Saturday, July 15, 2006

spotting john gilmore

sometimes it's not easy to identify sun ra's reed players, either on record by their sound or in the documentation since the liner notes are not always complete or accurate. some of the best statements by longtime unheralded tenor saxophone great john gilmore can be found on "sketch," track three from the other planes of there CD, where what starts of sounding like a routinely swinging medium-tempo number turns, by around 2:20, a glossolalic showcase for gilmore; and likewise track 2 on cymbals (disc 1 from the great lost sun ra albums), "thoughts under a dark blue light," shines its spotlight on gilmore from around 1:40 to 7:20.

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