2nd Chance: Sun Ra - Cosmo Sun Connection (1985)

Recorded in concert in the U.S. in 1984 (no other details given), this rather odd entry in the Sun Ra discography came about when the musician, unable to deliver pressings of Saturn Records albums that the Recommended label had already paid for, instead gave the company a master tape. Nothing could be said to be a typical Sun Ra show, yet this does cover the range you could probably expect to hear had you attended one of his big-band gigs at the time. "Fate in a Pleasant Mood" is a joy, a jovial, hummable, swinging number with playful synthesizer swoops and faint vocal scats. Nothing else on the disc is nearly as accessible, as the synthesizer soon takes over proceedings with a Frankensteinian vengeance; the title track, in fact, is something that Hollywood horror film producers would probably reject as too creepy. Don't wait expectantly for the out-there synth jams to end and the band to return to more ingratiating tunes; the CD is only 31 minutes long.

AMG Review by Richie Unterberger

Saturn/Recommended SRRRD 1, Cosmo-Sun Connection, was released in 1985.  The LP was issued by the British label Recommended via an agreement with Saturn (after Recommended had paid in advance for Saturn pressings that did not materialize, the master tape was offered in compensation).  Marshall Allen told Marcel-Franck Simon in June 1985 that the LP was made "sometime last year."  Personnel identified by rlc; the lineup doesn't match any of the Arkestra's European tours from 1984, which argues for an American concert.

420. [313] Sun Ra and the Arkestra

Sun Ra (p, syn, org); Tyrone Hill (tb); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts, timb); Eloe Omoe (as, bcl); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl); poss. Rollo Radford (standup eb); unidentified (d); poss. Atakatune (cga). 

Live in the USA, 1984

Cosmo-Sun Connection was released in 1997 on CD as RER SR1.  The personnel list on that reissue (the same as we have listed here, except that "bs" for Danny Thompson was mistakenly interpreted as "bass"; we guess that's a reason to use "bars" instead!) was taken from the first edition of this discography.

from Campbell / Trent   The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Cosmo Sun Connection (1985)
ReR SR1 [CD] (1997)
 
Fate in a Pleasant Mood   12:09
Cosmo Journey Blues   6:14
Cosmo Sun Connection   3:46
Cosmonaut Astronaut Rendezvous   3:30
As Space Ships Approach   2:36
Pharaoh's Den   2:59

-FLAC-

RS
HF

or

-320-
RS
HF

"Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Recommended imported a great number of Saturn Records to Europe. The Arkestra would press them up to order and then I'd collect when I was in New York. We always paid in advance to cover their pressing costs. Then came an occasion when there was nothing to collect; the Arkestra had urgently needed money and ours had been there - so they had spent it. I could hardly be angry - keeping the Arkestra afloat was a miracle at the best of times - but Recommended was also poor and such a loss was not really sustainable for us. In the spirit of generous compromise, Sun Ra gave us, in lieu of the unpressed LPs, the Cosmo Sun Connection mastertape, which we released in a small edition in 1985. This is the first time that this legendary recording has been widely available."