Sun Ra - A Joyful Noise

Starring:Sun Ra
Director: Robert Mugge
Studio: Winstar
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

One of jazz music's most entertaining and eccentric figures is profiled in Robert Mugge's hourlong, 1980 profile of the late bandleader-keyboardist-composer Sun Ra. "I don't consider myself one of the humans," he once said. "I'm a spiritual being," who was reputed to eschew the usual jazzman's indulgences of drugs and sex and who, despite the weird trappings (he and his big band, the Intergalactic Omniverse Arkestra, usually performed in glittery costumes that combined African, alien, and thrift-shop styles), infused his music with a strong sense of discipline and precision. Here we see Ra and the band rehearsing and performing; their "joyful noise" is free, sometimes chaotic, but also clearly blues-based, somewhat reminiscent of Monk or Mingus (there's even a rendition of "'Round Midnight"). Ra is also interviewed surrounded by the Egyptian artifacts and antiquities that were an important element of his "mythocracy." He clearly loves having an audience--and how can you not enjoy listening to a guy who also chooses the White House as a backdrop for solemn pronouncements like "I'm not a part of history--I'm more a part of mystery, which is my story"? --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews:

classic sun ra.......2003-08-29

if you are a sun ra fan then this is a must. if you want an introduction to sun ra you couldnt ask for much better. great live performances and classic quotes from the master of the one liner. " with all the school and hospitals you got, your supposed to have a better world than this" and" you cant have a whitehouse if you dont have a blackhouse, in fact you cant have anything without its opposite" and the timeless " space is the place." some of the music on this dvd is simply awesome. horns echoing ancient egypt, synthesizers making modern musicians look pathetic, an ancient infinity drum and a moog synthesizer. sun ra, tho he would deny he is of our species, is the man.

A Fantastic Documentary of a Fascinating Musician.......2003-02-02

Robert Mugge's "A Joyful Noise" is a great film that anyone who is interested in Sun Ra should buy immediately. It captures the Arkestra in a variety of environments, including at their communal home in Philadelphia, in concert at various locations, and even on a rooftop. The film also features excellent interviews with many members of the group, including the legendary John Gilmore, Danny Thompson, and, of course, the genius Mr. Ra himself. What is particularly wonderful about this film is that it provides various examples of their music and the philosophical context in which the group operated. This video is absolutely essential. This is also a good film to show to the small children in your family, because it will allow their ears to become accustomed to the puissant possibilities of sound.

With the film in mind, let's get a couple things straight about Sun Ra. First, his tendency to embark on long orations that invoked ancient Egypt and outer space were extremely sincere. It was not a joke or a ploy to attract attention. Secondly, Sun Ra and his associates gave their entire lives to create music that was truly revolutionary in its ability to radically reform the sonic conventions with which most of us are familiar. His desire to essentially choose a life of near poverty in order to create innovative jazz music is something that, in my opinion, illustrates how deadly serious he was about his music.

If there is any problem with the film, it is that most of the music segments are short and incomplete. Of course, the director clearly was trying to assemble a documentary, not a concert film, so this is understandable.

it's so hard to make anything out of this dvd.......2002-02-19

i gave this dvd 3 stars for its eccentricity--which in some circles may be viewed as creativity. otherwise i think the whole thing swings between charlatanry and a few artistic sparks.

earlier on, sun ra might have done some things associable with creativity, but has not shown he knows music from noise/cacophony. as far as liberating creativity is concerned, i'd stay with ornette coleman...

Fascinating document of a fascinating man.......2000-04-04

This video gets four stars not for its execution (frankly, in spots it makes Blair Witch Project look like Citizen Kane) but for its subject, the mysterious Sun Ra and his Arkestra. The movie basically consists of Sun Ra talking about his philosophies, interspersed with interviews with members of the Arkestra and film of the Arkestra rehearsing and performing. However, the sound quality of this film leaves a lot to be desired; I haven't seen the newer version of this video/DVD and I hope they remaster the sound, because there are some dynamic moments here with the Arkestra.

Those of us who were too young to have experienced Sun Ra in person will appreciate this documentary for the wealth of information it provides about the Arkestra and the exciting shots of Sun Ra and the Arkestra in concert. Unfortunately, the makers of the film never let the band play one song all the way through, so we never quite get to see Sun Ra and the Arkestra at full blast. However, the segment in the middle of the film where Sun Ra is sitting at his piano composing and then does a version of "Round Midnight" is utterly priceless. It's an all too brief glimpse of the way this compositional giant worked. The rehearsal and performance footage is equally invaluable, because it shows how Sun Ra conveyed his musical ideas to the band, and how the individual personalities fleshed out his music to create the astonishing "cosmo sound" of Sun Ra and his Arkestra.

There are several problems with this film. The photography is grainy; the film looks like a PBS documentary filmed by college students in the late 70s, and the sound is terrible. They never identify which of Mr. Ra's compositions the band is playing in the concert segments (although "Astro Black" and "We Travel The Spaceways" are excerpted at the beginning and end of the film). These technical flaws are offset by the fact that it's one of the few documents of this underappreciated American composer that we have.

Sun Ra was an amazing and interesting man, and if you are a fan of Sun Ra, the performances by the Arkestra and the interviews with the band and Mr. Ra far outweigh the film's considerable technical shortcomings. For newcomers to the omniverse of the self-proclaimed Man from Saturn, this film may only be completely mystifying, but then again, I have the feeling that Sun Ra wouldn't have minded that either. Four stars for content, two stars for execution.

A must see program for all Sun Ra fans.......1999-07-18

An amazing video about some of the aspects of creativity, philosophy and a way of life of one of the greatest American/world/universe jazz musicians. Sun Ra's excerpts from his "intergalactic" philosophy. Lots of excellent music. Sun Ra Archestra members' opinions on their boss and music. Inside look at the way the Sun Ra community lived and created. Worth seeing not only for those who know and like Sun Ra, but also for all jazz fans.

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