Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (1961)

Sun Ra's only release for the Savoy label is a gem. Recorded in October of 1961, this is probably the first recording the Arkestra made after arriving in New York. As such, you're dealing with a smallish Arkestra (seven main instrumentalists, joined by vocalist Ricky Murray on "China Gate") that's still playing the boppish, highly arranged music characteristic of the Chicago years (1954-1961). Ra sticks to acoustic piano for the entire session, but various percussion instruments are dispersed throughout the band, giving a slightly exotic flavor to some of the tunes. John Gilmore plays bass clarinet on a couple tunes (as well as some great tenor solos), and Marshall Allen's flute playing is excellent, as always. This album was produced by Tom Wilson, who also produced the first Sun Ra LP, Jazz by Sun Ra (1956) for the Transition label, later reissued by Delmark as Sun Song (Wilson later went on to sign the Mothers of Invention to Verve and "electrified" Bob Dylan). With the exception of "The Beginning," all the tunes are very accessible. This is one to play for the mistaken folks who think the Arkestra did nothing but make noise. Excellent.

AMG Review by Sean Westergaard

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra was the first album to be recorded by the Arkestra after relocating to New York;

    'The idea was just to play a few gigs, maybe some studio work, and then go back to Chicago and work at the Pershing [club] again. But as soon as they crossed the George Washington Bridge they collided with a taxi and bent one of the wheels of Ronnie Boykins's father's car. With no money to have it fixed they were stranded again. [Sun Ra] went to a phone booth and called Ed Bland and Tom Wilson to tell them they were in town, and the band moved into a couple of hotel rooms over the Peppermint Lounge on 45th Street. But after a few days of waiting, Strickland and Mitchell got anxiuos, called home for money, and left. The five who remained then moved to a room on 81st Street between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, and after a few days found a cheaper place farther downtown in the seventies.

    'Though the band had no luck finding places to play, Tom Wilson came up with a recording session for them with Savoy Records. On October 10 they crossed the river to the Medallion Studio in Newark with a few musicians they added for the date... and they produced a record which could have easily represented their repertoire during an evening at a club there..... Despite a heavy title and a cover painting of a conga drum swirling like a tornado through a valley of piano keys against an orange sky, the record was plagued from the start. Tom Wilson's liner notes were filled with inaccuracies: Distribution was almost as poor as it was with the Saturn records, and there was no reviews for twenty-three years, when it was reissued in 1984 as We Are In The Future.' 

John F Szwed

The album was produced by Tom Wilson, who would later become famous for producing albums by the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan. The sleeve was designed by 'Harvey', a secretive graphic designer who made over 190 album covers for Savoy and its subsidiaries throughout the 1960s;

    "Rev. Lawrence Roberts, long-time producer for Savoy Records... said that they never knew the identity of Harvey. Harvey lived in New York, and was very secretive. They would send him a title or concept and he would produce the painting. The paintings were not expensive, and they paid him in cash."
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra was the fourth album to be released by Sun Ra, after Jazz by Sun Ra (also produced by Tom Wilson) and Super-Sonic Jazz, both released in 1957, and Jazz in Silhouette from 1959. The next album to see the light of day would be When Sun Comes Out, released on Ra's own label, Saturn Records, in 1963.

-Wikipedia

76. [65]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra

Sun RA (p, perc); Bernard McKinney [Kiane Zawadi] (tb, euph); Marshall Allen (as, fl, mor, perc); John Gilmore (ts, bcl, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b, perc); Willie Jones (d); Leah Ananda (cga); Ricky Murray (voc); Perc included bells from India, Chinese wind chimes, wood blocks, maracas, claves, scratchers, gongs, cowbells, Turkish cymbals, castanets.

Medallion Studio, Newark, NJ,
October 10, 1961

Recorded in stereo but released only in mono in 1961 on Savoy MG12169, The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra.  Bootlegged in France around 1970 on BYG 529.111 (mono).  Reissued in stereo on Japanese Savoy SV 0213 [CD] in 1993.

A 1984 LP reissue on Savoy SJL 1141 was retitled We Are in the Future; Japanese Savoy COCY 75440 [CD], released c. 1990, also used this title.

Also issued on Concert Hall I-1348 (French) under the title Sun Ra during the 1970s.  "New Day" and "China Gate" appeared on Side 3 of the bootleg double LP Monkey MY 40014 (French, 1970s).  "Where Is Tomorrow?" also appeared on the BYG album History of Jazz Volume 9, along with other material pirated from Savoy.  "Jet Flight" also appeared on Franklin Mint 098, a 4-LP collection called Greatest Jazz Recordings of All Time, in the "Contemporary Currents" volume.

On the label of the original issue, "Of Sounds" was misprinted "Of Wounds."  In a truly silly bit of literalism, Savoy SV 0213 [CD] retains the misprint. [this was later corrected - my copies do not retain the misprint.  yotte]

According to Phil Cohran, the morrow was an instrument Marshall Allen built in 1960, before leaving Chicago.  It grafted a clarinet mouthpiece onto a shakuhachi body, producing ancient reed-pipe sounds, bent notes, and siren-like glissandi.

Ricky Murray returned to Chicago after this session.  Willie Jones did not remain with the Arkestra; his place was quickly taken by Sunny's old associate from the early Chicago days, Tommy Hunter.
from Campbell/Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra

1.  Bassism (Ra)   4:03
2.  Of Sounds And Something Else (Ra)   2:51
3.  What's That ? (Ra)   2:13
4.  Where Is Tomorrow (Ra)   2:48
5.  The Beginning (Ra)   6:26
6.  China Gate (Young-Adamson) [RM voc]   3:22
7.  New Day (Ra)   5:49
8.  Tapestry From An Asteroid (Ra)   3:01
9.  Jet Flight (Ra)   3:13
10. Looking Outward (Ra)   2:48
11. Space Jazz Reverie (Ra)   4:50

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Many Thanks to I-) for sharing LP pics found on the web!