sun ra! what could be better, in a genre littered with pretentiousness, than a composer/bandleader/pianist/keyboardist who dresses like a science fiction george clinton and claims to have come to this planet from saturn? sun ra, like his esteemed colleagues in the art ensemble of chicago, was not only an excellent jazz musician, but also a fun guy.
nuclear war appeared after ra had established himself as a prominent musician, but was released on an obscure italian post-punk label due to the hilarious profane language on the title track ("nuclear war / it's a motherfucker"... "if they push that button / you can kiss yo' ass / goodbye"... "what you gonna do without yo' ass?"). the version i am reviewing comes on compact disc (albeit mastered directly from vinyl--the static is audible) thanks to our friends at atavistic records in chicago. the arrangements get fuller after the appropriately stark opener (just ra and his piano and some subtle percussion), but most of the tracks have an alien (ha) feel thanks to ra's spacey keyboards. nevertheless, the free jazz the marked ra's earlier years is largely absent, and most of the songs are relatively grounded in jazz tradition. i wouldn't have pegged ra for being one to cover duke ellington, but his "drop me off in harlem" stays interesting with backing congas and keyboards. two other surprises are "sometimes i'm happy" and "smile," both of which feature the vocals of june tyson and fairly low-key accompaniment. the former sounds too dated for the rest of the album, but the latter (sample lyrics: "smile through your tears and sorrow... you'll see the sun shining through for you") is an amusing counterpoint to the apocalyptic ditty that started things off. this will take some patience for fans of ra's earlier, freer work, but it is largely rewarding in its mellowness.