Moving past the tactics of the approach taken, this is a broad and deep burst across Sun Ra’s entire catalog, going as far back as the bandleader’s 1957 debut, Jazz By Sun Ra, for “A Call For All Demons,” and, moving forward, plucking gems from the early ’60s (“Moon Dance,” “We Travel The Spaceways”), late ’60s (“Outer Spaceways Incorporated”), early ’70s (“Space Is The Place”), late ’70s (“Lanquidity”) and all the way to 1990 for “Opus In Springtime” from his final album, Mayan Temples. The cassette’s case lists a dizzying lineup of synthesizers from Casio, Crumar, Korg, Moog, Realistic, Roland, Sequential and Yamaha, as well as Crain’s trusty Ace Tone Top 8 organ. Not that there’s much horn to be heard here, as the band interprets Sun Ra via another musical figure, noted synthesizer pioneer Wendy Carlos, she of Switched-On Bach fame, hence the title. The band is also no stranger to jazz, as Bajas member Rob Frye layers saxophone and flute over its meditative soundscapes. If released digitally and manufactured on cassette, this new project could come out within months, which Crain said felt in the spirit of Sun Ra - creation as a decisive, immediate action.īitchin Bajas is no stranger to a cassette release - in fact, in double-cassette format, Bajas Fresh had more songs on it than its vinyl counterpart. So Bitchin Bajas searched for something else to do, and Sun Ra rose into its sights. When Bitchin Bajas submitted its first album in four years, it was told it wouldn’t be pressed and out until June 2022. The band’s last album, 2017’s Bajas Fresh, was mastered at half-speed for vinyl at Abbey Road Studios in London. But Switched On Ra came about because of an adjacent issue - the massive delays at besieged vinyl pressing plants.īitchin Bajas finished its new album back in May, and the Chicago-based trio, centered on multi-instrumentalist Cooper Crain, is particular about how it issues music. Many albums over the last year-and-a-half were born out of, and inspired by, the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine. Umdali meaningfully contributes to the ongoing, essential dialogue on what it means to improvise within the context of jazz. What Jiyane does so well throughout the album is provide his assembled contributors space for expression while making the proceedings effortlessly cohere - impressive, considering this was conceived of and recorded within two days in Johannesburg. The songs here swell and search in a way that feels simultaneously arranged and spontaneous - it makes sense that Spaza won’t commit to saying whether its material is improvised or workshopped.Ī standout is “Umkhumbi kaMA,” consistently percussive and layered with shifting sections that continually unfold an enjoyable seriousness. Backed by bassist Ayanda Zalekile, drummer Lungile Kunene, percussionist Gontse Makhene, pianist Nkosinathi Mathunjwa, saxophonist Nhlanhla Mahlangu and trumpeters Brandon Ruiters and Tebogo Seitei, Jiyane and his assembled collective of like-minded players ruminate on the meaning of life and death to enormous effect.
The enormous seriousness of all this definitely affects the music. In that period, several years ago, Jiyane was dealing with the death of a band member (trombonist Jonas Gwangwa), the birth of a daughter and the passing of his mentor Johnny Mekoa, founder of the Music Academy of Gauteng. And what he presents is an honest snapshot of his personal circumstances at the time of recording. He brings that same spirit to his debut as a frontman on Umdali. Trombonist and pianist Malcolm Jiyane has heretofore existed on the South African jazz scene as a sideman, most notably working with the Johannesburg, South African-based group Spaza, which describes itself on Bandcamp as “a band with no permanent personnel, with each lineup assembled for the express purpose of recording once-off improvised or workshopped material.” Jiyane was an integral part of its 2020 LP Uprize!