'Switched on Ra' by Bitchin' Bajas
Bastille Days Milwaukee, 1988—Sun Ra sits at a picnic table in Cathedral Square Park, hardly distinguishable from folks in the park on most days. Yet here he waits, regal, in a bright-colored robe. Local musicians Liquid Pink and Brian Ritchie are honored to be opening for Ra and his Arkestra, the forward-thinking musical aggregation whose mission statement has aimed for the outer regions of the universe since the late ‘50s.
The wine and cheese crowd setting up their blankets perhaps expecting some jazz in the park will be startled when Ra and the berobed Arkestra make way to the stage, playing percussion and horns before settling in on the bandstand. If the group’s opening music was unsettling and might have caused some to leave—no one asks for their money back at a free festival—they might have stuck around to hear the group eventually ease into jazzified Disney tunes.
Originally released on cassette and recently on vinyl, Switched on Ra by Bitchin’ Bajas pays homage to the spirit of Ra, as well as Wendy Carlos, whose 1968 LP Switched on Bach introduced the Moog analog synthesizer to new audiences. The album also nods to Carlos’ early use of the vocoder.
Switched on Ra credits list Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, Danial Quinlaven and Jayve Montgomery as utilizing a whopping 19 synthesizers. The coolness of the sound is deceptive. Setting their controls for the heart of the universe, Bitchin’ Bajas ease in; the music drifts and wafts until the familiar riff of “Space is the Place.” Then things get sideways a bit. “Outer Spaceways Incorporated” nods to Williams’ pioneering use of vocoder-treated vocals; a rendition of “Lanquidity” seems to stretch time.
Not having an Arkestra of percussionists at their disposal, “Opus in Springtime” utilizes a buffet of tones and sequenced blips to reimagine the tune. Closing track, “We Travel the Spaceways,” marries vocoder and an insistent time-marches-on beat—hinting that Ra and Williams’ music is never-ending.
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