Grooving
The Sun Ra Arkestra and a memoir in playlists
This week, Public Seminar’s authors listen to life through music. Robert Noble shares the joy of putting together a playlist—and piecing together one’s self. And Ahmed Abdullah remembers his time as a trumpeter in the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The Call
Ahmed Abdullah
The stage was set for fireworks. I was ready. Sun Ra had me sit next to him, as he was still figuring out where I would fit in as far as my solo capabilities were concerned. The horn players were arranged in a row at the front of the stage. The song we started with was “Discipline 27.” I was hearing it for the first time. The trumpeter, Ebah, did show up for this gig, as did about ten other people I had not rehearsed with: Danny Davis and Pat Patrick on reeds, Brother Ah (Robert Northern) on French horn, Charles Stephens playing brass, John Ore on bass, Jimmy Johnson playing drums, three dancers, and a singer. Ebah knew the music, but he and I were separated from each other by the sax section, which made it difficult to pick up the trumpet parts from my position.
Archiving My Life Through Playlists
Robert Noble
I would lie awake at night, my head swimming with the lyrics of Porridge Radio’s “End of Last Year”: “Don’t know if I want it / Don’t know if it’s mine / Don’t know if it’s worth it / Don’t know if it’s right.” This uncertainty that had taken root at the pit of my stomach threatened to consume me, so much so that when I heard Julia Jacklin ask, “When the time comes, will you get on that flight?,” on her song “to Perth before the border closes,” I really wasn’t sure whether I would.