- Drawing inspiration from Sun Ra is less about pursuing a sound than a philosophy—that is, pushing yourself and your tools to their creative limits. As Hieroglyphic Being, Jamal Moss wrenches raw techno out of his machines in marathon studio sessions. It's a process much like his free jazz idol's, who created hundreds of albums by putting the musicians in his band, Arkestra, through punishingly long jams.
Moss used this approach on We Are Not The First, recording an album with an ensemble that features Marshall Allen, the 91-year-old saxophonist who's led the Arkestra since Sun Ra passed away in 1993. Free jazz and experimental legends—including avant-garde vocalist Shelley Hirsch, guitarist Shazhad Ismaily and synth wizard Ben Vida—are also onboard, and anyone familiar with those names will find much to enjoy. Blasts of synth and sax erupt and die abruptly, flutes pirouette, Greg Fox's drumming often feels like a landslide, and Hirsch's almost operatic vocals teeter between cosmic and comic. The music backing Moss's voiceover on "Apes & Ages" is as thick and boiling as the "primordial ooze" he intones about. Some of We Are Not The First is explicitly political. Rafael Sanchez evokes Gil Scott-Heron when railing against Facebook on "Fuck The Ghetto / Think Of Outer Space." "Root Of" sounds like a police bust transmitted through a faulty radio.
Sun Ra devotee Gilles Peterson has bemoaned people slapping a sax over a 4/4 beat and calling it "jazz," but "Cybernetics Is An Old Science" manages to make that idea thrilling. Just about anyone can enjoy Ismaily's flowing bassline on "Pussy Thumper," whether you're more into Thundercat or '70s jazz-fusion group Weather Report. Many listeners will find the 18-minute title track a bit challenging at first. A monolithic example of Moss's "rhythmic cubism," the dense, churning song can feel like a traffic jam on Sun Ra's spaceway. But follow the flute, saxophone and trumpet as they dart around the krauty drums and you'll eventually reach the transcendence of peak-era Arkestra. It feels safe to assume that Sun Ra would smile down on We Are Not The First.
Tracklist01. Apes & Ages
02. Civilization That Is Dying
03. Cybernetics Is An Old Science
04. Brain Damage
05. Three Days More
06. Fuck The Ghetto / Think About Outer Space
07. Universe Is A Simulation
08. Pussy Thumper
09. Cimetière Des Innocents
10. Root Of
11. We Are Not The First