Rabble Without A Cause, December 11: New releases of McCoy Tyner with Joe Henderson and the Sun Ra Orkestra
Three new releases - two old and the other new. McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson recorded in 1966, the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen recorded in 2024 and in 1978
On Wednesday’s show we’re going to dive right in to the new release of a 1966 performance by McCoy Tyner and Joe Henderson, featuring Jack DeJohnette on drums and Henry Grimes on bass. We will listen to an almost half an hour long improvisation of “In ‘N Out”. Vinnie Sperraza has said about this performance:
Hot out of the gate, Henderson is endlessly inventive, his solo a marvel of sustained creativity. McCoy, playing a not-terribly-in-tune upright piano, and comping very strangely, eventually lets the trio of Grimes, DeJohnette, and Henderson reach the top of the mountain on their own. Tyner’s own solo must be some of the greatest, most inventive, authentic jazz piano ever recorded. Like all of us, I was spellbound the first time I heard this solo.
DeJohnette, on a four-piece kit with a low-pitched, dry ride cymbal, and medium-pitched crash, is feeding the fire, challenging and celebrating the soloists. Elvin Jones and Tony Williams (Jack’s junior by 3 years) are the obvious references, but Jack has his own voice. His ride cymbal is the center of his sound, but Jack’s left hand and feet just get into this stuff that’s more or less impossible to notate, creating a texture that’s both grounding and polyrhythmic. I love how clearly he marks the 12-bar form at moments of peak intensity. Why disguise it?
You can read his excellent piece about the album here.
For the rest of the show we will listen to the Sun Ra Arkestra from a new release on (irony unintended) In ‘N Out Records - Lights on a Satellite as well as a newly unearthed live recording from Baltimore in 1978.
Recorded in the UK in June of this year, this album is a great overview of the Sun Ra Arkestra - including a new version of “Tapestry of an Asteroid” first recorded by Sun Ra in 1956.
We will end the show with tracks from a new release from Resonance Records of the Sun Ra Arkestra live at the Left Bank in Baltimore.
You can listen live on Wednesday evening from 11 p.m. to midnight at 93.1 on the FM dial or streaming at ckcufm.com. You can also listen on demand after the show is broadcast.