Strange Strings is an album by the American Jazz musician Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra. Recorded in 1965, the album was released in 1967 on Sun Ra's own Saturn label. The record was reissued on compact disc by Atavistic in 2007.
Strange Strings is an oddity in Sun Ra's often discography, featuring his band members performing on string instruments they'd never before used.
After finishing a series of concerts at New York State colleges sponsored by ESP, Sun Ra decided to assemble a number of stringed instruments bought from curio shops and music stores. Ukuleles, Mandolins, Kotos, Koras, Chinese Lutes and 'Moon Guitars' were handed out to his reed and horn players in the belief that 'strings could touch people in a special way, different from other instruments.' The point was that the Arkestra didn't know how to play them - Sun Ra called it 'a study in ignorance.' <blockquote> 'Next they prepared a number of homemade instruments, including a large piece of tempered sheet metal with an "X" chiseled on it. Then they miked the Sun Columns.' </blockquote> <blockquote> 'Marshall Allen said that when they began to record the musicians asked Sun Ra what they should play, and he answered only that he would point to them when he wanted them to start. The result is an astonishing achievement, a musical event which seems independent of all other musical traditions and histories.... The piece is all texture, with no sense of tonality except where Art Jenkins sings through a metal megaphone with a tunnel voice. But to say that the instruments seem out of tune misses the point, since there is no "tune", and in any case the Arkestra did not know how to tune most of the instruments...' John F Szwed </blockquote>
AllMusic said, "Strange Strings is a somewhat legendary album from the mid-'60s. 'Worlds Approaching' is a great tune, anchored by a bass ostinato and timpani and featuring several fantastic solos... Off and on throughout the tune, Bugs Hunter applies near-lethal doses of reverb, giving the piece a very odd but interesting sound."
All songs by Sun Ra<br /> Side A:
Side B:
Source:
Recorded New York, 1966 except Door Squeak, 1967.
<blockquote> âÂÂIâÂÂm painting pictures of things I know about, and things IâÂÂve felt, that the world just hasnâÂÂt had the chance to feel... IâÂÂm painting pictures of another plane of existence, you might say, of something thatâÂÂs so far away that it seems to be nonexistent. IâÂÂm painting pictures of that, but it is a world of happiness which people have been looking for or say they wanted, but they havenâÂÂt been able to achieve it.â Sun Ra, interviewed by Henry Dumas in 1966 </blockquote>