Re: Jazz Purist Question: Is Sun Ra Jazz?

Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 16:22:16 -0600
Newsgroups: rec.music.bluenote
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"kurt" <email-address-deleted> wrote:
> I am curious how the traditionalists amongst us view
> Sun Ra. I recently picked up the remastered Live In
> Montreaux; it had been a while since I listened to the
> vinyl. However, does Ra play jazz?
The thing is, there are different senses in which one can be a
"traditionalist" or "purist" regarding jazz. Originally, the term
referred to those who held that bebop was not jazz (some also probably
believe swing was not either, but I don't hear as much about those
debates). There are a few of those folks left, but not many. These
folks would probably consider only Sun Ra's most directly Henderson-like
music to be jazz.
Then there are those who accept bebop, and some post-bop music, but not
music that started to do away with structures such as chord progressions
and swing rhythms. Often, these same folks also take a dim view of the
introduction of rhythms or other elements from other styles of music,
such as rock, although there are certainly those who accept quite a bit
of free jazz but little fusion, and others who feel conversely. In the
case of Sun Ra, those who lump all of this into one category will
probably discount most of his music, except for the most Henderson-like
pieces and the beboppish pieces. Those who accept fusion but not
freedom will probably find a handful of others pieces to admit, and the
same for those who accept freedom but not fusion.
Then there are those who accept most of that stuff as jazz, but have
problems with so-called "smooth jazz" being considered to be jazz. I
fall into this category. Needless to say, I still consider most of Sun
Ra's output to be jazz, although if someone wants to say some pieces are
more jazzy than others, I certainly know what they mean.
--------------
Marc Sabatella
email-address-deleted
Check out my latest CD, "Falling Grace"
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