Pink Elephants on Parade

ディズニーの名高いカタログから9曲を取り上げ、それらをアフロフューチャリスム・ジャズの美しく、楽しく、時には恐ろしい作品として再構成したSun Raのコレクションがリイシュー。ダンボとティモシーのアルコールによるカラフルな幻覚の伴奏で知られていたこの曲は、Raとオーケストラによって、様々な意味で全く新しい命を吹き込まれています。

Sun Ra aficionados are well aware of the storied bandleaders late-career obsession with Disney movies -- by the end of the 1980s, the Arkestra was performing entire concerts of songs from vintage Disney films, with costumes to match. However, this period was strangely under-documented, with the only studio recording of the material being a rousing take on Dumbos "Pink Elephants on Parade" for Hal Willners Disney tribute Stay Awake. A posthumous CD, Second Star to the Right (Salute to Walt Disney), presented an audience recording of an all-Disney 1989 gig in Austria, and other tracks from this period have trickled out on various releases and bootlegs. Modern Harmonics 2024 set Pink Elephants on Parade gathers Disney covers from various Arkestra concerts between 1985 and 1990, most of which had never been released. The Arkestras whimsical, freewheeling spirit matches the material, particularly on boisterous singalongs like "Lets Go Fly a Kite" and "Whistle While You Work." "The Forest of No Return" is equal parts spooky and silly, and this reading of "Pink Elephants on Parade" is more unhinged than the studio version. "Someday My Prince Will Come," long known as a jazz standard in its own right, is played relatively straightforward, though there is some abrasive saxophone wailing near the end. June Tyson leads Peter Pans "Never Never Land," which starts out sincere if a bit ramshackle, then gets blown apart halfway by a noisy, bugged-out synth solo, which seems to astound even the band themselves, as they barely try to keep up with it. "Second Star to the Right," a title Sun Ra himself couldve come up with, is presented in two takes, one lasting for ten minutes. Both are pretty easygoing, helping the listener float away into the night and encouraging them to follow their dreams. Pink Elephants on Parade is an excellent reminder of how purely fun and entertaining Sun Ras music can be. Its also the most family-friendly Sun Ra release by far, and a good way to introduce children to jazz. ~ Paul Simpson