Sun Ra - Live in Storyville / Unity (1978)

In May of last year, B13 released this phenomenal 2-LP set - a reissue of the beloved Sun Ra live album, Unity.  This 2011 reissue/repackaging of the HORO LP, Unity, has been available for purchase as single LPs and as a two record set.  Each red vinyl LP is packaged in a clear poly-vinyl sleeve with a clear poly-vinyl insert listing the performers and tracks.  At the bottom of the insert are two words in Russian (?) followed by "-Licensed by Alfa/RVI. Tokyo - Ltd edition 500 copies"  On the shipping sleeve there are two small stickers, one with the bar code and "B135 LP" ("B136 LP") and the second reading "Made in Germany"

"Variety Studio Improvisation (Sun Ra)"
does not appear on the HORO release.

Red vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with black lettering (limited edition 500 copies). Quite simply one of Sun Ra's best live albums. This rare recording finds Ra, along with a 19-piece Arkestra, playing a mix of his own compositions ("Images" and "Lights") along with several jazz standards (including Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp" and Duke Ellington's "Lightnin'"). While Ra's own compositions were usually more avant-garde affairs, he always revelled in playing the classics as well in an effort to give his audience a lesson in jazz history.

Unity was released on the small Italian independent Horo label but unlike the other Horo releases New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues, Sun Ra Quartet offerings which were performed and recorded in Italy, Unity was recorded in NYC & Paris and features the full Arkestra absolutely burning through a set of standards sprinkled with a few Ra originals.  The recording is great and the performances are outstanding.  Play this one LOUD every chance you get!

A live recording of a joyously swinging concert, this record finds Ra entering the final phase of his career, where he mixed his outer space/ancient Egypt inspired free jazz with the big band swing of his youth. It's a tribute to both Ra and the band that they were able to reconcile these two diametrically opposed types of music and make them work so well. Some of Ra's most steadfast sidemen are in attendance here like the saxophonists Marshall Allen and John Gilmore, along with some new additions like Michael Ray on trumpet and Craig Harris on trombone. Quite a bit of the material presented here would make for stumping "blindfold test" material, particularly when the band almost raises the roof on righteously swinging versions of Fletcher Henderson's "Yeah Man!" or the Jelly Roll Morton classic "King Porter Stomp." The group pretty much runs through the history of jazz moving from swing to bop on Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird" and post-bop, checking in with Miles Davis's "Half Nelson" and a very Coltrane-ian run through of "My Favorite Things." [not so Coltrane-ian in my opinion - This Ra-Gilmore take really swings - yotte]. It's only at the end of the concert that they leave Earth orbit with fine versions of legendary Sun Ra tunes "The Satellites are Spinning" and "Enlightenment." This one might be a bit of a bear to track down, and I'm not sure if it's still in print or not, but it is well worth the effort. This edition of the Arkestra was rock solid, and like fellow polymaths Jaki Byard and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, they had the entirety of jazz at their fingertips.

from Music and More

Live at the Storyville, NYC. The Arkestra's best live album. Loaded with standards. Incredible musicianship.

AMG review by Michael G. Nastos 

Horo HDP 19-20, a 2-LP set titled Unity, was released in 1978.  All tracks also appeared on Japanese RCA RVI 9003/9004 in 1979.  All information (except for the provenance of two tracks recorded in August 1976 at Châteauvallon--session 235) is taken from the record jacket.  Some titles were unduly abbreviated there (corrections are provided in brackets).  Tommy Hunter recorded these live sessions.

257. [210] Sun Ra Arkestra

Unity

Sun Ra (org, Rocksichord); Michael Ray (tp); Ahmed Abdullah (tp); Akh Tal Ebah (tp, voc); Craig Harris (tb); Charles Stephens (tb); Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Emmett McDonald (bass horn); Marshall Allen (as, ob, fl, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb, voc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); Eloe Omoe (bcl, fl, perc); James Jacson (fl, bsn, Inf-d); Richard "Radu" Williams (b); Thomas Hunter (d); Luqman Ali (d); Atakatune (cga, perc); Eddie Thomas (perc, voc); June Tyson (voc).

Storyville, NYC,
October 24 and 29, 1977

235. [202] Sun Ra Arkestra

Sun Ra (p, solar org, Mini-Moog syn, Rocksichord); Ahmed Abdullah [Leroy Bland] (tp); Chris Capers (tp); Al Evans (flg); Craig Harris (tb); Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Reggie Hudgins (ss); Marshall Allen (as, fl, ob, kora, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, cl, timb); Pat Patrick (bars, fl, perc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); Eloe Omoe (bcl, fl, perc); James Jacson (bsn, fl, Inf-d); Tony [R. Anthony] Bunn (eb); Hayes Burnett (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); Larry Bright (d); Stanley Morgan [Atakatune] (cga); June Tyson (voc); Judith Holton (dance); Cheryl Banks (dance); poss. Rhonda Patrick (dance).

Châteauvallon, France, August 24, 1976

Although nothing is said on the jacket, "Rose Room" and "The Satellites are Spinning" (title abbreviated to "The Satellites") were released in 1978 on Horo HDP 19-20, Unity; this album also appeared on Japanese RCA RVI9003/9004.  ct has documented the origin of these two tracks with an A/B test of the audience tape and the LP.

from Campbell / Trent  The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra Arkestra 

Live at Storyville in NYC 24th October 1977

B13 presents

B135 (2011)  Ltd edition 500 copies

pressed on red vinyl

1. A1 Yesterdays (Kern/Harbach)   5:36 

2. A2 Lightning (Duke Ellington)   2:45 

3. A3 How Am I To Know (King/Parker/Robbins)   9:29 

4. A4 Penthouse Serenade (Jason/Burton)   4:14 

5. B1 Lights (Sun Ra)   5:45 

6. B2 Yeah Man (Sissle/Henderson)   2:43 

7. B3 King Porter Stomp (Jerry Roll Morton)   3:40 

8. B4 Images (Sun Ra)   10:29

-FLAC-

RS

HF

or

-320-

RS

HF

Sun Ra Arkestra

Live at Storyville in NYC 29th October 1977

B136 (2011)  Ltd edition 500 copies

pressed on red vinyl

1. A1 Lady Bird / Half Nelson (Dameron/Davis)   8:38 

2. A2 Halloween in Harlem (Sun Ra)   6:07 

3. A3  My Favorite Things (Rodgers/Hammerstein)   6:07 

4. A4 Enlight[en]ment (Dotson/Ra)   2:16 

5. B1 The Satellites (Sun Ra)   7:16 

6. B2 Rose Room (Hickman/Williams)   9:27 

7. B3 Variety Studio Improvisation (Sun Ra)   7:06

-FLAC-

RS

HF

or

-320-

RS

HF

Sun Ra Arkestra
Unity
HORO HDP 19-20 [CD]

1. Yesterdays   5:50
2. Lightnin'   2:53
3. How Am I To Know?   9:32
4. Lights [On A Satellite]   5:50
5. Yeah Man   3:21
6. King Porter Stomp   3:49
7. Images   10:29
8. Penthouse Serenade   4:22
9. Lady Bird-Half Nelson   8:38
10. Halloween [In Harlem]   6:12
11. My Favorite Things   5:24
12. The Satellites [Are Spinning]   7:17
13. Rose Room   9:19
14. Enlight[en]ment   2:26

I collected this album from the web a few years ago and unfortunately have no recollection of where I found it.  Many thanks to the original uploader.

-FLAC-

RS1 + RS2

HF1 + HF2

or

-320-

RS

HF