On this week’s Talkhouse Podcast, we’ve got a pair of musicians who are both part of a brand new Sun Ra tribute album that’s part of the long-running Red Hot series, Angel Bat Dawid and Georgia Anne Muldrow. We’ve also got a special guest in the podcast intro: former Talkhouse host and co-producer of the tribute album Elia Einhorn.
Muldrow and Dawid hadn’t met before this call, but as you’ll hear, they’re definitely on the same wavelength both musically and personally—and they both have a deep connection to Sun Ra, the cosmic-jazz master who made incredible, out-there records starting back in the 1930s all the way through to his final journey off this planet in 1993.
Dawid was born in Georgia but she’s most closely associated with Chicago, where she’s part of an incredible jazz scene. Not only is she a musician—an ace clarinetist, in fact—but also an activist and a teacher with plans to open a music school.
Muldrow boasts an incredible—and incredibly diverse— catalog of music, which she’s been working on for the past couple of decades. Sometimes she records under her own name, but also under the name Jyoti—those records, Elia Einhorn notes, are a pretty good place to start with her catalog. There are elements of jazz, to be sure, but also hip-hop, funk, and blues in the mix.
These two become fast friends on the podcast, talking about Sun Ra visiting them in dreams, how Ra came into their lives, and their definitions of living spiritually. Again, check out the first installment of Red Hot And Ra, which is out now, and then dive into these incredible catalogs.
Thanks for listening to the Talkhouse Podcast, and thanks to Angel Bat Dawid and Georgia Anne Muldrow for chatting—and thanks to Elia Einhorn for co-hosting. This episode was produced by Myron Kaplan, and the Talkhouse theme is composed and performed by the Range. See you next time!
