Bad and Beautiful is probably the first recording made after
the Arkestra settled in New York in 1961. Not everyone in the Chicago band wanted to make the move, and since they hadn't been in New York long enough to recruit new musicians,
Bad and Beautiful features an
Arkestra that's been stripped down to a sextet of
Ra,
Marshall Allen,
John Gilmore,
Pat Patrick (who had already moved to N.Y.C.),
Ronnie Boykins, and Tommy "Bugs" Hunter. Aside from "Exotic Two," the tunes are split between standards (apparently the last ones the group would record until the '70s) and blues originals, but there are indications of the direction
the Arkestra would take throughout the '60s. "Search Light Blues" has some interesting percussion accents finding their way into the arrangement, and "Exotic Two" alludes more clearly to the percussion-heavy sound that dominated many of the '60s recordings.
Sun Ra plays piano exclusively on this recording, and
Gilmore gets lots of room to shine. A significant transitional LP, this is probably the last "inside" record
the Arkestra would record as they forged new sonic paths into the mid-'60s. [This release was remastered and co-produced by
Michael D. Anderson (of the
Sun Ra Music Archive) and
Irwin Chusid, under the auspices of
Sun Ra LLC, the heirs of the late music legend. Original session tapes were used when available and sound quality should surpass all previous CD/digital editions.] ~ Sean Westergaard