Senior Concert Recording Engineer Ed Haber, recorded Sun Ra in 1991 and has this recollection.
Between 1979 and 1981 I’d regularly go to the Squat Theatre to see Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Squat, on west 23rd street in Chelsea, was just under street level with windows open to the street, and it was the perfect venue to see the band marching and singing “Space Is the Place”.
Wind forward ten years to when I had the thrill of recording Sun Ra for WNYC at the Inter-Media Arts Center in Huntington, New York. Listening back to the tapes now, stripped of the Arkestra's visual theatricality, I’m reminded of how well Sun Ra synthesized so many elements of 20th century jazz, from swing to the avant-garde. But regardless of the style, the joy in the music is what comes through every note. And while this concert was only two years before Sun Ra’s death, his piano playing is still so vibrant.
1991 was a few years before convenient portable multi-track recording equipment became widely available, so WNYC’s concert recordings at the time were exclusively direct to 2-track mixes. For this concert one of our then maintenance engineers, Karen Burdick, sat in the front row giving us cues as to who was about to solo (we were probably mixing in the lighting booth in the back of the hall), and Michael DeMark (now with Minnesota Public Radio and The Current) did a great mix.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra’s birth — take a moment and listen to this time capsule from 1991. And then check David Garland’s Spinning on Air for more about Sun Ra.
Ed Haber, Senior Concert Recording Engineer
May 22, 2014
Sun Ra and His Arkestra
Inter-Media Arts Center, April 20, 1991 (broadcast on WNYC, November 9, 1991)
Sun Ra—keyboards and synthesizer
John Gilmore—tenor saxophone and clarinet (vocal on East of the Sun)
Marshall Allen—alto saxophone and flute
June Tyson—vocals and violin
James Jackson—bassoon and flute and drum
Tyrone Hill—trombone
Earl “Buster” Smith—drums
Noel Scott—alto saxophone
Jothan Callins—bass
Elson Santos—percussion
Charles Davis—baritone saxophone
Michael Ray—trumpet and vocals
Ahmed Abdullah—trumpet
Fred Adams—trumpet
Clifford Barbaro—drums
T.C. Carney—vocals
Chris Capers—trumpet and flugelhorn
Theodore Thoms—percussion and dance
This recording was produced for radio by Eileen Delahunty. The engineers were Edward Haber (technical director), Michael DeMark (mix engineer), and Karen Burdick. The executive producer for WNYC-FM was Allison Chernow.
This concert was part of a concert series entitled “The New Jazz Network Tour” produced by The New York State Council On The Arts and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center of Buffalo.
