Sun Ra - Atlantis (1969)

 

"At a concert at the newly opened Olatunji Center of African Culture Atlantis was recorded, a twenty-one-minute epic, with Sun Ra on Clavioline and ‘Solar Sound Organ’ (a Gibson Kalamazoo Organ, a copy of the original Farfissa combo organ used by pop groups). The piece began ominously with sonar beeps from the organ, and as it developed, Sun Ra rolled his hands on the keys, pressing his forearm along the keyboard, played with his hands upside down, slashing and beating the keyboard, spinning around and around, his hands windmilling at the keys—a virtual sonic representation of the flooding of Atlantis; it was a great smear of a solo, Sun Ra’s ‘Toccata and Fugue.’ Five minutes later the brass entered, and then a rather conventionally notated swing saxophone-section melody surface to be undercut first by brutal bursts from the organ and then by the brass and drums. The weight, the sheer gravity of the piece which developed was almost unbearable. And then suddenly the Arkestra shifted to the ‘Sun Ra and his Band from Outer Space are here to entertain you’ chant, as if “Atlantis” had just been another pop song in an evening’s dance band repertoire."

- Szwed, John F. Space is the Place: The Lives and Times of Sun Ra. New York: De Capo Press, 1997. Print. 248.

Thanks to rocket number ten for the quote!

Featuring the Astro Infinity Arkestra, Atlantis reveals two very distinct sides of Sun Ra's music. The first consists of shorter works Ra presumably constructed for presentation on the Hohner clavinet. Not only is the electric keyboard dominantly featured, but also it presumably offered Ra somewhat of a novelty as it had only been on the market for less than a year. The second side consists of the epic 21-minute title track and features an additional seven-man augmentation to the brass/woodwind section of the Astro Infinity Arkestra. Tracks featuring the smaller combo reveal an almost introspective Arkestra. The stark contrast between the clavinet -- which Ra dubbed the "Solar Sound Instrument" -- and the hand-held African congas on "Mu" and "Bimini" reveal polar opposite styles and emphasis. However, Ra enthusiasts should rarely be surprised at his experiments in divergence. "Mu" is presented at a lethargic tempo snaking in and around solos from Ra and a raga-influenced tenor sax solo from John Gilmore. "Bimini" is actually captured in progress. The first sound listeners hear is the positioning of the microphone as a conga fury commences in the background. Likewise, on "Yucatan (Impulse Version)" a doorbell quickly impedes what might have been a more organic conclusion to the performance. The original issue of Atlantis was on the small independent Saturn label. Thus the composition titled "Yucatan (Saturn Version)" appeared on that pressing. When the disc was reissued in 1973 on Impulse!, the track was replaced by a completely different composition -- as opposed to an alternate performance of the same work. The second side contains one of Ra's most epic pieces, which is free or "space" jazz at its most invigorating. While virtually indescribable, the sonic churnings and juxtaposed images reveal a brilliant display of textures and tonalities set against an ocean of occasional rhythms. Its diversity alone makes this is an essential entry in the voluminous Sun Ra catalog.  

AMG Review by Lindsay Planer

 

There are changes afoot in the band’s sound: always an early adopter of technology, Ra can be heard on side one playing exclusively a Hohner Clavinet, a recently released electronic keyboard that was later popularized by Stevie Wonder (see e.g. "Superstition” in 1972). Ra renames it the “Solar Sound Instrument” and plays it in his own inimitable fashion. Recorded in rehearsal at the Sun Studio (the Arkestra’s rented townhouse located at 48 East Third Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side), these tracks feature a bare-bones Arkestra: Gilmore can be heard from time to time on tenor saxophone, but these pieces mostly feature Ra’s clavinet over beds of percussion and sound more like sonic experiments than full-fledged compositions. But what interesting experiments!

“Mu” is a slow, 5/4 clavinet vamp with Gilmore tentatively outlining an up and down melody. “Lemuria” is another 5/4 boogie with Gilmore laying down some heavy duty riffing on top of Ra’s extra-funky clavinet. “Yucatan” is a dreamy, modal ballad wherein Ra demonstrates his remarkably sensitive touch on the primitive electronic keyboard. Hartmut Geerken points out in the discography that what sounds like electric bass us actually “two tightly interlaced African drum patterns!” (2nd ed., p.136). “Bimini” consists of roiling polyrhythmic percussion with Ra interjecting some jabbing chords on the clavinet. The Evidence CD also includes an alternate version of “Yucatan” that mistakenly appeared on the 1973 reissue of Atlantis on Impulse! Actually, this track has nothing to do with the other composition of the same name, but is rather another noisy percussion-fest interspersed with Ra’s distinctive clavinet chording. A telephone rings signaling a quick cadence to end.

 Continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays

131. [115]  Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra

Atlantis

Sun Ra (solar sound [Gibson Kalamazoo] org, Clavioline); Wayne Harris (tp); poss. Jothan Callins (tp); Ali Hassan (tb); Charles Stephens (tb); Robert Northern (Fr hn); Danny Ray Thompson (as); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Danny Davis (as); Pat Patrick (bars, fl); Marshall Allen (as, ob, Jupiterian fl); Robert Cummings (bcl); James Jacson (log drums); Robert Barry (d, lightning drum); Clifford Jarvis (d).

Olatunji Center of African Culture,
NYC, 1967

 Atlantis (Ra)/
[Sun Ra and his Band from Outer Space (Ra) [ens voc]]

Issued in 1969 on Side B of Saturn ESR 507, Atlantis.  All tracks from this LP were reissued in 1973 on Impulse AS-929 and in 1993 on Evidence 22067 [CD].  "Atlantis" is edited on the Saturn.  There are copies of the Impulse LP that replace this Side B with Side B of The Magic City.  At the end of the performance (included on Impulse and Evidence, edited out on Saturn), the Arkestra sings "Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space," and, as Michael Shore points out, Sun Ra starts playing the bass line of "We Travel the Spaceways" on the organ -- clearly a live performance.

John Gilmore recalled that the concert took place at the Olatunji Center of African Culture, which was located at 43 East 125th Street.  According to J.C. Thomas in Chasin' the Trane, the Center opened on March 27, 1967; other sources say that it remained open for musical performances through some point in 1968.  Danny Ray Thompson joined the Arkestra in 1967.  A poster reproduced in C.O. Simpkins' Coltrane biography advertises the inaugural concert at the center (by Trane's group) and other forthcoming events through May 14, 1967; clearly, the Arkestra's appearance took place after that.

Then personnel credits from Saturn jacket; however, Saturn and Impulse credit Akh Tal Ebah (who didn't join the band until 1969!) as the second trumpet player.  Jothan Callins was introduced to Sun Ra by Walter Miller and was in the Arkestra "off and on" from 1966 till the first trip to Europe in 1970.

 132. [116]  Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra

Atlantis/
The Singles

Sun Ra (solar sound instrument [Hohner Clavinet]); John Gilmore (ts -1; perc -2, 3, 4; d, voc -5); Pat Patrick (perc -2, 3, 4; voc -5); prob. Robert Barry (d, perc except -5); Clifford Jarvis (d, perc except -5); Marshall Allen (perc -4, voc -5); James Jacson (perc -4, voc -5).

Sun Studios, NYC, 1967 or 1968

Mu (Ra) -1
Lemuria (Ra) -1
Yucatan (Ra) -2
Yucatan [alt] (Ra) -3
Bimini (Ra) -4

Blues on Planet Mars (Ra) -3
Saturn Moon (Ra) -5

The first five tracks (except for "Yucatan [alt]") were first released in 1969 on Side A of Saturn ESR 507, Atlantis.  All tracks from this LP were reissued in 1973 on Impulse AS-9239 (except that the alternate version of "Yucatan" was substituted) and in 1993 on Evidence 22067 [CD], which includes both versions of "Yucatan" (these are completely different compositions; the Saturn "Yucatan" uses the same thematic material as the version of "Spontaneous Simplicity" on 169).  According to Peter Roberts, some copies of the Impulse Atlantis are hybrids with "Mu," "Lemuria," "Yucatan [alt]" and "Bimini" on Side A (matrix 9239-A) and Side B of The Magic City on Side B (Matrix 9239-B!).  "Yucatan [Impulse version]" was also used on a Sun Ra sampler released in 1997 by Paddle Wheel Records in Japan KICJ 315, Sun Ra Came Down to the Earth.

According to Michael Fitzgerald, the Hohner Clavinet was put on the market in 1967.  The personnel taken primarily from the Saturn jacket.  As for the location, a telephone can be heard ringing at the end of the alternate version of "Yucatan."  Hartmut Geerken points out that "Mu" was ineptly edited on the Impulse reissue and runs slightly longer there.  Geerken also says that what Michael Shore and others thought was an electric bass on "Yucatan" (original version) is actually two tightly interlaced African drum patterns!

The last two tracks were released around 1969 on Saturn 911-AR, a 45-rpm single by Sun Ra and his Astro-Solar-Infinity Arkestra.  The label mentions Inhfinity Incorporated, which was chartered in 1967.  The personnel were identified by ear by rlc.  The two tracks from the single were reissued in September 1996 on The Singles, Evidence 22164 [2 CDs].

Jothan Callins says that the Arkestra's rehearsals from 1966 through the move to Philadelphia (fall 1968) all took place at the Sun Studio at 48 East 3rd Street.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed

Atlantis
Impulse LP AS-929

1. Mu   4:51
2. Lemuria   4:59 
3. Yucatan   3:44
4. Bimini   5:54

5. Atlantis   22:36

-FLAC-

RS

HF

or

-320-

RS

HF

Atlantis
Evidence CD ECD 22067-2

1. Mu   4:36
2. Lemuria   5:08
3. Yucatan (Saturn Version)   5:33
4. Yucatan (Impulse Version)   3:44
5. Bimini   5:51
6. Atlantis   21:52

-FLAC-

RS

MF

or

-320-

RS

MF