Sun Ra: “At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977” (2024) CD Review

There were some excellent releases this past Saturday for Record Store Day, including a previously unreleased live album from Sun Ra titled At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977, which was limited to 3,000 copies. If you didn’t manage to pick up a vinyl copy, do not despair. This special album is being released on CD this Friday. It is a two-disc set, and it comes complete with a 36-page booklet of liner notes and photos. Sun Ra is the name that jazz composer and keyboard player Herman Poole Blunt began performing under in the 1950s in Chicago, so that city is, in a sense, where he as a performer was born. And it was to that city that he returned regularly. This two-disc set contains music that Sun Ra performed on February 21, 1976, November 4, 1977, and November 10, 1977, at Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase. The music is not presented in chronological order, because it is from 1977 that the early set comes, while the late set is from 1976. The music is mostly original material.

CD 1

The first disc kicks off with, appropriately, “New Beginning,” and immediately things get loose and lively, the music itself determining the course of things. With Sun Ra, you know it’s going to be an interesting ride. And that ride soon takes us into another realm with “View From Another Dimension,” which begins with some interesting percussion, welcoming us to the dance, to the tribe, to the ceremony. It is when the percussion suddenly stops that the weirdness really begins. Once that work on keys takes over, we have crossed over into that other dimension fully. There is no longer easy access to an escape route. We are fully committed to the journey. And it isn’t long before the place is crowded with voices of horns, hustling and making urgent announcements in what may simply be a bustling marketplace or could be the edge of existence. Things get pretty intense and exciting. They do, however, relax before the end. The audience applause is heard at the end of the track, and from the sound of it, the venue must not have been all that large.

“Synthesis Approach” quickly develops a catchy groove, the tune sounding like aliens engaging in their own second line, winding along some interstellar promenade. This track is probably more accessible for folks than the first two, and it’s fun, with a delicious energy. I love the joy of the horns. It’s like they don’t want to, or can’t, hold back, but must shout out. This track is seriously enjoyable, and it features some very cool stuff on keys, particularly in the second half. And when the horns join in again, the joy splashes across the planets and moons and whatever might lie in between. That’s followed by “Ankhnaton.” I love how this music might have its origin in familiar places, but then goes far afield, twisting the familiar into something new and exciting, shaking new worlds from the old, looking at reality from a different angle, and pulling us along for the ride. Who knows what we ourselves will be able to create as we shake and groove and move to this track? And who expects the band to do a standard at this point? No one, I bet. Well, these guys follow “Ankhnaton” with “Rose Room,” composed by Art Hickman and Harry Williams. The arrangement is by Sun Ra, so you can count on things to stay at least somewhat within the realm of the strange and exciting, keeping us on our toes. This track is hopping, and features some delicious work on keys and a great bass line.

“Moonship Journey” is a tune that comes from Sun Ra’s 1976 album Cosmos. This rendition quickly develops that groove and then the vocals come in, “Prepare yourself for the moonship journey.” Yes, it’s the first of the disc’s tracks to feature vocals. I like the rhythm of the vocals. The saxophone then comes in and takes over, drowning out the vocals and becoming the dominant voice itself. This journey soon begins to sound like a party. It must be one of those party moonships I’ve been hearing about, but haven’t yet been able to book. This track is a lot of fun. The band stretches out on this one a bit, this rendition being more than ten minutes long. It’s one of my personal favorite tracks. The first disc then concludes with “Velvet,” a piece that was included on Sun Ra’s 1959 album Jazz In Silhouette and on his 1967 album We Travel The Space Ways. It moves at a good clip, and features some great stuff on trumpet. Actually, several of the players have opportunities to shine here. And I love that rhythm, it makes me feel that everything is happening at once, and we can somehow enjoy it all. This track is a total delight.

CD 2

The second disc opens with “Calling Planet Earth,” a piece that was included on the 1963 Sun Ra album When Sun Comes Out. As it begins, several voices urgently join in the call, along with the horns and drums, and things become deliciously chaotic. Ah, that’s planet Earth, all right! With waves of thunder. Then it sounds like frantic radio signals being picked up by those of us lost in the outer reaches of the solar system, and interpreted by unhinged machines, though not into any language that we can readily understand. It may be that the machines are attacking each other, for things get more and more wild. The band goes straight into “The Shadow World,” presented on the same track here. That piece comes from the 1966 Sun Ra album The Magic City, and it takes us into more unusual and intriguing territory. The darkness has several forms and they all come rushing at us, demanding our attention. This is an exciting track.

“Theme Of The Stargazers” begins on keys, like someone got at the organ at the ball park and was battling his own visions through the instrument. That comes to an abrupt halt, and the voices come in: “This is the theme of the stargazers/Stargazers in the sky/This is the song of tomorrow’s world/A cosmic paradise.” The horns join the keyboard in a wild blaze, a shout up to the heavens, more of a demand than an entreaty. That leads straight into “Space Is The Place,” which is presented as a different track. This is the title track to a 1973 Sun Ra album. The vocalists tell us, “Space is the place,” and we get the feeling that Space is a night club with a particularly good band and some dancing girls that have to be seen to be believed, the kind of place where the party goes all night, the windows darkened to keep the sun from disturbing the festivities. And we seem encouraged to join in singing that title line, and clap along if we so choose. That is followed by a track titled “Applause,” and that is largely what it is, not a composition. We hear people calling out “Sun Ra.”

And then Sun Ra returns to the stage, much to the delight of the crowd, and he goes into “Ebah Speaks In Cosmic Tongue,” asking, “Have you heard the latest news from Neptune?” Apparently, the rest of the track is the latest news from Neptune. But as this is from 1976, it is probably no longer the latest news from Neptune. What’s happening out there now? Why are we not hearing anything about it? What are they keeping from us? Well, the crowd is totally digging it. That’s followed by “Greetings From The 21st Century.” “It’s only twenty-four years before the century of twenty-one,” we learn. Ah, who knows what the 21st century will bring? This is a vocal piece, with some great backing vocal work. There is a sort of gospel bent to them, and again, folks are clapping along. The second disc then concludes with a track titled “Joe Segal Announcements.” It’s kind of cool that this was included. The crowd applauds again for Sun Ra. Then Joe Segal says: “Sun Ra is here one more day, and your student and musician discount is good tomorrow, so be sure to come in. It’s three dollars, as opposed to the five.” Oh man, that’s when concert ticket prices were reasonable.

CD Track List

CD 1

1. New Beginning
2. View From Another Dimension
3. Synthesis Approach
4. Ankhnaton
5. Rose Room
6. Moonship Journey
7. Velvet

CD 2

1. Calling Planet Earth & The Shadow World
2. Theme Of The Stargazers
3. Space Is The Place
4. Applause
5. Ebah Speaks In Cosmic Tongue
6. Greetings From The 21st Century
7. Joe Segal Announcements

At The Showcase: Live In Chicago 1976-1977 is scheduled to be released on CD on April 26, 2024. It was released on vinyl on Record Store Day, April 20, 2024.