed a post-swing style in the late 40's and early 50's of spectacular orchestral writing , full of tympani and hand drums , tumbling violin lines , harps , marimbas , celesta , Latin rhythm vamps , the cries of animals , choral moans , and flamboyany singers , creating imaginary soundscapes which he helped evoke with titles like " Saturday Night On Saturn " , " Atlantis " , " Voodoo Dreams " , and " Pyramid of the Sun " . Sonny first heard Baxter on Perfume Set to Music ( 1946 ) and Music Out of the Moon " ( 1947 ) , two albums built around melodies for theremin performed by Dr. Samuel Hoffman , a Los Angeles podiatrist who had played on the soundtracks Spellbound and The Lost Weekend . Baxter went on to produce records which celebrated the Aztecs ( Sacred Idol in 1959 ) , South Asia ( Ports of Pleasure 1957 ) , Africa and the Middle East ( Tamboo in 1955 ) , and the Caribbean ( Caribbean Moonlight in 1956 ) , all of which used Latin rhythms generically , as did his two big band records , African Jazz ( 1958 ) and Jungle Jazz ( 1959 ) . Though later generations would understand this music in strictly utilitarian terms , and hear in it the sounds of air conditioning and the clink of ice in cocktail shakers , for Sonny it was music rich with imagination and suggestion , and free of material constraints . His genius was to take as raw material what others in the 1950's thought of as " easy listening " and turn it into what in the late 1960's would be heard as " Third World Music ! by some and as " uneasy listening music " by others .

Sun Ra was heavily influenced by the work of Les Baxter.

Below is a link to one example called Tiny Pyramids......................

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2q26t_tinypyramids-by-sun-ra_music

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

the martini kings are big sun ra fans. we are originally from philadelphia, sun ra's town. we actually called hios house one night and he answered the phone. he was listed in the philly yellow pages under ra, sun. true story!
tony

the martini kings are big sun ra fans. we are originally from philadelphia, sun ra's town. we actually called hios house one night and he answered the phone. he was listed in the philly yellow pages under ra, sun. true story!
tony

On 2007-08-26 02:36, martini kings wrote:
the martini kings are big sun ra fans. we are originally from philadelphia, sun ra's town. we actually called hios house one night and he answered the phone. he was listed in the philly yellow pages under ra, sun. true story!
tony

Cool ...but did you TALK with the man ?

Knew there'd be some Ra fans here at TC .

After one of the Arkestra's concerts one night , a man once blurted out that his " five year old daughter could play that " ! " Sun Ra readily agreed : She could play it , but could she WRITE it ? " Hehehe...typically great Sun comeback . LOL ...

Listening to 'Sounds of Tomorrow' right now - cool stuff.

Interesting thread. I've been meaning to pick up some Sun Ra for a while. After hearing how much of Baxter's influence is in that track I will get on it this weekend. That animation is a trip.

"Reverberasia" from "Skins" totally sounds like a Sun Ra track.

On 2007-09-13 18:09, Tabu wrote:
Interesting thread. I've been meaning to pick up some Sun Ra for a while. After hearing how much of Baxter's influence is in that track I will get on it this weekend. That animation is a trip.

Pick up the 2-fer Angels and Demons At Play / The Nubians of Plutonia on Evidence . The first track on Angels is " Tiny Pyramids " . Lot of other great tracks on this disc .

Here's somethin' to chew on, I caught the last 30 minutes of the classic SiFi movie Soilent Green yesterday and happened to notice Les Baxter credited for the music.

I know Baxter didn't compose the music . What was he credited for ?

[ Edited by: sushiman 2007-09-16 18:52 ]

I've been on a real Sun Ra bender lately and put together an 80-minute Sun Ra exotica compilation CD. Most of the tracks are drawn from the following albums:

Fate in a Pleasant Mood
When the Sun Comes Out
Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
Sound of Joy

And also some cuts from other LPs/CDs.

On 2008-09-04 10:04, OnyaBirri wrote:
I've been on a real Sun Ra bender lately and put together an 80-minute Sun Ra exotica compilation CD. Most of the tracks are drawn from the following albums:

Fate in a Pleasant Mood
When the Sun Comes Out
Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra
Sound of Joy

And also some cuts from other LPs/CDs.

I'd love to get a copy of that (hint, hint) :wink:

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

I'd love to get a copy of that (hint, hint) :wink:

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Sent you a PM.