Music Monday: Big Music

Last week I’ve been enjoying some BIG MUSIC. I don’t know really what makes some music BIG and some music small, but to my mind, there is a clear distinction. Perhaps small music is intimate, personal, and in general quiet. Big music feels public, lively, and sometimes raucous. 

In other words, Sun Ra’s fantastic concert recording from Nuits De La Fondation Maeght (1970) is big music. It was recently reissued on 6 LPs. It’s not because it doesn’t have its quiet and even intimate moments, but the Arkestra in full flight is brash, chaotic, and inspired. The re-release of these concerts is absolutely must listen stuff. And you can read about the original releases of these albums in Rodger Coleman’s Sun Ra Sundays here.

Or listen to it here:

I’m also very much enjoying the release of the Strata-East catalogue into the streaming world. In particular, I am enjoying the Big Music of Charles Tolliver’s Music Inc. Tolliver’s band features Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McGee on bass, and Jimmy Hopps on drums. Despite it’s modest size, the band absolutely produces a big sound.  

Finally, I’m enjoying Angel Bat Dawid and Naima Nefertari’s Journey to the Nabta Playa (2025). It is BIG in a different way. It’s not that the music is loud and raucous, but that it was spatially vast and quietly ambitious. It evokes the grandeur and antiquity of the Nabta Playa.