Sun Ra - Pathways to Unknown Worlds + Friendly Love (1973)

Pathways to Unknown Worlds was released by Impulse! in 1975 but was soon deleted along with the rest of the catalog licensed from El Saturn Records. That meant literally cutting off the corners of the jackets and dumping the remaining stock below wholesale, thereby cutting off Sun Ra from any royalties that would have otherwise been due (see Szwed p.333). For a brief period in the mid-1970s, Sun Ra records could be found in the sale bins of mom-and-pop record stores across America, but they quickly disappeared for good and, by the end of the end of the decade, had become rare, expensive collectables. It wasn’t until the Evidence label began reissuing Sun Ra’s music on compact disc in the early-1990s that Ra’s most obscure discography was again readily available. In 2000, Evidence concluded their reissue campaign with the resurrection of two Great Lost Sun Ra Albums recorded for Impulse! which were originally conceived as part of a proposed trilogy that would have progressed from earthy blues of Cymbals (AS-9296) through the hyper-modern jazz of Crystal Spears (AS-9297) and on to the improvised outer-space music of Pathways to Unknown Worlds (AS-9298) (see Campbell & Trent pp.194-196).

Shorn from its intended context, Pathways to Unknown Worlds must have appeared a puzzling artifact for the very few people who heard it back in 1975. Mixed to primitive Quadrophonic Sound, almost no one owned the expensive Sansui QS decoder and extra pair of speakers required—and those who did probably wondered why it was being deployed for a mere twenty-seven minutes of skronky free-jazz-noise (even so, I would be very interested in hearing these original “surround sound” mixes!). In 2000, Evidence remixed the album to stereo from the multitrack tapes and, in the process, discovered an additional (untitled) track that was omitted from the original LP, expanding it to a (slightly) more reasonable thirty-four minutes of music.

The pieces on Pathways to Unknown Worlds are all “guided improvisations,” with Sun Ra directing the flow of music from his bank of electric keyboards. Ronnie Boykins is back, anchoring the proceedings with his rock-solid bass, accompanied by the indomitable Clifford Jarvis on drums, who plays with admirable restraint here. This was by far the most fluent and supple rhythm section Ra would ever enjoy (sadly, it was intermittent at best and ultimately short lived). Joined by a full complement of horn players, this was an Arkestra particularly sensitized to Ra’s vision and well suited to realize his most exploratory music.

A blow-by-blow description seems rather pointless; I can only say that the music is a model of tightly controlled chaos and this album stands with the best of that lineage of long form improvisations, like Magic City and Other Planes of There. Sun Ra disdained the excesses of the “free jazz” scene and his group improvisations are as thoughtfully constructed as any of his written compositions, full of startling dynamic contrasts and unusual instrumental textures, fueled by his own endlessly inventive approach to electronic keyboards. Kwami Hadi is present on trumpet joined by Akh Tal Ebah on mellophone (a cross between a trumpet and a French horn), making it possible to really compare them side-by-side. Sometimes, Ebah shoves a contrabassoon reed into the mouthpiece to create the “Space dimension mellophone,” rendering an earth-shattering blast of sound akin to the Neputunian libflecto (a bassoon with either a French horn or alto saxophone mouthpiece attached).

(Continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays)

201. [179]  Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra

Pathways to Unknown Worlds

Sun Ra (e-vib, org -1, 2; Mini-Moog syn, org -1, 3); Akh Tal Ebah (mell, sp-mell -1); Lamont McClamb [Kwame Hadi] (muted tp -1; tp -2, 3); Marshall Allen (ob -1; as -2); Danny Davis (as -2); John Gilmore (ts -3; timb -2); Danny Thompson (bars -1); Leroy Taylor [Eloe Omoe] (bcl -1, 2); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); unidentified (d -2, 3); Russell Branch [Odun] or Stanley Morgan [Atakatune] (cga, bgo, perc); James Jacson (Inf-d -2, 3).

Variety Recording Studio,
NYC, 1973

pathways to Unknown Worlds (Ra) -1
Extension Out (Ra) -2
Cosmo-Media (Ra) -3

Impulse ASD-9298, Pathways to Unknown Worlds, was issued in 1975.  The album liners announce a Saturn release on LP 564, but this can now be understood as a pro forma catalog number.  (On the master tape reel, the Saturn number is given as 569.)  As on so many recordings done for Saturn, the mythical "El Saturn Studio" in Chicago is given as the location on the Impulse jacket.  In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it's wisest to assume that Sunny's studio recordings during the 1970s were made at Variety (and if Jacson, who was living in New York City and often not touring with the band, is really present, that would make Variety even more likely).

The personnel list is largely as taken from the Impulse liners, but some corrections are necessary.  There is never more than one conga player on any of the three tracks, while Impulse lists three; we are assuming that Sunny went with his usual percussion duo (during this period) of Atakatune and Odun.  Meanwhile, a second trap drummer (not John Gilmore) can be heard on "Extension Out" and "Cosmo-Media," yet none is credited.  And Jacson's Infinity Drum can be heard in the background on two tracks -- what is more, Jacson supplied the contrabassoon reeds for Ebah's space-dimension mellophone.  Yet Jacson's name does not appear in the Impulse liners.  Bill Davis is not present on bass, as claimed by the liners; all bass work is obviously by Ronnie Boykins.  And on "Pathways," Hadi can be heard on the left channel while Ebah is on the right.  The track-by-track breakdown is sue to careful listening by Seth Markow, with some refinements by rlc.

According to Seth Markow, four more LPs were recorded by Saturn and offered to Impulse, but not released by either:  Across the Border of Time (Saturn LLP 576) -- Impulse is known to have rejected this; Friendly Love (Saturn LP 565); Flight to Mars (Saturn LP 547); and Tone Poem (Saturn LP 672).  It is, of course, likely that material originally destined for these LPs appeared on other Saturn releases; nothing further is known about these items.  One does wonder whether some of the mysterious items on Song of the Stargazers (such as the percussion duo and trio, which sound like the work of Atakatune, Odun, and Chica) might have been salvaged from these projects.

from Campbell/Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Pathways to Unknown Worlds + Friendly Love

1. Pathways To Unknown Worlds   12:35
2. Untitled   5:27
3. Extension Out   7:38
4. Cosmo-Media   7:07
5. Friendly Love I   5:47
6. Friendly Love II   13:00
7. Friendly Love III   6:31
8. Friendly Love IV   12:51

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