Sun Ra scores, recordings,
Sun Ra scores, recordings,
When will Sun Ra ever get his Museum? There are scores and collections = and archives at the Library of Congress, at Berklee, in Alabama and = Philadelphia, in Europe and Japan, here, there, and yonder... When will = the Sun Ra Museum come true? Or would he have liked the idea of having = his legacy scattered to the four winds? What do you all think or know = about this?
<< >> << > >< > >
http://tinyurl.com/yfn4hdz
"Chicago Jazz Music Examiner"
The Chicago link between Sun Ra and the Governor of Massachusetts=20
By Neil Tesser (ressetn@aol.com)=20
March 24, 2010
Sun Ra: What's his link to the Massachusetts Governor? Later today, = the Governor of Massachusetts will officially present a collection of = memorabilia - hundreds of musical scores, photos, recordings, and other = items - to the Berklee College of Music's Africana Studies Archive. = They're making a full day of it, too, with performances by students and = faculty at Berklee (the leading jazz school in America), along with = speeches by the Governor, school officials, and the celebrated poet and = activist Amiri Baraka.
What follows is a simple little tale of how that collection of = memorabilia made its way to Boston via New York, Chicago -- and the = planet Saturn.
It starts, however, in East Moline, 150 miles east west of Chicago - the = birthplace of Laurdine Kenneth Patrick in 1929. Along the way to = becoming a jazz saxophonist, Laurdine (quite understandably) acquired = the more manageable nickname "Pat." And that's the name you find on all = of the early recordings by the cosmo-musical explorer Sun Ra.=20
In fact, as award-winning author John Szwed points out in his much = admired biography of Sun Ra, Patrick played an extremely important role = in the career of the young bandleader, back when Ra was the Chicago = pianist still known as Herman "Sonny" Blount. This was before he = created his personal philosophy, a mystic hodgepodge hybridized from = science fiction and Egyptian mythology, which became one of Sun Ra's = trademarks -- along with the visionary, rollicking music that = accompanied it. =20 Patrick, who specialized in baritone sax but also excelled at alto (and = occasionally played electric bass), had moved to Chicago primarily to = study at DuSable High School with the legendary bandleader Walter Dyett. = Even then, Dyett enjoyed a reputation for developing disciplined and = motivated musicians. And Patrick stands out among the most impressive = DuSable alumni, who have included saxophone great Von Freeman, bass icon = Wilbur Ware, and the peerless vocalist Dinah Washington).
In 1952, Patrick joined Blount / Ra in a new trio on Chicago's south = side; it would eventually blossom into one of the most unusual and = influential orchestras in jazz, the Sun Ra Arkestra (as it was most = often called). The band was known as much for their metallic capes and = headgear -- trust me, Gene Simmons had nothing on these guys -- as for = their innovative, other-worldly music. Over the decades, Patrick would = come and go, a testament to the high regard in which Sun Ra held him: = other key members of the Arkestra lived communally under the watchful = eye of the leader (in part so that "Sunny" could ensure their abstinence = from vices of all kinds).
In 1963, the versatile Patrick hired on as musical director of Mongo = Santamaria's Latin-jazz group - the one that had the giant hit = "Watermelon Man." Everyone knows that tune. Not so many recall another = Santamaria hit called "Yeh! Yeh!" Patrick wrote that one; eventually it = gained lyrics and climbed the pop charts, thanks to British = rock-&-roller Georgie Fame's hit recording of 1965.
Patrick also recorded with John Coltrane and performed in Duke = Ellington's band. He worked with Thelonious Monk and Clark Terry and = co-founded a group called Baritone Retinue. All along the way, he was = collecting musical experiences - and memorabilia. And he often returned = to Sun Ra, as he did for the 1970 performance in Berlin documented = below. =20 =20 By then, his son Deval Patrick - born in 1956, but estranged from his = father for years - had turned 14. Having moved with his mother to = Massachusetts, he graduated from the prestigious Milton Academy in 1974. = Then he went to Harvard. Then Harvard Law, in 1979. Fifteen years = later, he was named Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under = President Clinton. And in 2006, Deval Patrick became the first = African-American Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
It is in that capacity that he dedicates to Berklee the collection of = his father's memorabilia and writings. He also does this in the = capacity of a respectful son: Pat Patrick died in 1991, but not before = he and Deval could reconcile. Although the father did not approve of = his son's entry into mainstream politics, they nonetheless found common = ground in the music.
On Tuesday, the Governor told the Boston Herald: "What's satisfying is = having his material appreciated. Frankly, even for my sisters and me, = we weren't quite sure what we were sitting on . . . It seemed to have = value because my father had paid attention to accumulating and = preserving it during his life. So it's great to have the folks at = Berklee, who seem so excited about this material, take custody of it and = share it with students."=20
Today, the son of a man who played with the Sun of Saturn honors his = father with a trove of history - and at least a bit of stardust, = emanating from his Chicago roots.