Then, guest Jayve Montgomery adds an Akai EWI-4000 as a solo voice on a few tunes, just to get some air-blown signal in there, and this serves as a natural shout-out to the Arkestra’s Marshall Allen, a master of the electronic wind instrument. This is a long look into Sun Ra’s space, seen through the telescopic lens of 18 keyboards. Moving past the tactics of the approach taken, this is a broad and deep burst across Sun Ra’s entire catalog, going as far back as the bandleader’s 1957 debut, Jazz By Sun Ra, for “A Call For All Demons,” and, moving forward, plucking gems from the early ’60s (“Moon Dance,” “We Travel The Spaceways”), late ’60s (“Outer Spaceways Incorporated”), early ’70s (“Space Is The Place”), late ’70s (“Lanquidity”) and all the way to 1990 for “Opus In Springtime” from his final album, Mayan Temples. The cassette’s case lists a dizzying lineup of synthesizers from Casio, Crumar, Korg, Moog, Realistic, Roland, Sequential and Yamaha, as well as Crain’s trusty Ace Tone Top 8 organ. Not that there’s much horn to be heard here, as the band interprets Sun Ra via another musical figure, noted synthesizer pioneer Wendy Carlos, she of Switched-On Bach fame, hence the title. The band is also no stranger to jazz, as Bajas member Rob Frye layers saxophone and flute over its meditative soundscapes. If released digitally and manufactured on cassette, this new project could come out within months, which Crain said felt in the spirit of Sun Ra - creation as a decisive, immediate action.īitchin Bajas is no stranger to a cassette release - in fact, in double-cassette format, Bajas Fresh had more songs on it than its vinyl counterpart. So Bitchin Bajas searched for something else to do, and Sun Ra rose into its sights. When Bitchin Bajas submitted its first album in four years, it was told it wouldn’t be pressed and out until June 2022. The band’s last album, 2017’s Bajas Fresh, was mastered at half-speed for vinyl at Abbey Road Studios in London. But Switched On Ra came about because of an adjacent issue - the massive delays at besieged vinyl pressing plants.īitchin Bajas finished its new album back in May, and the Chicago-based trio, centered on multi-instrumentalist Cooper Crain, is particular about how it issues music. Many albums over the last year-and-a-half were born out of, and inspired by, the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine. Whew! This is jazz as good as it gets, as the crowd’s raucous applause at the end demonstrates. The 18-minute “Duke Ellington Medley” is a joy, and the closer, Peterson’s own “Blues Etude,” serves as a full-out sprint to the end, complete with Peterson’s solo stride break in the middle. “Waltz For Debbie” swings dreamlike “When You Wish Upon A Star” gives goosebumps as Pass quietly picks the intro, then plays the tune solo. The sound of Peterson patting his foot along to the beat of “How High The Moon” gives this music that edge of authenticity as something truly live, organic and exquisitely recorded. There is so much to love on this recording.
The intro to the latter offers a nice glimpse of Peterson’s classy onstage persona as he introduces the band before drifting elegantly into his keyboard. “Love” is in the title of this album, and there are certainly some wonderful ballads here such as the aptly named “Love Ballade” as well as the title cut. Young also takes a terrific bass solo on the tune. Clocking in at more than 20 minutes, the interplay between Pass and Peterson is, again, unbelievably intricate, demonstrating a mastery that few in the history of jazz could ever match. “A Salute To Bach” offers more of that goodness at a breakneck tempo, turning the work of the iconic Baroque-era classical composer into hard-burning bebop.
While Young and Drew lock the rhythm in a chokehold of swing, Peterson and Pass dance with unlimited imagination across their instruments. If listening to the two of them blistering through “Sushi” can’t slap a smile on your face, get to the emergency room.
The pianist is at the height of his musical prowess. Packaging aside, the music is the star here. “Just by Oscar playing an intro, we’d know.” Those notes also include an eloquent tribute to Peterson by pianist Benny Green as well as some loving words from Oscar’s widow, Kelly Peterson. Just get out there and play,” Young wrote in the liner notes. The recording captures Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Dave Young and drummer Martin Drew on the last show of the group’s 1987 fall tour. While the title of this album is A Time For Love, a more apt heading might be A Time To Burn because that’s exactly what Peterson and his quartet do throughout this 12-tune blast of joy.
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