John Gilmore

A brief study of his tenor journey....

This week, our journey spotlights Sun Ra’s great tenorman, John Gilmore. This is a seven-song study in chronological order from 1958, the first time he went beyond Bebop, to his last solo before leaving Sun Ra in 1964 for a short tour with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.

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1.) John Gilmore joined Sun Ra in 1953. However, I’d like to start with his first “beyond Bebop” solo on Sun Ra’s Plutonian Nights from the Nubians of Plutonia album, recorded in Chicago in 1958 or 1959:

2.) Here John plays on Rocket Number Nine from Sun Ra’s Interstellar Low Ways recorded in Chicago in 1960. He takes off at the 1:45 min. mark. You can begin to see his inventiveness and confidence really grow:

3.) On Sun Ra’s first record after leaving Chicago for New York, here is John on Jet Flight from The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra recorded in 1961. Clearly, he is now in full flight. It was around this time that John Coltrane started listening to and taking note of John Gilmore, leading to Coltrane’s “Chasin’ the Trane” sound:

4.) Here’s the incredibly beautiful Search Light Blues, my and John’s own favorite solo on record from Sun Ra’s 1961 Art Forms of Dimension Tomorrow:

By this time, John Gilmore had reached full maturity as a tenor player, but his style continued to develop throughout the 1960s.

5.) From Sun Ra’s When Sun Comes Out LP recorded in late 1962 or early 1963, here is John on Rainmaker. He’s starting to reach for outer space and rain down sounds on this one:

6.) From Sun Ra’s When Angels Speak of Love recorded in 1963, here is John playing The Idea Of It All. :

By this time, you can hear how Sun Ra and his Arkestra are moving into the Avant-garde direction that was becoming more popular in New York at the time.

7.) Finally, from Sun Ra’s 1964 Other Planes of There, here is a blistering Gilmore classic solo on Sketch. His final note on this track is one of my all-time favorites:

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From August 1964 until the end of March 1965, John toured with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. This was remarkably the only time in his entire career that he left the Arkestra. Here’s John playing with Art Blakey and trumpeter Lee Morgan from that tour:

Here’s a fun video of John talking about Sun Ra:

John Gilmore’s ideas never faltered, but after 1982 his playing began to be affected more and more by his physical condition. This is how I will always remember seeing John Gilmore.

From the first time I saw John Gilmore play with Sun Ra’s Arkestra, I was completely awed by his playing and overall presence on the bandstand - a true giant. He will always be in my heart, and I can honestly say that I am still saddened by his passing, some 25 years ago.

Next week, we’ll venture ahead to my favorite living tenor, David Murray, a very underrated and under-appreciated tenor, who did not model his playing after John Coltrane.

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If you like what you’ve been reading and hearing so far on our journey, please share my newsletter with others - just hit the “Share” button at the bottom of the page.

Also, find my playlist on Spotify: From Fred Astaire to Sun Ra.

Feel free to contact me at any time to talk shop. I welcome and encourage that….

Until then, keep on walking….