bei der recherche rund um die dorothy-ashby-alben auf cadet lese ich plötzlich, dass ihr produzent und arrangeur richard evans (der eigentliche künstlerische leiter bei cadet) der bassist des arkestra aus der frühen chicagoer zeit war (zu hören u.a. auf JAZZ BY SUN RA). hier, in einem interview, erzählt er eine ziemlich eigenartige geschichte über seine einmonatige arkestramitgliedschaft:
You went on to play with Sun Ra really early on in your career. What was Sun Ra like as a bandleader?
Sun Ra, to my ear, was like a poor man’s Duke Ellington at the time. He was like the planet Saturn; he was just strange and far out. He would do magic tricks a lot. And if you were a horn player in his band, he would write licks for you. Also, you couldn’t say anything negative to him. It wasn’t a band, more like a cult. He was one strict fella.
One time, I painted a sign for him that said “Sun Ra and his fabulous jazz band performing.” I spent about two weeks on it. He looked at it and broke out laughing. He said, “We don’t play jazz, we play dazz.” I took my little painting back, and still don’t know what he meant by that. [laughs]
I stayed with Sun Ra for about a month or so. Even though I left his band, and even though he was a strange fella, he did show me how to get copyrights for my work. I have to give him credit for helping me out with that.
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