Sun Ra
Pink Elephants On Parade
Previously unheard, Ra was culled from the archives and compiled based on their association to that children's film corporation with the cartoon rodent and pressed on earth on pink vinyl!
Jazz aficionados and Disney nerds alike will marvel at how seamlessly Sun Ra and his Arkestra put their own unique twist on both well-known and overlooked Disney songs. Pink Elephants on Parade takes nine songs from Disney’s storied catalogue and recontextualizes them as beautiful, fun, and sometimes terrifying pieces of Afrofuturist jazz. The collection also proves how Ra was always willing to transcend jazz conventions. Listen to the full album, and you will likely never look at the Disney music catalogue the same way ever again.
Initially known for accompanying Dumbo and Timothy’s colourful alcohol-induced hallucinations, this song is given a whole new life by Ra and the Arkestra in more ways than one. It also feels faithful to the original simultaneously, with the cacophony of horns, drums, percussion, and cowbell resembling that of a marching band. However, the demented grandeur of the song is turned up to eleven with zany vocal lines (hence the high-pitched “What’ll I Do” inflexions) and other performances that somehow sound more evil and gruff here than they did on Oliver Wallace and Ned Washington’s version. Though the Sportsmen’s vocals from that particular arrangement had a certain creepiness to them, the Arkestra takes a previously innocent-sounding song and makes Pink Elephants On Parade sound even more terrifying.