Dave Davis from the Sun Ra Arkestra and I have often discussed the message Sun Ra was putting out. There is no doubt in anybody's mind that Sun Ra was a great man and just recently the band passed through Birmingham Alabama and went to Sun Ra's burial site. At his gravestone they were perplexed as to why the memorial was surrounded by a circle of pine cones. As soon as Dave told me this I said it was a symbol of the 'third eye' or pineal gland. The eye of god.

Researching Sun Ra and the 'sacred knowledge' he included in his work will lead you to many subjects considered taboo. Where it gets interesting is who are they taboo to?

Sun Ra wore 'Mephisto' shoes-he released an Album called 'A Fireside Chat With Lucifer' and his total immersion in Egyptian Symbolism made me question his intentions very seriously.

When I came across this picture on the internet of Sun Ra it raised my doubts.

Speaking with various members of the Arkestra has rescued me from any question of Sun Ra having an evil intent-quite the opposite. All reports are of his giving people belief in themselves and I am grateful the discussions are ongoing.

A picture I took of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It's above the front door of the main entrance. In plain sight..Angels and Demons

Here are the lyrics to Sun Ra's 'Angels & Demons'

Angels Demons play

Angels Demons sing

Angels

Demons

are brothers,

And you'll find them all at play in secret delight.

On a lighter note below is an interview I conducted with Dave Davis in 2010

So Dave.. I don’t know it’s a difficult one to start isn’t it? I thought it’d be good to talk about what inspired you to become a trombonist and play jazz?

I played in the high school band as a kid..I started off on French Horn and then I transferred to another school and they didn’t have any French Horns..so they gave me a Trombone. I played all the way up through High School and then I joined the Marines for Four years.

Wow? Where did you go?

I didn’t go any place. I was in a place near Arizona. Yeah I stayed near Arizona..and then when I got out of the Marine Corp..I went to school but I was in a depressed state..I had some serious family problems back home in Kansas City. I was really depressed..so depressed I just put all my things in storage..cut off my phone and I moved into a little room..then I bought a Trombone and started practicing..then I met a friend..an older..yeah I went to a Jam session..I thought I was ready..I thought I was practicing and I did really bad and the drummer saw me and he said that he thought I had potential..and he could put me in contact with a big band in Philadelphia..’The Frank Jackson Orchestra’. And he helped me start reading charts..get a little bit more discipline..and then so through that I saw this band..’The Sun Ra Arkestra’..No No..ah ahhh (clicks fingers) Yeah after that I was playing in this band..( ’The Frank Jackson Orchestra’ ) and I went to see another Trombone player..who also played in this band..Tyrone Hill..yeah Tyrone Hill..he played in ‘The Frank Jackson Orchestra’ with me and he had a gig at this festival with this other band he told me about ‘The Sun Ra Arkestra’ and then I went to see them..hey man I think I messed up..because the question was how did you start playing..

Well yeah sure but with the military experience..were you playing music in the military?

No No.. No? Okay..because that’s what Marshall was Yeah yeah..he was.

He was a saxophonist in the Army..were a lot of the guys in the Arkestra playing in the army? Is it relevant..your military experiences..is it something you talk about?

No it’s not relevant at all..it’s just coincidence..I quit..after High School I stopped playing music..you know I wanted to go into the military..so it was like a four year break.

'A Certain Darkness is Needed to See the Stars'

Can we discuss your touring and the response you get when you come to places like Europe compared to when you’re performing in America. I know you say there’s less enthusiasm at home..what do people think of Jazz in America?

The thing about America is it’s like a certain crowd who listen to Jazz..whereas when we come to Europe I’ve noticed even though it’s still a certain crowd..the crowd has everybody..all types. It’s a little bit more accepted here in Europe by everybody as opposed to just older people over there in America.

I’ve seen a film that Hotep recommended called ‘The Cry of Jazz’..would you agree that Jazz was born from African Americans wanting to celebrate the ‘now’..the present..To clarify the main point of the film..they state in regard to ‘the black condition’ the past is shrouded in mystery..the future is bleak so lets just make the most beautiful music and celebrate the present..live in the present full of optimism.

Well I haven’t seen the film but I can identify with it..but would you term the Sun Ra Arkestra a Jazz band?

I don’t know..Sun Ra is in the film but what are you ‘Free Jazz’? ‘AvantGarde’? or ‘New Music’?

Hmm..I was discussing this with Marshall and the term ‘Free Jazz’..he told me No..Sun Ra never used the term ‘Free’..he told me never use the term ‘Freedom’.. Wow..I got to ask him why he told me that..But Sun Ra specifically said not ‘Freedom’.

Strangely I was listening to the BBC Radio 3 last night and it was a show on Jazz and specifically this topic came up about the Arkestra and they were interviewing this guy called Bill Dickson and he said the same thing..Free Jazz..Never! AvantGarde..question mark..but New Music..Yes ..so he’d like to think of it as New Music..

I feel like this..with the band..I feel this is a band that plays different types of Music. I don’t think I could categorise the band..I’ve seen some articles where they’ve called us an alternative band..I like that.

I would describe it as Counter Culture..proper under the shelf.. I don’t like to call it a Jazz Band. What about ‘Swing’ though..because you guys are playing quite a bit of ‘Swing’

I think we play ‘Swing’ music and I’d actually prefer to be called a ‘Swing’ band Because everything we do has to ‘Swing’..except the ‘space..is the..well even that has some swinging rhythms sometimes.

Can I ask you about your time with the Band..are there any significant moments you’d like to point out?

Only that everything has been positive..even though there’s been some very bad things..the bands had some problems..it’s all been positive for me..my whole attitude has been great..so it’s only positive.

How many years? You joined in 1997..so 13 years? (now 19 years!)

Yeah wow..I live for this band..it’s my whole life.

That first band you were in..’The Frank Jackson Orchestra’ are they still performing?

Yeah..yeah..well it’s a little band..but a big band in Philadelphia that’s helping..they do a few professional gigs.

How many Jazz bands are in Philadelphia?

There’s a lot of bands..not a lot of working bands because there’s not that many places in Philadelphia to work..there’s probably like three venues..if that..I don’t even think there’s more than four..there’s probably like ‘Spots’ that have live music..but as far as Jazz clubs.

What about New York and Chicago?

I don’t really know a lot about those places. So there’s not a lot of interconnection between those places and the Jazz scene? I don’t even know if there is a Jazz scene in America. That’s quite shocking. What would you call a Jazz scene?

I guess from a distance we’ve all got Miles Davis and Charlie Parker records..there’s Yusef Lateef and Thelonious Monk and it creates a hallucination of a scene..perhaps that’s ever continual..even though of course I’m talking about the mid century of another time.

Well yeah maybe at one time there was a scene..I think in the 1930’s..Fletcher Henderson still being a huge inspiration.

Of course when it was popular culture.

In the 1940’s the Be Bop would be a scene.

Can we talk on a more esoteric level..do you have a strong belief system?

Not really aside from the band..I have a really strong belief in this band..it might be going on a downward slope right now but I think we have a lot of potential to rise.

Describe your daily life..are you on the street a lot or are you in your cocoon.

Most of my free time I try to spend in the Sun Ra house..even if nothing’s going on I try to keep Marshall motivated.

What do you mean by keeping Marshall motivated.?

Just show him that I’m here..there’s somebody here to play..he’ll be writing I’ll be playing something..just show him the tradition is still being practiced..everything you do..I’m there.

Yeah I’ve got to say..every time I see Marshall he looks younger.

I don’t know what’s going on either..but yeah..it’s a recent thing but for some reason he’s really got stronger. Enjoying..we did a gig in Switzerland and he wouldn’t stop.. For two hours straight and what is he..86 years old (now 92)..we were tired..everyone was tired..but he wasn’t tired. The band was tired..the band was tired.

And he wasn’t..?

No no. But you see I’m grateful.

How do you feel after a gig..because I’ve noticed with Musicians who blow tunes..specifically Marshall and Yhaya..they seem to have a lot of big energy to get out after. You know it’s such a different way of making music with your breath. I’ve spoken with them after shows and they not only play Jazz..they speak in it..punctuating words and speaking phrases that peak and dip.

Oh yeah..but if the crowd’s still excited after a show..we’re still excited..after a show we’re excited..even a two hour show and that response..As far as speaking in Jazz..that’s funny..Yhaya speaks so fast..always.

Shall we stop (the interview)

Solid..solid..sorry I couldn’t give you more..but I’m satisfied..the only thing I’m not satisfied with is my playing but that’s a personal thing..to me everything is going great..things might look bad..but that’s just being unfair..you only get what you put into something and everything is good..the stuff that’s bad we owe it to ourselves to change.

* You want me to do what? Share my thoughts on music?

+ Yes.

* I think it’s a gift and they’re using it to dumb people down.

+ Music? They’re using music to dumb people down?

* Yeah the music….you have to hunt for intelligent music I think…nowadays…

We’re oversaturated with nonsensical music. But music is a gift and it is a weapon.

It does free people’s minds or it enslaves them.

There’s a new song that we’ve got called ‘Puppet On A String’ on our new Album.

Puppet-Who’s pulling your strings? We’ve all got to be puppets…puppet puppet. So

yeah you can have a certain freedom but to do that you get branded certain things.

The mainstream society, the mainstream normality…there’s a line in there, a song or

something..doesn’t allow an individual mind in this day and age. Maybe before in

the seventies or eighties, but the way that this…. it’s nice, it’s comfortable because I

like it where I live and you know what I mean but there’s a formulaic type of way

the mind has to be, it’s totally zombie.

+ Do you wish you lived in a different time?

* Time..time plays a big factor in music, you do a project and ten years go by and

it feels like two days or just yesterday. You write a song five years ago and you use

it or you write a song now and in five years time it’s out. The gestation period is

time and then also its your timing because you’ve got to have all the celestial bodies

in play as it were to make an impact on normality I think, in respect to being a free

mind-to be a free mind you’re always slightly a bit off key. But I like it though…

doorway to the angels.

+ Rhythm

* Sound

+ Vibration

* My Macaba

+ What?

* My Macaba, my flight machine.

+ What’s Macaba?

* Your flight machine.

+ A flight machine?

* Your flight machine, our flight machine. Because if some intergalactical timelord

from the past comes to the future…do you know what I mean..or one from the

future comes to the past..hey who knows, and they say that we’re all star children

right? That we can all do interdimensional flight, that we can all go to different

dimensions, there’s different dimensions happening in this plane as well. It’s just

that we’re tuned into the third….but if you know how to tune out into the seventh or

the thirteenth.

+ Could you explain the relationship of an African cultural connection to a universal

dimension and how it differs to a white perspective of the universe and it’s Star

Wars mentality. Is this relationship born from having an intimate understanding of

this earth in order to have a better intuitive feeling for what lies outside of this

planet or plane?

* I hear you but um.

+ What do you..

* What are my thoughts on that! (laughs) My thoughts are…I’m a London girl so I

don’t really know the true existence of being living in the country bush of an

African land..but the psychology of an African mind I have an experience of

because I live in amongst a white community and have been born and raised in a

white community so I’m dealing with their psyche, interacting with their psyche

because they’re interacting with mine on a daily basis for however long… forty

years. But for me I think…do you know what I think….(laughs) I think this, I think

there is some sort of portal over here in England because I believe that the Anglo

Saxon culture has been enslaved for two thousand years with this mentality from the

Roman empire and the African mind is only a recent one. Like the kingdom of

Nigeria of Benin which is where my people came from, my kingdom, the spiritual

centre, by the time they got into the castle and the royalty it was 1886..only a little

while ago. Nigeria and Benin has been a thriving city since 1100 and it was that

long before western civilization got to the royalty, so it was a strong cultural

identity and it was with the gods and the goddesses and different celestial beings,

not with a Christian mind set. So for me living with this interaction and knowing

about my history…I used to know about it when I was little but possibly couldn’t

express myself well…but we were the original pagans and have only been thrown

into this existence, this present day first world ideology through slavery. What

they’re hiding is that we are the gods we create, our dreams create this dimension,

but we’re enslaved here. Because in the European culture you’ve been persecuted for

how many years for having the goddess stuff . Boadicea…there’s a plaque in

Lewisham shopping centre right..where Boadicea lost the battle to the Romans and

that was like nine A.D. or eleven A.D., Lewisham shopping centre I tell you no lie,

they lost it because the Celts were being painted blue and the Roman Army just

came and chopped them up at Deptford (Laughs).

Horny Pony Session - 'Diamonds & Dollars'

+ Really?

* Really yeah no lie..Deptford because the marshes, they came up through the

marshes and and..well I dunno I could have made that..I could have put my own

angle on that one, but there is a plaque saying that Boadicea lost the war to the

Roman empire down by Deptford fucking creek..Lewisham shopping centre..

Fun at the Gymkhana session - 'The Bone Woman'

Yeah so and that was the beginning, you know when you go into your culture,

your legends, the celtic cultural legends you find you were fighting the Romans

around two thousand years ago for land and more gold, gold being one of the

elixirs of life, the knowledge coming from Rome which came from Greece, which

came from Egypt and before Egypt you’ve got Alexandria and the library there

about how architecture, how the power of mind, how to build the pyramid, how to

levitate and how to activate your Macaba because we are interglactical beings

darling. But it’s hard baby because you’ve got to do lots of Yoga and eat raw foods

and stop smoking…and drinking, because you’ve got to raise your vibration. So

the slavery is..the sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, the stuff they induce your mind

with..it’s the stuff that’s free to trade on the open market…Mindblowing.

May Day session(click on pictures below to enlarge) — May Day session
(click on pictures below to enlarge)

+ Any last thoughts on the music industry, how it can raise or lower your vibration

for example.

* It’s censored..music is censored..no disrespect to Sheryl Crowe but fucking hell

(laughs) its like baby girl..and that song that song..it’s just like what are you talking

about babe. But you know I listen to Smooth..I like Smooth FM because they play a

good all round style..they play middle of the (laughs) a good all round selection for

my age group..See I can’t be listening to things like XFM because their vibration is

just too tense man it’s like Waaa you get a headache after an hour or thirty minutes

it’s like AHHH..

A Fireside Chat With Dave

A Conversation With Lola