2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Astro Black (1973)

 Re-posted by Re-Quest.

If you have never heard this album.  You need this now.  I believe it to be one of Ra's most stunningly beautiful albums, adventurous and sublime.

According to the jacket of Astro Black, Sun Ra’s first new recording for ABC/Impulse! was made at “El Saturn Studio” in Chicago on May 7, 1972, but that date is questionable since the Arkestra was just leaving California in May -- and the studio name is “strictly mythic” (Campbell & Trent p.186) Whatever the date or actual location, it was clearly made in a professional recording studio as the sound quality is exceptionally good. Sun Ra was obviously determined to take advantage of the mass exposure a major label could bring, producing one his finest albums. Notably, Ronnie Boykins makes a welcome return on bass after a long absence and he is prominently featured here, driving the band to great heights. The Arkestra is augmented with both Akh Tal Ebah and Kwami Hadi on trumpets, Charles Stephens on trombone, Alzo Wright on violin and viola, along with several conga players, who give much of this record its avant-exotica feel. But Boykins’s clearly inspires Sonny and his fluent explorations on organ and synthesizer throughout the album demonstrate a consummate mastery of electronic instruments. Astro Black is, in my opinion, one of Sun Ra’s crowning recorded achievements.

(continue reading at Rodger Coleman's fantastic NuVoid - Sun Ra Sundays blog)

Impulse AS-9255, Astro Black, was released in 1973.  Personnel and date from the Impulse jacket; the location was identified as "El Saturn Studio," but that is strictly mythic.  There is some question about the precise date as well, because the Arkestra was just leaving Oakland in May 1972.  "The Cosmo-Fire, Part II" also appeared on an Impulse Sampler LP, ASD-9267, titled No Energy Crisis.  "Astro Black" also appeared in abridged form on an Impulse sampler called Impulsively!, Impulse 1973 or AS-9266.  The "mistro-clarinet" was presumably an alto model.

From The Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra 2nd ed.

Discipline "99"

Sun Ra (Mini-Moog syn, e-vib, org); Akh Tal Ebah (tp); Lamont McClamb [Kwame Hadi] (tp); Charles Stephens (tb); Marshall Allen (as); Danny Davis (as); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars); Eloe Omoe (bcl); Pat Patrick (mistro-cl); Alzo Wright (vln, vla); Ronnie Boykins (b); Tommy Hunter (d); Atakatume [Stanley Morgan] (cga); Odun [Russell Branch] (cga); Chica (cga); Ruth Wright (voc); June Tyson (voc).

Studio Recording, Chicago, May 7, 1972

Astro Black
Sun Ra (with Arkestra)

1. Astro Black    10:53 

2. Discipline "99"    3:41 

3. Hidden Spheres    8:05 

4. The Cosmo-Fire (part 1)    6:57 

5. The Cosmo-Fire (part 2)    7:08 

6. The Cosmo-Fire (part 3)    4:17

-FLAC-

RS

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or

-320-

RS

HF